Before She Ruled (Before Series, Book 1)

Chapter Thirty-One

"Yes, that," Addie said lamely. "How did you know?"

George shrugged. "Well, I wasn't certain. However, I had noticed your morning sickness, your insane appetite, and just a little swelling. And now you've just confirmed it, of course."

Addie closed her eyes with rue.

George laughed, hearty and full. Her eyes flashed open, and she lashed out.

"Is this all a game to you? A joke?" And then it dawned on her. "Have you been avoiding my bed just to see what I would do about..." she pointed to her belly, "this?"

George waved her off in an annoyingly dismissive manner.

"Oh darling, no. A part of me did wonder what you would choose. Would you come to me begging for a night in my bed or would you grace me with the truth? But instead, I've decided to do the opposite of what you accuse me of. Waiting around would have been playing games with you. I came to you because I wish to be straight with you, Adelaide."

"Straight with me?"

"Yes of course. This is mutually beneficial you see."

"Beneficial? So, you're not mad about it?"

"God, no," he said. "Granted that we can come to an arrangement, naturally." He gave her a caustic look that told Addie they would have an arrangement whether she liked it or not. "But first," he added, "tell me why." He spread his arms in an open gesture and settled further back into the chair.

"Why what?"

"Why not come to me right away? Any sensible woman would have made certain to bed her husband immediately so there would be no question of legitimacy."

"I," Addie began but found she had no explanation. At least no reasonable, sensible explanation, so she told the truth.

"I am not a sensible woman."

George made a disappointed face. "Oh, come now Adelaide, that is not it."

She threw her hands up in defeat. "It is. What do you want me to say?"

"I want you to say that you are an utterly sensible woman. A woman who left everyone she trusts, even the man she loves, for the sake of what she believed was right." He paused, seeming to ponder his words. "You're right. Maybe that isn't sensible. But it's sure as hell responsible. And you avoiding my bed is quite the opposite of responsible. So why, Addie?"

Addie sucked in a breath. It had been the first time someone had called her that since her marriage and that realization made her ache. She shook her head.

"You've already stated the reason I can't sleep with you."

"And what is that?" he asked, though Addie knew damn well he knew the answer. And he wouldn't stop until she had said it.

"Because I am in love with another man!" She all but shouted at him. "There. Is that what you wished to hear, husband?"

George smiled his infuriatingly perfect smile.

"Capital. Yes, precisely what I wish to hear. I've no wish to sleep with you either as it turns out. Our relationship may stay strictly platonic. In the bedroom, that is." He gestured around them to her chambers masked in the glow of the firelight that was quickly dimming. "But none shall know but us of course. And that," he pointed to her growing womb, "will never be questioned as being anything other than my child." As he spoke, his eyes grew cold and so did Addie's blood.

"You do not care that it will not be your son or daughter on the throne?"

He shook his head, his friendly attitude reappearing. "Not a whit."