Page 59 of A Necessary Wife

She drew a chair to face him and sat with her hands clasped in her lap.

He drew in a deep breath, clenched his teeth for a moment, and chose his words with care. “We were arguing. A lot.”

“What about?” she asked. “Her affairs?”

“Yes. I wanted her to give them up. Her beaus, as she called them. She refused.”

Amelia nodded. “She was selfish.”

“No…yes.”

“You realize you are enough of a man to please any reasonable woman.”

He shifted awkwardly in his chair, discomfited by her praise. He did not deserve it. He had not been a good husband to her so far. He had failed at it before, and still was.

“Go on,” she said, refusing to let the matter drop.

He raked a hand through his hair, his mind now clearer. “We were fighting.”

“Where did it start?”

He looked at her in confusion.

“The argument that day. Where were you? Describe the location for me in detail.”

He winced. “I had gone to her room. I’d suffered the smirk of her latest beau as we passed on the drive, as he’d just left her bed, I suspected. I went to confront her to see if my suspicions were correct. The bed was rumpled. She hadn’t even attempted to hide what she’d been doing.”

“She didn’t care if you were hurt?”

He shook his head.

“And she didn’t deny the affair?”

“No. She told me everything, in fact. About the others, too. More than I wanted to know—all the while smiling, obviously thrilled to cause me pain.”

“You yelled at her.”

“I raised my voice. I never do that.”

“You were provoked,” she offered.

He shook off her offer of explanation. “I’m not prone to tantrums.”

“Everyone can be pushed to their limit, but you were provoked to it that night, without a doubt.”

“Indeed, I was.” He bowed his head. “I lost that night. I lost all hope that there was any chance for us to live as husband and wife—happily, or even unhappily.”

Amelia reached out and lifted his face toward hers again. “Go on.”

“All of it started in her bedchamber. She flounced out of the room, telling me she would be leaving the next day for a rendezvous with another lover. But also seeking escape from my words, my complaints, too, I suppose.”

“You followed her?”

“Yes. I couldn’t stand the sight of her rumpled bed and sought escape from the house, as well. I pursued her along the hall and toward the staircase. I wanted to stop her and listen to me for a change and she did.”

“At the head of the stairs, where she fell?”

“Yes,” he said, remembering that night. Her body lying upside down on the staircase. Her head turned and neck obviously broken. Her skirts twisted up around her pale legs.