Thirty-Six

"When do you intend to let her out of your bed?" Adeline demanded testily, fixing her nephew with an irritable glare when he appeared downstairs for breakfast alone. "No one has seen Cassandra in two days!"

Lifting his dark brow in a mocking gesture, Henry looked coolly at his aunt. "I thought you were anxious for an heir, aunt Adeline. I don't know of another way to provide one for you."

"Henry!" He was still angry, she could see that, and Adeline hesitated before asking cautiously, "Is she...all right?"

"If you mean have I given her the beating she so richly deserves, then no. But if you mean, have I hurt her, it's almost impossible for a virgin not to experience some pain in the first time," he said so bluntly the duchess coloured like a schoolgirl before she recovered her composure.

"Yes," she said stiffly, hoping to shock him into realizing how cruel he sounded, "we all heard her scream after you took her upstairs."

Her words only amused Henry, and he shrugged. "I suppose that's n