The Suitable Bride (The Emberton Brothers Series Book 2) by Karen Aminadra

be, sounded far worse coming from his mouth.
    She feared she would lose Edward, but she refused to be ashamed. She would never be embarrassed by what she had done and how she acted. After all, it was commonplace. What she objected to was the insinuation that she was spoiled goods, that she now was no longer worthy to be any gentleman’s wife. It disgusted her that such behaviour could be carried on under the noses of the gentry—in fact, the gentry freely partook of such pleasures—and a blind eye was turned until it was discovered. When it was discovered, who paid the price? The woman! The woman alone was chastised, castigated, and ostracised.
    What hurt her so profoundly that she could barely breathe was the thought that Edward would now turn aside from her, that he would repent of his love for her and demand she break off their engagement.
    “So it is true? You do not deny any part of it?” Edward asked her staring at her in desperation, his eyes willing her to deny each accusation.
    She could not speak. Her throat clamped up so tightly with emotion that she could not give voice to her answer. Reluctantly, she nodded.
    “Oh, dear God!” Edward leapt out of the chair, ran his hands through his thick copper hair, and paced the room. “What have you brought upon me?”
    Frances was incensed at the suggestion. “I have not brought anything upon you, Edward. I have done nothing wrong to you. All of these things that you accuse me of, that your mother accuses me of, that her friends accuse me of, are in the past.”
    “In the distant past?” Edward asked, clearly grasping at straws.
    She continued to watch him, the growing desperation and her belly making her feel nauseated. She shook her head.
    “What you mean, no?” He was so angry at her that he seized her by the shoulders and shook her. “What do you mean, no? When did you last take a lover? Was it while you were trying to win me?” he hissed.
    Again, Frances shook her head, her tears rolling freely down her face. “No. I promise you, I have not been unfaithful to you, Edward.” She sobbed, “I love you.”
    “You say that, but what do you know of love?” Edward’s features were contorted with resentment. “You have known other men. You have not kept yourself pure!”
    “Purity? Is that what you want in a wife? Or do you want a wife to love you?” she fired back at him.
    Visibly, he was taken aback by her retort.
    “Well? Do you want purity in a wife or do you want a wife who will sincerely, wholeheartedly, and will all her being love you?
    Her bottom lip trembled as she stood there staring desperately at him. She observed how he seemed to mull over her words. His evident pain caused her more anguish as the moments stretch on. “Well?” she sniffed. “Which do you want? Or is it, Edward, that you expected to find both simply because your brother Richard did?”
    He shot a withering look in her direction. “You leave Richard out of this.”
    “But that is what this is all about, isn’t it? You know full well that there are very few pure women in the ton. ” At his look of astonishment, she threw her hands up in the air. “Dear God, Edward, are you trying to tell me that you honestly think that everyone in society is virtuous?”
    He shrank back from her.
    “Let me enlighten you, Edward. Most of society is full of illicit encounters worthy of the rumours spread about the Prince Regent and Lord Byron.” She stepped forward, emboldened by the confession. “And let me tell you about them too. What they say is true. Almost every lady has a lover and almost every gentleman has a mistress. Those who do not are considered priggish.”
    Edward snorted at her claim.
    “You may doubt me, Edward, but you have not been in society often enough. Go and ask your friends at Boodle’s,” she ordered, pointing a finger out of the window and in the direction of that gentlemen’s club in Pall Mall. “Go on! Go and ask them how many of them keep mistresses!