Page 47 of Secrets of the Marriage Bed

She wanted to throw something at him. Too bad she could not reach the soap. Or the rinsing water.

He inhaled a breath through his arrogant nose. ‘Precisely.’

‘Well, you are wrong. I am not with child. I cannot be with child. I am barren.’

At the sight of his stunned expression, she sank down on the sofa. She closed her eyes against another wave of dizziness. ‘I am sorry,’ she said dully. ‘I should have told you.’

‘You are sure of this?’ His voice was arctic and she could not meet his gaze.

‘My husband dragged me from oneaccoucheurto the next. The best money could buy.’ One humiliating interview after another accompanied by nasty inspections and questions. And ever-increasing fury from her husband. It made her shudder to recall it. ‘Each and every one of them agreed that there was no hope.’ She wanted to cry and she wanted to rage against fate. But most of all she wished she had told him right from the beginning.

After a few moments’ silence, she risked a peep. He was staring down at her with sympathy. ‘Julia, I’m sorry. But it doesn’t concern me all that much. I have an heir.’

‘Not an heir of your body,’ she muttered, relieved at his reaction, but unable to rejoice in it.

An odd look crossed his face. Chagrin? Disappointment? And then it was gone as he crouched down beside her. ‘Really. It doesn’t matter.’

She did not believe him, but she was grateful for his kindness. ‘I’m useless as a wife.’

‘Julia.’ The note of command in his voice had her looking up. There were white lines around his mouth, his lips were a straight line. ‘You need to rest. We will talk of this later, when you feel better. I will send your dresser up to you.’ He bowed and left.