Desired by a Lord (Regency Unlaced 5) Read Online Free PDF Page B

presence.”
    Somehow, Xander did not find that reassuring. “Nevertheless, something is very wrong with you this evening.”
    Her gaze no longer met his. “I told you, I have a headache.”
    “Caused by…?”
    “Headaches are not usually caused by anything. They just are.”
    “Untrue. Headaches are invariably caused by something. Or someone.” His gaze sharpened as he saw Emily flinch.
    She had not looked well when she joined him in the green salon before dinner; her face was pale, those shadows beneath her eyes seeming darker, her hair pulled back even more tightly than usual in that unbecoming bun. That alone was surely enough to give her a headache. Her gown did not help her appearance, being of a particularly insipid shade of purple. A color that clashed horribly with her red hair and gave her ivory skin a pasty appearance.
    Xander could have excused all those things if he had thought she looked remotely happy or refreshed from her walk this afternoon. Instead, she looked thoroughly miserable.
    “Has one of my household staff done or said something they should not?” He persisted in getting to the bottom of this marked change in Emily’s demeanor. At least yesterday and this morning, she’d had some spirit about her. This evening, she just looked defeated. As if she had taken one blow too many.
    She frowned her puzzlement. “Such as what?”
    “Never mind.” Her reaction told him this was not the explanation either. He would not have put it past Clarke, at least, to have expressed his opinion of Xander and his place as master of Whitney Park and the Whitney Library. Obviously, he had misjudged the man. “Come and sit back at the table. You will perhaps feel better if you try to eat something.”
    She swallowed. “I do not think that I can.”
    “You are here in my employ. I am responsible for your well-being. As such, I cannot allow you to leave until I at least know what has upset you,” he stated firmly.
    She gave a shake of her head. “I have told you, it is nothing more than a headache.”
    “Did your mother never tell you it is wrong to tell lies?” Xander prompted conversationally as he guided Emily toward the table, pulling back her chair and seeing her seated before resuming his own seat next to her.
    She looked slightly dazed to find herself there. “I told you, both my parents are dead.”
    “Mine also.” Xander nodded. “But I remember my mother once telling me that I was disappointing myself when I attempted to lie to her. That I should receive less of a punishment by telling the truth of what I had done than if I was caught out in a lie.”
    “P-punishment?” she repeated shakily, eyes very wide.
    It was telling, Xander believed, that she had picked that one word out of his statement. “Were you happy in your marriage to Marsden?”
    Emily could not keep up with Whitney’s sudden changes of subject. First he tried to badger her into telling him why she had a headache, then he called her a liar when she did answer him, now he seemed to be implying… “My marriage was no better or worse than any other marriage,” she said sharply.
    “That is not what I asked.”
    “My marriage was arranged for me. By my aunt.” Her Aunt Celia, her mother’s sister, had taken Emily in when there were no other relatives to do so—or rather, none that would do so. When Edmund Marsden made an offer for Emily, her aunt had accepted on her behalf. When Emily raised objections, she was told she should be grateful for having received even one offer of marriage. Nor would her aunt hear of her refusing it.
    “You still have not answered my question,” Whitney stated evenly. “Were you happy being Marsden’s wife?”
    As it turned out, Edmund had not required a wife but an assistant, a maid, and a housekeeper. Emily had performed all those tasks without complaint. “I was…content.”
    “There is that word again!” Whitney snapped in disgust.
    “Yes.” She sounded defensive. She might not