Only Marriage Will Do. Jenna Jaxon

while the chicken and vegetables became increasingly lukewarm. Finally, he tossed his napkin down on the table and went in search of his “wife.”

      He knocked on Glynis’s door and the maid answered, her face a puckered frown.

      “Is Lady Juliet ready? Our dinner is getting cold.” He tried to keep a pleasant tone, although the insolent look on the girl’s face made it difficult.

      “My lady says to tell you she is not hungry and will not be dining this evening.” Her frosty glare dared him to object.

      “I will be the judge of that.” Amiable shoved his way past her, much as he had done with the servant at Dunham House yesterday morning. He strode over to the still figure in a chair placed before the cold fireplace. She did not acknowledge his presence by word or movement, though she must know he stood right beside her, towering over her. She would have to be dead to miss him.

      “I have been waiting for you, Juliet. Our dinner has grown cold.” He tried very hard to keep his tone light. This wasn’t her fault.

      “As Glynis has just informed you, I am not hungry, Captain Dawson. You have my leave to begin without me.”

      Her flat, emotionless tone made him wince. Another battle to be fought.

      “As you reminded me a short time ago, I am not your wife, Captain. You need not pretend solicitude toward a casual acquaintance.” She stared determinedly into the dead fireplace.

      “I believe we passed casual acquaintance status approximately half an hour ago, my dear.” He smiled at the memory of her shocked expression. “Please come and dine with me, Juliet. We must keep up the fiction of husband and wife, you know.”

      “I suppose in the wide world there has been a wife who has not been hungry at dinner time and has refused to dine with her husband,” she said, still staring at the cold ashes. “Although, if such an occurrence has not actually happened before in the history of mankind, then I suppose I shall be the first.”

      “Juliet.” He hunkered down beside her chair and looked into her face. The flickering light of the room’s one lamp cast her more in shadow, but he read the hurt pride and anger on her face well enough. “I am sorry if my words earlier offended you, my lady.” Perhaps it would help the situation if they reverted to the distance of formal address. “But they were true. We are not wed and I cannot in honor act as though we are. I am here as your protector, not your debaucher.”

      “It seemed so right, so natural.” Her voice died away and her head dropped to stare at her lap.

      “Nevertheless, it was wrong.” Damnation. He cursed himself roundly for ever starting that little scene in their room. “I suppose we acted our parts as in a play, and the roles became real to both of us. But as much as we may become absorbed in a play on the stage, it is only a play after all. Once you have had time to reflect on it, I believe you would not want that particular role in truth.”

      She sat still, hands clasped in her lap.

      Amiable stood, his heart sinking. “I will summon a kitchen maid to come warm our dinner for us. I will then go back to the parlor where dinner is laid. I would like very much to have the honor of your company, my lady. I look forward to seeing you soon.”

      He left the room, passing the disapproving Glynis on his way out. After giving his orders to the kitchen, he returned to the chamber and, though he had not yet eaten, poured a shot of brandy, tossing it down his throat in a single gulp. Some days one could do absolutely nothing right.

      At a loss for what to do, he wandered the room, gazed at the two mediocre watercolors on the parlor wall then thumbed through a volume on horticulture until dinner returned to the table, piping hot. Again, he sat down and waited, then consulted his pocket watch. Five slow minutes later, he shook out his napkin and picked up his fork. He would not let good food go to waste even though he now had little appetite. Doggedly, he plowed through his plate, the hot food tasting like sand.

      The door opened.

      He stopped chewing and held his breath as Juliet seated herself across the table from him.