Patrick’s arms tightened around his wife. What an infernal ass he was.

“You didn’t … You did! You were jealous,” Sophie accused, looking up and meeting his eyes.

For a wild moment Patrick wanted to deny it. But they had promised to be honest with each other from now on.

“I was savagely jealous,” he admitted, lowering his lips so that they just touched Sophie’s. “I used to writhe with jealousy.”

“But you—I thought you had a mistress!”

“I mean to ask you about that,” Patrick said, with some curiosity. “Who was that black-haired woman you fancied I was spending my time with?”

Sophie was still giggling over Patrick’s irrational jealousy. “Charlotte suggested you were jealous of Braddon, but I couldn’t credit it.” Then her eyes widened. “Charlotte! Oh, Patrick, your mistress must have been Charlotte!”

Patrick laughed. “Not that I noticed.” He pulled his wife’s delicious self back onto his lap.

“You see, Henri saw you with a beautiful black-haired woman—”

“And Henri never had a chance to meet Alex before he went off to school, so he didn’t know that I have a twin brother,” Patrick finished. “That will teach you to mistrust your husband!”

He took a deep breath and leaned his forehead against hers. “We’re a pair of idiots, Sophie. Why didn’t we talk?”

Sophie sweetly rubbed her nose against his. “I couldn’t,” she said simply. “I thought you were behaving like my father, and so what was the point of discussing it? I was grateful that you didn’t flaunt the woman in the ballroom, in front of me. So what right did I have to complain?”

“What right to complain!” Patrick was aghast. “You had every right to complain! You’re my wife, for God’s sake.”

“You didn’t complain about my excursions with Braddon,” Sophie reminded him softly. “Braddon worried that you would get angry, but I thought you hadn’t noticed.”

“I couldn’t,” Patrick said. “How could I complain if you wanted to see Braddon? If it hadn’t been for my insufferable behavior, you would have been happily married to Braddon!”

Even the thought of it wrenched his heart. “Sophie,” he said suddenly, “are you sure that you love me? Alex says that Braddon is very lovable.”

“Braddon is lovable,” Sophie replied. She cupped his face in her hands, brushing her lips across his. “You, sir, are not lovable. You are argumentative and you come to ridiculous conclusions. You ignore me and then insist that you were actually thinking about me.” Her voice dropped. “You make me want you in my bed, and then you leave me, without telling me why. You are made into a Duke of the Realm, and forget to tell me about it. I can’t understand the way you think. And I certainly don’t know why I love you so much.”