Read Online My Darling Caroline by Adele Ashworth - Free Book Online Page A

purposefully strode to the kitchen for dinner, expecting to find Nedda, Davis, and Brent waiting patiently inside. Instead, she saw only her husband standing by the small window overlooking wet grasslands and hills blurred by the thickness of evening rainfall.
    Sitting on the table before her sat a platter of cold roast beef, cheeses, bread, a bowl of plums, a bottle of wine, and only two place settings.
    “Aren’t Davis and Nedda joining us?” she hesitantly asked.
    “They’re busy,” he replied casually, turning. He briefly took in her appearance, then moved to help her sit, lighting three candles on the table before taking the seat next to her. “It’ll just be us.”
    “Fine,” she said quickly, glancing at him nervously as he poured the wine. Tonight he’d dressed for dinner as well, wearing a white silk shirt, dove-gray breeches and cravat, and a charcoal-gray dinner jacket. His clothes fit him impeccably, and naturally he looked perfect. The thought made her laugh.
    “Something funny?” he asked, lightly amused.
    “We look ridiculous sitting at the kitchen table dressed like this,” she answered with a broad smile.
    He grinned and raised his glass to his lips, taking a large swallow. Then he slowly lowered it, apparently to contemplate the clear, pale liquid inside.
    “Caroline,” he started in a deepened voice, “I have to admit you’re not the loveliest woman I’ve ever known. But without a doubt, if one considers the whole package, regardless of what you’re wearing you are by far the sexiest.”
    She was taken aback by his words and suddenly felt hot color rise in her cheeks. Why his outspoken nature continued to surprise her she couldn’t guess, for during the past several days, she’d come to understand that speaking in such a manner was simply his way. Still, perhaps he’d given her the opening she needed to make her future desires clear.
    Reaching for her glass, she put it to her lips, swallowed a mouthful, and, gathering her nerves, bluntly confessed, “I think you have a right to know I don’t ever intend to carry a child.”
    The room became still as death. Even the rain stopped splattering against the window.
    Caroline continued to look at her glass, waiting for her husband to yell at her or slap her soundly, as was his right. After several moments of unbearable silence, he shocked her completely when he instead reached for her plate and began filling it with food from the platter in front of them.
    “May I ask why you changed the subject from our attire to children?”
    She fidgeted from the coolness in his voice. “I just thought you should know how I feel before—”
    “Before we become intimate, Caroline?”
    He was twisting her words to his advantage, and that made her mad. “I want you to understand.”
    “I want a son and I need an heir.”
    Once again his voice was calm, controlled, as if he’d made a final, irrevocable decision on the matter.
    Bravely she retorted, “I don’t want a baby. Please respect that decision.”
    After regarding her for a moment, he reached for his plate and began piling it high as well.
    “All women want babies, Caroline, including properly bred ladies. I cannot believe you’d be any different, and that leads me to think you’re either frightened of childbirth or frightened of sex. I’d like to know which and I’d like to know why.”
    She inhaled deeply. She couldn’t argue with him and she couldn’t tell him a thing about her plans without raising his suspicions. So, she reasoned, her only hope was to appeal to his logic, his intellect.
    After taking another large sip of wine, she picked up her fork and started toying with her food. “I know exactly how you’re feeling, Brent.”
    His cocked a brow. “You do?”
    She smiled. “Of course I do. I understand your need for an heir and I also understand the male libido. I know that most men bed their wives over and over because they cannot control themselves. It’s perfectly