Before his lips met hers, however, Madeline heard the sound of a throat being cleared. A fierce wave of disappointment shot through her at the reminder that they were not alone; Freddie still hovered nearby, although one of Rayne’s footmen had disappeared, leading his horse around to the stables, and the other had withdrawn a discreet distance.
“By Jove,” Freddie enthused, “now that is a romantic vow if I have ever heard one. You should be quite happy now, Madeline. All your fears were for naught.”
Flustered by their unwanted audience, Madeline drew back from Rayne, while Freddie continued his cheerful observations. “Rumor has it that Rayne is the ideal lover, but I can clearly see that for myself now. No doubt I could take lessons from him—”
“Freddie, old friend,” Rayne interrupted sharply, “will you please make yourself scarce? Whatever your problems, they will have to wait for some future time. At the moment, I require privacy with my wife.”
“Certainly,” Freddie said, grinning. “I am merely reveling in the chance to crow. It is about time you succumbed to love. I was growing weary of always being the besotted one. And just think, I am responsible for your matchmaking—”
“Freddie,” Rayne growled.
“Very well, I am leaving! But Madeline, when you are free, pray remember that I need you to champion me with Miss Merrywether’s mama.”
“I will, Freddie,” she promised, although all her attention was on her husband.
Rayne responded in kind, taking her hand and touching his lips to her fingers. “Shall we continue this conversation inside, love?” he asked. “We have some very private matters to discuss.”
When Madeline gave him a shaky smile of agreement, his large, warm hand settled on the small of her back and guided her up the front steps of the manor, leaving Freddie behind to arrange for his curricle to be brought around.
Once inside the house, Rayne led her to his study and shut the door firmly behind them. “No
w, where were we?”
Having halted, Madeline turned to face him expectantly. “You were about to kiss me if I recall.”
A quick smile flashed across his mouth, then disappeared. “I would like to do much more than kiss you, love, but I believe I must first proffer you an abject apology. For my grandmother, and more important, for myself.”
Hiding her regret, Madeline quelled her need to feel Rayne’s reassuring embrace and said simply, “I don’t need apologies, Rayne. I only need to know you love me.”
His eyes were intent and very blue. “I do love you, Madeline. And I am not about to let you leave me. But at least allow me to explain why I was so resistant to you.”
She did want very much to hear his explanation, so she accompanied Rayne to the sofa, where he drew her down beside him.
“I admit I tried my damnedest not to fall in love with you,” he began. “In fact, I planned never to feel anything resembling love for the rest of my life.”
Held transfixed by his gaze, Madeline ventured a guess at what had precipitated his resolution. “Freddie said you once experienced a tragic love affair and never recovered.”
Rayne grimaced. “Freddie is a damned rattlepate.”
“But is it true?”
“Yes—although my story was not exactly tragic. Some years ago I fell in love with a Frenchwoman who pretended to return my ardor so that I would save her aristocratic family from persecution. But as soon as they were safely in England, she cast me aside to return to her lover.”
Madeline felt a protective rush of sympathy at Rayne’s confession. “She must have been mad to prefer anyone over you,” she declared loyally.
Again his smile was fleeting. “I am honored by the compliment, sweeting—but in all honesty, I could understand her desire to be united with her lover. Yet having my first youthful love betrayed set me on my guard. After the war’s end, I returned home to England determined to remain forever unencumbered by emotional attachments.” He reached up and stroked her cheek with a fingertip. “But you changed all that for me, Madeline.”
“It did not seem so,” she said in a small voice. “Since we spoke our vows, you have grown more and more distant by the day.”
“I know, and I regret my retreat, sweetheart. My only excuse is that I needed time to acknowledge my feelings for you.”
Capturing her hand in his, Rayne laced their fingers together. “I should have suspected my undoing much earlier. When I was with you, you drove me wild, and when we were apart, I thought about you constantly. The most telling sign, though, was that I flew into a jealous rage every time Ackerby came near you, when normally I am notoriously even-tempered.”
Both of Madeline’s eyebrows lifted. “You really were jealous?”
“Supremely.”
She shook her head, marveling at Rayne’s admission. “I have never known any man to feel jealousy on my account.”