“I’ll sleep imprisoned in this thing for your sake.” He climbed back into bed.
“What did you and Angelique argue about?” Hardy asked.
“Something very stupid. And the fault belongs to us both. But mostly to me, I think. I think I know where I went awry and now I want to kick myself. But it’s not as though I do not have a point.”
“I’m beginning to think there are no stupid arguments in a marriage,” Hardy said dryly. After a moment he asked, “Would you like me to kick you?”
“Kind of you to offer, but I think I’ll save that pleasure for Angelique,” Lucien said.
Captain Hardy smiled.
Lucien blew out a long breath. “Bloody hell, it’s been a very trying few weeks.”
“We’ll get through it,” Captain Hardy said shortly. After a moment.
The two of them had already talked so much about potentialities there was no point in going over them again.
“I do have something to confess,” Hardy said so somberly that Lucien turned to him in concern.
“I’ve fantasized about throttling the German trio.”
“They’re really inordinatelymerry,” Lucien said darkly.
“Too bloody merry,” Hardy agreed. “I’m so close to batting Hans gently on the snout like a hound to keep him from flirting with the maids.”
“They’re just boys.”
“I’m sure some woman will bat him on the snout sooner or later, metaphorically or not,” Captain Hardy said, somewhat morosely.
“No doubt. Good night, Hardy. Try to sleep.”
Lucien doused the lamp.
Chapter Ten
Delilah gave a start when she heard the knock on her door and her heart leaped both in hope and dread.
“It’s me,” Angelique said.
Her heart didn’t precisely sink. At least now she had a sense of where her husband was going to spend the night. Which was all to the good.
“Come in,” Delilah called to her.
Angelique came in and shut the door quietly behind her. “I saw Tristan in the hall. Are you all right?”
“No,” Delilah said. Miserably.
Angelique sat down on the bed and pulled Delilah into a hug.
Delilah sighed. “Remind me why we thought we wanted to marry these men?”
Angelique gave a short, pained laugh. “Lust clouded our brains.”
Delilah laughed shortly. “Tristan is usually soreasonable. You would think bullets would glance right off of his hide. Well, you know. He’s usually an island of calm and certainty. We can talk about things rationally, even when we disagree.And wedotalk, about everything. We seemed to have reached some sort of philosophical impasse and I can’t seem to untangle it. There’s something troubling him that he won’t tell me. My stomach hurts.”
“For better or for worse,” Angelique mused. “It’s almost as though whoever wrote those vows was married. They must have known it could get bad.”
“I hate it so much, Angelique,” Delilah said bleakly. “I wish he would talk to me. And I can’t help but feel guilty because we’ve accidentally managed to cram the house with, er, challenging guests, during the worst possible time.”