She halted in her tracks and stared at him as if he were an imbecile. With two heads.
And maybe a tail.
“You really ought to endeavor to calm down,” he said, even though he knew his words would have the exact opposite effect. Women hated to be told to calm down, especially women like Francesca.
“Calm down?” she echoed, turning on him as if possessed by an entire spectrum of furies. “Calm down? Good God, Michael, are you still feverish?”
“Not at all,” he said coolly.
“Do you understand what I’m saying to you?”
“Quite,” he bit off, about as politely as any man could after having his manhood impugned.
“It’s insane,” she said. “Simply insane. I mean, look at you.”
Really, she might as well just grab a knife and apply it to his ballocks. “You know, Francesca,” he said with studied mildness, “there are a lot of women in London who would be rather pleased to be, how did you say it, conducting an affair with me.”
Her mouth, which had been hanging open after her latest outburst, snapped shut.
He lifted his brows and leaned back against his pillows. “Some would call it a privilege.”
She glared at him.
“Some women,” he said, knowing full well he should never bait her about such a subject, “might even engage in physical battle just for the mere opportunity-”
“Stop!” she snapped. “Good heavens, Michael, such an inflated view of your own prowess is not attractive.”
“I’m told it’s deserved,” he said with a languid smile.
Her face burned red.
He rather enjoyed the sight. He might love her, but he hated what she did to him, and he was not so big of heart that he didn’t occasionally take a bit of satisfaction in seeing her so tortured.
It was only a fraction of what he felt on a day-to-day basis, after all.
“I have no wish to hear about your amorous exploits,” Francesca said stiffly.
“Funny, you used to ask about them all the time.” He paused, watching her squirm. “What was it you always asked me?”
“I don’t-”
“Tell me something wicked” he said, using his best trying-to-sound-as-if-he’d-just-thought-of-it voice, when of course he never forgot anything she said to him. “Tell me something wicked,” he said again, more slowly this time. “That was it. You rather liked me when I was wicked. You were always so curious about my exploits.”
“That was before-”
“Before what, Francesca?” he asked.
There was an odd pause before she spoke. “Before this,” she muttered. “Before now, before everything.”
“I’m supposed to understand that?”
Her answer was merely a glare.
“Very well,” he said, “I suppose I should get ready for your mother’s visit. It shouldn’t be too much of a problem.”
Francesca regarded him dubiously. “But you look terrible.”
“I knew there was a reason I loved you so well,” he said dryly. “One really needn’t worry about falling into the sin of vanity with you about.”
“Michael, be serious.”
“Sadly, I am.”
She scowled at him.
“I can rise to my feet now,” he told her, “exposing you to parts of my body I would imagine you’d rather not see, or you can leave and await my glorious presence downstairs.”
She fled.
Which puzzled him. The Francesca he knew didn’t flee anything.
Nor, for that matter, would she have departed without at least making an attempt to get the last word.
But most of all, he couldn’t believe she had let him get away with calling himself glorious.
Francesca never did have to suffer a visit from her mother. Not twenty minutes after she left Michael’s bedchamber, a note arrived from Violet informing her that her brother Colin-who had been traveling in the Mediterranean for months-had just returned to London, and Violet would have to postpone her visit. Then, later that evening, much as Francesca had predicted at the onset of Michael’s attack, Janet and Helen arrived in London, assuaging Violet’s concerns about Francesca and Michael and their lack of a chaperone.
The mothers-as Francesca and Michael had long since taken to calling them-were thrilled at Michael’s unexpected appearance, although one look at his sickly features propelled both of them into maternal tizzies of concern that had forced Michael to take Francesca aside and beg her not to leave him alone with either of the two ladies. In truth, the timing of their arrival was rather fortuitous, as Michael had a comparatively healthy day in their presence before being struck by another raging fever. Francesca had taken them aside before the next expected attack and explained the nature of the illness, so by the time they saw the malaria in all its horrible glory, they were prepared.
And unlike Francesca, they were more agreeable-no, downright eager-to keep his malady a secret. It was difficult to imagine that a wealthy and handsome earl might not be considered an excellent catch by the unmarried ladies of London, but malaria was never a mark in one’s favor when looking for a wife.
And if there was one thing Janet and Helen were determined to see before the year was out, it was Michael standing at the front of a church, his ring firmly on the finger of a new countess.
Francesca was actually relieved to sit back and listen to the mothers harangue him about getting married. At least it took their attention off of her. She had no idea how they would react to her own marital plans-she rather imagined they would be happy for her-but the last thing she wanted was two more matchmaking mamas attempting to pair her up with every poor pathetic bachelor on the Marriage Mart.