Once Upon A Wedding Night by Sophie Jordan

whisper. "Lady Meredith, how can this be?"
    Indignation welled up inside her. Who was he to ask such a question of her? She desired nothing more than to relieve Sir Hiram of his propriety air. Instead, she swallowed back the stinging set down she wished to vent. "I do not understand your meaning, Sir Hiram."
    As Sir Hiram struggled for words, Nick voiced his own question. "Yes, what do you mean, Rawlins?"
    Apparently realizing how close he was to insulting his host and hostess, Sir Hiram abandoned his line of questioning and lifted his glass in a toast. "Felicitations and many blessings on the safe delivery of your child."
    Meredith nodded in polite acknowledgment and smiled weakly as the others joined Sir Hiram in raising their glasses.
    She watched Nick drink deeply, his dark eyes trained on her over the rim. She gave him a small, grudging nod of gratitude for smoothing things over. Perhaps she even owed her aunt gratitude. By tomorrow all of Attingham would know she was with child. The matter of breaking the news would be out of the way. Even if no one believed it.
    ***
    Meredith could not say what exactly woke her. She lay still in bed for a few moments and waited, listening to the silence. Then she heard it.
    Voices. Floating from the first floor. They rumbled in the air like a distant drone of bees. The hour had to be very late. The night sky was pitch-black out her balcony window and the air almost unnaturally still. Grabbing her night rail, she pulled it over her cotton gown and hurried to investigate. She stopped at the top of the stairs, eyeing the scene below.
    Young Ben Finney stood on the threshold, his hands waving wildly with his excited speech. Nels stood there as well, nodding as he listened to the boy.
    "Nels?" Meredith called from the top of the stairs, clutching her night rail to her throat. "Is anything amiss?"
    "Mrs. Finney's time has begun. The lad here is to fetch Maree."
    "Give me a moment. I shall accompany her."
    Meredith hurried back to her room and made short work of dressing, changing into one of her old, brown wool dresses. She didn't bother with arranging her hair, simply allowed it to remain in its loosely bound plait. Perhaps she would have taken more care had she known she would face Nick in the foyer.
    "My lord? What are you doing here?" she asked as she descended the stairs, coming to a halt before him.
    "I heard voices." His dark eyes examined her, roving over her plain clothing and untidy hair.
    He appeared to have dressed in haste as well. His white lawn shirt flapped open to the middle of his chest and was tucked untidily into dark breeches. The tan of his skin presented a dark contrast to the stark white of his shirt, and Meredith experienced a strange tightening in her breasts the longer she looked at him.
    "I am sorry you were disturbed. Mrs. Finney's baby has chosen the middle of the night to greet the world," Meredith explained.
    Just then Maree ambled toward them, lugging a heavy basket. Nels rushed to help her. "I've got everything except the stove. Oh, did we wake everyone?"
    "I will accompany you, Maree," Meredith vol-unteered. Maree gave a grunt of acceptance, accustomed to Meredith's presence at the birthing of tenants' children.
    Nick followed them outside and took her arm to assist her into the Finney wagon. Their eyes locked as she settled on the hard seat. She felt certain his thoughts were on the last time he had
assisted
her. Warmth flooded her face at the memory of those strong hands on her derriere. She felt the heat of those black eyes boring into her back as they rode away in the wagon, but she dared not look back.
    "That one appears to do a good deal of looking at you," Maree murmured.
    Meredith cut a sharp glance to the boy at her side. Thankfully, Ben appeared too lost in his worries to pay attention to their conversation. She replied in hushed tones, "I don't know what you mean."
    Maree's keen eyes and worldly aura reminded Meredith that this woman had done her