“That’s just it,” Patrick retorted. “Sophie didn’t even seem to have noticed. So I stayed away the next night.” He glanced at Alex, who was looking surprised and thoughtful. “It’s absurd—but I was waiting for some recognition on her part that I had avoided her bed. But she’s as cordial as a duchess at a damn party and, frankly, I don’t think she gives a toss whether I ever come to her chambers again.”

Alex frowned. “Did she enjoy being in your bed?”

Patrick looked bewildered. “That’s just it. I thought she did. No, I know she did. And Lord knows, I did. But now … it’s been over two weeks. She greets me as sweetly as if we were spending every night together. Sophie is perfectly pleasant, no matter what I do.”

“You will have to broach the subject then,” Alex observed.

Patrick threw him a disgusted look. “How does one ask a perfectly contented woman whether she has noticed that her husband has deserted her bed? She shows no signs of being inconvenienced!”

“You don’t know that,” Alex objected. “Find out. Go to her room. You don’t need to discuss the matter necessarily. Simply go.”

Silence puddled in the room for a moment. “I could try it,” Patrick said slowly.

“You’ve nothing to lose.”

Patrick grimaced. “I suppose you’re right.”

“Have you told her that you’re in love with her?”

At that Patrick flashed him an irritated look. “Of course I haven’t!”

“Well, you are,” Alex assured him. “Otherwise, you wouldn’t be in such a pother over the fact that Sophie doesn’t seem as enthusiastic about marital pleasures as you are.”

“Enthusiastic! You don’t understand,” Patrick snapped. “She’s happy living the life of a damned nun. Hell, I don’t know why she didn’t enter a convent.”

“You won’t know until you enter her bedchamber again,” Alex said. Then he grinned. “As for myself, I shall begin planning to spend my five hundred crowns. And you had better accustom yourself to the idea of sleeping in a frilly nightshirt.”

Patrick frowned. “What the devil—”

“You didn’t even make it a year,” Alex said mockingly. “Remember? I bet you five hundred crowns and a lace nightshirt that you’d be desperately in love with your wife within the year. We’re only a few months into the marriage, and here you are.”

Then he sobered. “Why don’t you tell Sophie? Tell her that you love her.”

Patrick looked up from the carpet, his heart in his eyes. “The feeling is not mutual, Alex. She doesn’t give a toss whether I’m around or not. She’s perfectly happy spending most of her time with an assortment of men who hang around the house at all hours. Braddon practically lives with us.”