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"Oh no She didn&039;t trickher," he assured her "First you should understand that ere friends for quite a while before we irl, fun to talk to, alith an opinion on this or that, and as I say, she had a plan She knew it could be centuries before sheout and finding one, but she didn&039;t want to wait centuries to have a baby She wanted one while she was young"

"She did, did she?" Eshe asked dryly "And I gather you weren&039;t averse to having a child either?"

Aretically "It had been rown and always off exploring so a family"

"So youhis lips "Jeanne Louise was a beautiful baby"

"And Rosamund?" Eshe prompted

Armand&039;s smile faded "Jeanne Louise was born in February Five months later in July, Rosamund died"

"Fire?" she asked

Aron she was driving careened off the road and turned over in a ditch"

Several questions occurred to Eshe The first was, "Was anyone with her?"

"Jeanne Louise, but she was thrown clear when the carriage rolled off the road and into the ditch She wasn&039;t even hurt Apparently the blankets she rapped in cushioned her landing"

"Where was Rosamund headed?"

"Into town, I think" Armand frowned and then admitted, "She spent a lot of time away from the farm after Jeanne Louise was born She&039;d pack the baby up and head out when I left for the barn I didn&039;t think much about it at the time I was busy on the farm and we still had to hunt to feed, and I just assu, but after she died"

"After she died?" Eshe prompted

Armand shook his head "I found out that there were a lot of tiet back until just before I did at dawn In fact, ht"

"It wouldn&039;t have taken that long to hunt up a htfully She considered his troubled expression and then asked, "Do you think she was having affairs like Althea?"

He appeared startled by the question "Rosamund? No, I don&039;t think so"

"You never read her mind?" Eshe asked with surprise

Arh enough without intruding on each other&039;s private thoughts so we had a deal to try not to do that"

Eshe nodded slowly, but pointed out, "So you can&039;t be sure she too didn&039;t have affairs"

He sighed wearily "No, I can&039;t, and I suppose that would explain what she ht she&039;d have felt she had to keep that froht if she wanted to"

Eshe considered his expression He didn&039;t appear hurt or angry at the idea that Rosa affairs, merely somewhat startled at the possibility He also hadn&039;t appeared upset by Althea&039;s affairs, but then they hadn&039;t been life mates She supposed thatkilled his wives in a jealous rage At least wives two and three

"And Susanna?" she asked now, and when he glanced at her with confusion, asked, "How did she die exactly? I knoas a fire, but-"

"Oh," he said on a sigh "It was a stable fire shortly after Nicholas was born The faland then, and as a baron I had to make the occasional trip to court I had put it off that year until after the birth, but the day after Nicholas ca into the world, I kissed Susanna and the baby and headed out I returned as quickly as I could; still it was nearly teeks before I rode back into the bailey She had been dead a week by then"

Armand&039;s expression was stark for a moment as he recalled the painful loss, and Eshe waited patiently His expression convinced her he had loved his Susanna She didn&039;t begrudge hi It didn&039;t h love to welcome and erief easing from his expression as he forced himself to continue more clinically "It seems a fire started in the stable a week after I left Susanna must have run in to try to save her ift from me e married But the roof must have caved in while she was inside and a bea," he finished wearily

"Another accident," Eshe rimly

"And then there&039;s Annie," she pointed out

Arlanced at her with a start "Annie?"

"Nicholas&039;s wife She was decapitated and then burned up in her car," Eshe pointed out

"Yes, but that was an accident," Armand said at once

Eshe raised an eyebrow "So were your wives&039; deathsweren&039;t they?"