Page 56 of The Pirate and the Pagan
Her lashes flew up. “No … Ru …”
His face was livid with anger. His mouth was set in a grim cruel line and his eyes glittered with cold fury. “Not only did you marry me for my money, but for my position of power as magistrate. By Christ, you had it all worked out in a neat little plan. Well, let me tell you that you and your damned brother knew smuggling was dangerous. You know by definition it is dishonest, and you know it is forbidden strictly by the law of the land. I neither can nor will, madame, gain his release from prison. He can rot!”
Summer was aghast. She couldn’t believe the things he was saying to her.
“Women are all bitches … every last one. I’ve never dealt with a woman in my life who didn’t betray me! I thought you were different. Have you any idea how much I loved you?” he raged.
She was trying to conceal her fear, but perhaps fear was what he wanted from her. She couldn’t move. She felt trapped … kneeling naked in the bed … where only last night he’d worshiped her from head to foot.
“Love obviously never entered into our relationship once!” he lashed out.
The tears streamed down her face. She loved him with all her heart, yet she knew she was guilty of much deceit. Desperately she cried, “Ruark, how can you accuse me of not loving you … you must know I love you more than life.” She could not bear to hear him accuse her, even though she was guilty.
“Like every vixen born before you, you are nothing but a deceitful liar. Christ!” His cry was like that of a wounded wolf. He remembered the diamonds he’d bought her and threw back his head in laughter, but there was no mirth in it. “What a bloody fool you made out of me. You’re nothing but a little whore asking money and special privileges for sexual favors!”
“No, Ruark … please let me explain. We were desperate … we had no money, no food … and then the very roof over our head was going to be taken from us.”
His anguish at her betrayal deafened him to her pleas. He’d never believe another word she uttered … and he’d never forgive her … never, ever.
She remembered how she’d lured him, hoping he’d marry her, but being willing to settle for mistress. But damn it all, that had absolutely nothing to do with how she’d fallen in love with him since they’d exchanged vows. She’d loved him since she’d laid eyes on him, if she admitted the truth. It suddenly infuriated her that he accused her of giving him sex for money. She put up her chin, her eyes blazing. “How dare you speak to me like that, you arrogant swine!”
“Lady Summer St. Catherine,” he mocked, “my own pure little virgin.”
She was speechless with anger, for none knew better than he that she had been virgin.
“So diabolically clever. You underestimate yourself. You don’t need me—you don’t need anybody!” he thundered. He smiled his wolf’s smile. “Since you’re so bloody clever, you can get your own mortgage money. Not one copper penny of Helford money will you get your grasping hands on.”
“Sod off!” she screamed.
“No, madame, that’s what you will do. I’m going to get an annulment!”
She was stunned. “You can’t … the marriage has been consummated.”
He said coldly, “You forget I am the magistrate—I am the law. It will be the simplest thing in the world for me to arrange.”
She reached for her clothes and said icily, “I’ll leave now, Lord Helford. I’m going home to Roseland.”
That’s when he approached the bed and struck her across the face. “You, madame, will do precisely as you are told. While you are still my wife, you will reside under this roof. You forget our guests are due to arrive in a few days.”
She lay in a crumpled heap. It was true. She had forgotten. How could he possibly expect her to entertain the King and his courtiers under these circumstances? She was no match for him physically, but she used her tongue as a weapon. “I’ll cuckold you with the first cavalier who asks me!”
His eyes narrowed dangerously. “If you are unfaithful to me while you are still my wife, I shall kill you. Once the marriage is annulled, you may do as you damned well please. You may keep these rooms for the present. I’ll move to the north wing.” The door slammed after him.
Summer was left feeling stunned, incredulous. The lovely dream couldn’t end this way. She was totally shattered. She lay down upon the bed, curled into a ball, her heart broken.
In about an hour there came a low knock upon her chamber door and Mr. Burke entered quietly with her breakfast. She shook her head because she did not trust herself to speak.
“You must eat something, my lady.”
“I cannot eat, Mr. Burke, so please don’t press me,” she whispered. She gazed with unseeing eyes through the tall window which overlooked the fountain, her hand pressed against her breast. “My heart hurts so very much.”
“Lady Summer, he has a terrible temper and a stiff pride. It has always been so. Afterward he regrets the terrible things he has said, but his damned pride prevents him from apologizing.”
“This has happened before?” she asked listlessly.
Mr. Burke nodded. “His father was cursed with the same Helford blood. They quarreled viciously and his father went to the grave without them reconciling. He’s never admitted it but I know he deeply regrets his part in it, just as he will regret this between you two.”
“I must get out of here. I’m taking a ride if he asks, Mr. Burke.” The servant said quietly, “He won’t ask, my lady, but if you don’t return, he will come and get you, even if he has to drag you back.”
