Page 85 of A Necessary Wife

He smiled at how she defended Lucy, even if she must be vexed with her. “That is, I think, firmly in the past. Phillipa showed her true colors today and lost Lucy’s trust. She will not be given any opportunity to regain it.”

Amelia frowned. “I do not wish to dictate her friendships.”

“Lucky for you, I can protect my family from being imposed upon by others who think too well of themselves,” he promised. “Dunstan left the estate at noon. He will not bother you again.”

Amelia sighed and looked away.

He caught Amelia’s hand and drew it to his lips. He kissed the ring on her finger. She should be happy but his words had made her sad for some reason. “Something else is wrong. I can feel it.”

“Nothing is wrong. But there is something I wish to talk about with you.”

A prickling of unease filled him when she tugged back her hand. “What is it?”

She frowned. “I think it would be best if we cease lovemaking for a while.”

His heart soared with joy at a possible reason for that, and he grabbed her hands again to pull her closer. “You’re with child?”

“No.” She jerked her hands back to her waist. “I don’t believe I am.”

“Then why stop?” They were making love often and gloriously.

Amelia moved a little bit farther away, and a chill swept over him.

“Even if you are with child, it is not necessary to cease lovemaking.”

She chewed her lip for a moment. “We need to.”

Milo was thoroughly confused now. “Why do you want to stop doing something you enjoy?”

She burst to her feet. “I have to be honest with myself, and with you. Our marriage has altered me in ways I didn’t expect. I know that’s not what you want to hear or what we agreed upon. I think… I think I have to go away for a while.”

“What? No!” He panicked at the thought of any separation. He could not imagine any gulf of space between them. “Is it your family? Do you miss your brother and the garden you made there? I swear, I will keep my promises to give you one of your own.”

“I know you will, and I must keep my promises as well. Leaving is something I need to do. Perhaps I could go to my cottage for a few days. It is much closer than Devon.”

He frowned at the mention of the tiny cottage Amelia had inherited and delivered into his keeping upon their wedding day. He hadn’t imagined any situation where she might stay there, for any length of time. She had a home waiting for her and should have given up on the cottage the moment she’d married him. “For how long do you wish to be away from me?”

“Until these feelings leave me,” she whispered—then seeming horrified as she quickly covered her lips.

She’d not meant to say that out loud, he’d wager…and Milo’s heart skipped a beat.

He took a step in her direction. “What feelings?”

She shook her head.

Milo dared to hope, until he noticed her tension. She was wound tighter than a drum, and about to bolt, he feared. “What feelings, Amelia?”

She lifted her eyes to his. They were wide with fear. “I don’t know what they are, but I can’t have them,” she whispered.

Her eyes dropped away again, and it was as if a door had slammed closed on the life they were building together.

The love barely begun.

His heart started beating fast as he realized the source of her distress was him, and those feelings that neither of them wanted to acknowledge.

But Amelia was not just a necessary wife anymore.

She was essential to his happiness.