The Earl Claims His Wife by Cathy Maxwell Page B

you insist on referring to me by my title as if we are mere acquaintances?”
    “Because we are mere acquaintances.”
    He scowled at her, an expression so terrible it startled a laugh out of her. That wasn’t what he’d wanted. “I might have liked you better when you were a mousy debutante,” he muttered.
    “I know you didn’t,” she countered.
    For a second, he looked stunned, and then gave a bark of laughter. “You’re right. I actually admire your spirit. You have bottom, Gillian,” he said, referring to her courage, and then he smiled his approval, the expression completely transforming him into the man she’d tumbled into love with that night on the ballroom floor…and she couldn’t help but smile back.
    Wright seemed to have changed. This man was different than the one she’d married. They would not have had such a moment four years ago. She liked him better now.
    He held up his left hand. “Is the ring what bothers you? I’ll take it off if you wish, but mind you, Gillian, my not wearing this ring doesn’t make us any less married. We are what we are. You might not like it. You might not like me. But I am your husband.”
    Perhaps it was Jess’s death that had freed him to come for her? Perhaps he truly did want to be her husband.
    Her expectations of him, her opinions all seemed to be turned upside down. Gillian knew she shouldn’t trust him, but was surprised at how open she was to this new person he seemed to have become. Was it her imagination that he was gentler, kinder…more considerate? Such small things and yet they wore well over time.
    “What is going on here, Wright? Why did you come for me?”
    “I told you I needed you.”
    He said the words as if they were the explanation for everything.
    “And I don’t know that I have anything to give you. I fear it is too late for us. We aren’t good for each other. We never were. And I want you to know, I will not go back to live under your father’s roof. I can’t live among such shallow people any longer. I refuse to do so.”
    Again, his reaction was not what she’d anticipated. He shrugged. “We won’t be going to my father’s house.”
    Gillian’s mouth dropped open. She had to close it before she could ask, “You don’t live there. And they let you?” She fell back against the seat. “I thought especially after your brothers’ deaths and how hard they battled with you to return to London, they were going to keep you under lock and key.”
    “Come along, Gillian. I am more my own man than that.”
    She rolled her eyes. “I know the marquess. Everything must be his way.”
    The angry muscle in his jaw tightened. She wondered if he knew how easily he gave away what he was thinking with the tense reaction. “I know my family’s faults, Gillian. I don’t need instruction from you.”
    “Did you come for me because you need a housekeeper?” she guessed, ignoring his show of temper.
    “I have a housekeeper,” he returned levelly. “What I want is a wife.”
    “We’ve had this conversation,” she said almost pleasantly. “I don’t want to be your wife.”
    “I should have married a meeker woman,” he grumbled, and she had to laugh.
    “I will accept that as a compliment.” She turned to face him. “Now, tell me why you really came for me.”

    Wright groaned and leaned his head against the back of the seat. “You are tenacious.”
    “Thank you,” she said dryly.
    He stared at the ceiling a moment and then said, “I want a position on Liverpool’s personal staff.
    There are those in Parliament and the War Office that wish Wellington to return home. They believe we have no chance of defeating Napoleon. They are wrong. We are going to chase the bugger all the way back to Paris and put him in a cage. However, Wellington’s enemies will do anything to stop the war, even to cutting off funds. I can help the army in the War Office. I can see that the men receive what they need to fight hard and fight well.”
    He