Dark Deceptions: A Regency and Medieval Collection of Dark Romances(48)

Silence met his pronouncement.

Watson hesitated a fraction of a moment and then grinned. “Mr. Markham, on behalf of the entire staff, it is my pleasure to wish you congratulations on your nuptials!”

Adam inclined his head and, either unaware or uncaring of the gaping stares being shot their way from the row of servants, proceeded to speak to Watson.

The plump housekeeper at his side looked at Georgina with suspicion in her narrow-eyed stare.

Georgina’s gut clenched. The staff here was really no different than any other person she’d known in her life—cool, unfeeling, judgmental.

Still on this, Georgina’s wedding day, she’d longed to revel in the joy of her and Adam’s union. Instead, she’d encountered everything from hostility to unspoken disapproval.

She had to dig her feet into the soles of her slipper to keep from turning on her heel and fleeing out the front door.

“Miss Gayle, would you please show Mrs. Markham to her chambers?”

Georgina jumped when Adam’s words registered, and a wave of heat climbed up her neckline. His staff surely knew just why she was being shown to her chambers. She suspected she should’ve felt more embarrassment and not felt this breathless sense of anticipation.

Miss Gayle’s lips turned down at the corners. She clapped her hands once and the servants all dispersed like caged birds set free. With a curt nod, she spoke to Georgina. “If you would follow me, Mrs. Markham.”

Without waiting to see if Georgina did as bid, she turned on her heel and started up the winding staircase.

Adam leaned down and grazed her cheek with his lips. Georgina’s heart tripped at the tiny, telltale gesture of support, and suddenly Miss Gayle’s disapproval mattered naught.

“I’ll be up shortly.” His husky whisper bespoke wickedness and desire.

Georgina felt her womb stir with anticipation. Adam had to nudge her toward Miss Gayle, who’d frozen on the stairwell. She matched the taller woman’s stride up the remaining stairs and down a long hall. The housekeeper stopped beside the last door on that floor.

She opened it and motioned for Georgina to enter. “Mrs. Markham,” she murmured, her voice devoid of emotion.

Georgina hesitated but then decided she preferred the idea of being in her new chambers to standing in the hall with this foul creature.

She took a step inside and froze. Her mouth fell agape and she had to remind herself to close it.

“It is rather impressive, isn’t it?” Miss Gayle said. Georgina thought she detected a trace of condescension in the older woman’s words.

Real or imagined, it infused her spine with strength. Georgina turned to the woman with a small frown. “Miss Gayle, have I done something to offend you?”

The housekeeper’s eyes went wide for a moment. She shook her head. “Forgive me. I do not know what you are speaking of.”

Georgina gritted her teeth. She’d had enough of stern disapproval. The nurses at Middlesex Hospital. The Earl of Whitehaven. The Countess of Whitehaven. She’d not tolerate any more…particularly from a stranger who knew her not at all. “I should hope a woman of your courage and conviction could at least be forthright with me, Miss Gayle.”

Miss Gayle blinked back at her in what Georgina thought was surprise. “May I speak frankly?”

Georgina inclined her head. “I wish that you would.” She preferred honesty to the false veneer of aloof politeness worn by Adam’s mother and older brother.

“The staff is concerned,” Miss Gayle finally said.

Well, that makes all of us then.

Georgina waited for the woman to continue.

“There have been…” The maid fell silent.

“There have been…?” Georgina prodded gently.

“Rumors circulating quite freely. One of the maids has a cousin who is employed by the Earl of Whitehaven who mentioned that Mr. Markham had been forced to marry you.”

Georgina’s heart tightened. She clenched her fingers so tightly it would surely leave marks in the flesh of her palms. Adam’s staff was good and loyal. They cared for him and worried that she was an interloper who’d forced his hand.

She glanced away, her gaze colliding with the tall windows at the opposite end of the room. Hadn’t she though? Had Adam married her because he truly wanted to? Or had he been driven by a sense of obligation after she’d been relieved of her responsibilities at Middlesex?

The housekeeper continued, twisting the knife of guilt deeper. “It is also being said that you are the source of much contention between Mr. Markham and his family. Every member of the staff knows just how close he is with the countess and his brothers, and it is—”

“That will be all, Miss Gayle,” Adam said in frigid tones.

The housekeeper paled.

Georgina’s gaze swiveled to the front of the room. Adam stood framed in the doorway, the muscles in his arms tensed, the fabric of his jacket stretched tight over his skin.

“I—”

“That will be all,” he said.

Unrepentant Miss Gayle’s glared and, with an insolent curtsy, hurried from the room.

Georgina toyed with the fabric of her skirts, looking everywhere and anywhere but at him as he strode across the room toward her.

He rested his hands on her shoulders. “Look at me,” he said, his words a husky murmur.