Livia's face heated up once more, this time in anger rather than embarrassment. What a sorry excuse for a wife Phoebe was! At just age twenty-one, she'd already decided her marriage was a lost cause and that she'd remain childless! She couldn't possibly know that was true — unless, of course, she intended to keep it that was, and purposefully.

Livia shot her a nasty look.

"Maybe he has no desire to deal with your haughty attitude, Mrs. Yaxley," she shaded, unwilling to continue her friendly facade for much longer. Or any length of time longer, really.