He put a finger over her lips. “Don’t say it again. Don’t even think it. You’re feeling emotional.”
“I know. I’m trying to tell you about my emotions.”
“You’re overwrought. You’re not thinking straight. In fact, I want you to take a nap. I think it would be good for you.”
He took her hand and dragged her out of the room, up the stairs, and into her bedchamber. Once there, he pulled down the covers and hoisted her into them.
She gave him an incredulous look. “But I’m not tired, and it’s the middle of the day.”
“It’s been a trying afternoon. You could use the rest. Sleep, Maddie.”
And he was out of the room, down the stairs, and locking the library door behind him in record time. With an unsteady hand, he poured three fingers of brandy and drank it down.
What the hell had just happened? One moment everything was going fine. Well, not fine. His wife was aggravating him to the point of madness, but other than that everything was fine. Marriage wasn’t half as bad as he’d assumed. Maddie was intelligent, amusing, a good conversationalist. She pleased him in bed, and he knew he pleased her.
Why did she have to throw love in and ruin everything? Now she was going to expect him to reciprocate and blather on about his feelings.
The thing was, he didn’t have any feelings. Not that kind anyway. He liked Maddie. He was fond of her. But he didn’t love her.
Love was a noose—pleasant at first. Pleasant until it squeezed all the life out of a man. He wouldn’t let that happen. He didn’t stick his neck in the noose for anyone.
MADDIE LAY IN BED AND stared at the ceiling. What had just happened? She’d told Jack she loved him, and he ran away. He couldn’t be rid of her quickly enough.
There was a quick tap on the door, and then Josie and Catie popped their heads inside. “The butler said you’d come up here,” Catie told her. “Can we come in?”
Josie squeezed onto the bed beside Maddie, and Catie took the chair across from them.
“What’s wrong?” Catie asked. “You look like Atlas trying to carry the world.”
“I feel like him,” Maddie said. “There’s so much to worry about. This fund-raiser, Ashley—”
“Still no word from the investigator as to Ashley’s whereabouts?” Catie asked.
Maddie shook her head, and Josie frowned. “Drat. Even I’m beginning to worry.”
Catie smiled encouragingly. “You know Ashley. When she returns, she’ll be brimming with stories of adventure. Speaking of which, that meeting today was quite an adventure, Maddie.”
“Maybe it’s better if we leave the adventure to Ashley. Every time I try to do something impulsive it goes awry. Look at my elopement.”
“What’s there to look at?” Josie argued. “You and Blackthorne are perfect for one another. Maddie, anyone could see that he’s mad for you.”
Tears stung Maddie’s eyes before she could dash them away.
“What’s wrong?” Catie said, coming to sit on the edge of the bed opposite Josie.
“He isn’t mad for me,” Maddie said, accepting Josie’s handkerchief when the tears wouldn’t stop. “He doesn’t love me.”
“Of course he does,” Josie said. Maddie wished she had her cousin’s conviction.
Maddie shook her head. “I made a huge mistake. I accidentally told him I loved him. He said we could have the fund-raiser here, and I was so excited that I just blurted it out.” She looked at her cousins. Their faces were blurry. “I didn’t even know I loved him, and then, when I said it, it wasn’t just a slip—something you say because you’re happy and don’t really mean it. I really meant it.” She shook her head. “I think I was more surprised than he was. I really do love him.”
“Of course you do,” Catie told her.
“But I don’t want to love him. He makes me so angry, and he’s always trying to protect me. Most of the time I feel like strangling him.”
Josie patted her hand. “But you don’t because you can’t live without him. We know, Maddie. You can deny it all you want, but you do love him.”
“And he doesn’t love me.”
