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surprise, but her passionate response to his kiss had made warning bells ring inside his brain and stopped h im from taking things further as yet. He found himself wondering how much he really knew about his new wife – what if she were not the innocent she claimed to be? What if he had been duped and she really had been Sir Bernard’s mistress already? Her abandoned caresses suggested experience. Perhaps this was all a ruse so that Sir Bernard would not have to accept the consequences of his actions? What if Amelia was already with child? She had claimed not to be, but she could have been lying.
    And dear Lord, why didn’t I think of this before? Why did I take her word for it? But she had seemed so sincere and he had been so angry at her cousin ...
    A co ld knot formed in his stomach. He would have looked a fool indeed if she was pregnant and he had to claim the child as his own simply because he couldn’t wait to bed her himself. It would account for her willingness to marry a man she barely knew and her wanton behaviour just now.
    James began to think of more and more possibilities, his mind torturing him with visions of Amelia kissing someone else as passionately as she had him . All the conversations they had had during the journey, when he had begun to like and trust her, were instantly forgotten.
    I must have been mad , he thought. I should have checked her story more thoroughly . But he had been taken in by her air of a damsel in distress and the loathsome Sir Bernard had certainly done his bit to convince him. James swore silently. Well, he would not fall for her wiles. If she was with child, let her try and foist it on someone else. He would bide his time and make sure before he touched her again. Until then, she would be his wife in name only.
    As for his grandfather’s wish for him to have an heir on the way, that would have to wait. Hopefully the old man would live at least another six months and James was sure he would know within two or three if Amelia was pregnant or not. Perhaps he could have her examined by a doctor? No, nature will take its course so there should be no need for that. She would have to be a few month’s gone already in order to be certain herself, if that truly was her motive in proposing, so in the not too distant future the pregnancy would begin to show ... His brain worked feverishly, turning over the possibilities, but he was sure he was right. One of his female cousins had regaled him with all the tedious details of being enceinte and he remembered what she had said, despite being bored out of his skull at the time.
    And if there is no sign of a child? Once he was sure Amelia had been telling the truth, they could continue with the marriage as planned. If not, I will have to divorce her.
    Besides, he thought, there was no guarantee of a child for him and Amelia in any case. It was up to God whether they would be so blessed, as and when the time came to try. And Grandfather would want him to make sure that any heir was a true Winholt.
    James swore to do just that.
     
    James was already gone by the time Amelia was awakened by a kindly maidservant who brought her hot water to wash with and some breakfast. Amelia’s head was throbbing with the after effects of the wine, but she made herself eat a little nonetheless. James had said they had a busy day ahead of them, so she needed something to settle her stomach.
    Just as she had finished eating, her new husband entered the room, looking as i f nothing had happened at all. Amelia frowned slightly, but could not pluck up the courage to ask him anything about it.
    ‘ Are you ready?’ he asked. ‘We are going to Carlisle to buy you some clothes. I can’t arrive home with a wife who is dressed in cast-offs, which is what I take that to be?’ He nodded towards the dress she was wearing, which was indeed one that had belonged to Lady Marsh. ‘And I did promise to buy you a new wardrobe, did I not?’
    ‘ Yes, I remember you