Page 33 of A Second Chance for Carys
How many times had the woman used him for her pleasure? Probably more than once.
James frowned. “She was constantly by my side, that much I remember, feeding me, wiping my brow, my chest, to bring the temperature down…”
His voice trailed. It was clear he was remembering Margaret lingering over the gesture, and maybe more. Carys’ stomach roiled. James’ sister-in-law might not have gotten with child from the abuse she’d visited on him, but she had most definitely done all that was needed to have him while he lay at her mercy. There was no prize for guessing how she would have roused his body so that she could take her pleasure with him.
“I’m sorry. It’s not what anyone would want to hear.”
As she apologized, a thought struck her. James had said his illness had been severe and he’d found it unusually hard to shake off the fever. What if there had been more to it than a simple seasonal chill? What if Margaret had prolonged his weakness with herbs and potions so that she could enjoy his body for longer? After what Carys had heard, she wouldn’t put anything past the woman.
She kept her doubts to herself, however, and hoped James had not started wondering the same thing. He would feel soiled enough already, what good would it do to be told he might have been kept at the woman’s mercy for longer than necessary?
“She said she’d always been in love with you, even before your wedding to Joanne, and had hoped you would marry her instead of her sister. That is why she concocted this mad plan.”
What was she doing? Why had she felt the need to add this? As if anything could justify the woman’s actions!
James stared ahead of him, stunned by all he’d just heard.
Margaret was in love with him. She’d taken advantage of his weakened state to have her way with him. She’d lied about carrying his child when she knew he was mortally afraid oflosing another babe. She had tried to force him into a union he didn’t desire and ruin the rest of his life.
Though it was a lot to take in, he did not for a moment think to doubt Carys was telling the truth. He’d thought from the start that there was something wrong with this story, and worse, he’d started to have disturbing memories in the last few weeks, memories he’d done his best to push to the back of his mind.
Heat pooling in his groin, hair brushing against his stomach, hands roaming all over his body. A woman moaning above him.
“Dear God,” he whispered, feeling all the blood drain from his veins.
It had not been just a nightmare, or visions brought on by fever. It had been real.
He’d started to wonder if there wasn’t a problem with Margaret while he’d stayed in her cottage. There had been an odd gleam in her eyes every time she’d addressed him. It had made him uncomfortable and he’d done his best to convince himself that he was imagining things, going as far as thinking himself perverted for attributing such thoughts to his sister-in-law. Her change of attitude could have all too easily be attributed to grief, which, he knew, could cause a person to act oddly.
But now he was told she’d been in love with him all along and he had not imagined the lewd scenes happening under the cover of darkness.
How could she have taken advantage of him thus? What was he to think? Had the loss of her children unhinged her mind? It would explain why she had done such an outrageous thing as to violate his body while he was unable to stop her or even understand what was happening.
“I think you should beware. I’m sorry to say she is prepared to go quite far in her bid to have you.”
Carys’ words brought him back to the present.
“Yes. So I see.” If she had been prepared to rape him and then lie about being with child to force him into marriage, everything was possible. “But did she really think I would not notice her body was not changing?”
A pause. “I think she didn’t think that far ahead. She only wanted to secure your hand. The rest did not matter.”
He understood from the way Carys averted her eyes that she was keeping something from him. It came to him in a flash of understanding. Once her position was secure, Margaret would have pretended to lose the child, thereby destroying what little sanity he had left. He swallowed, loving Carys for trying to spare him the full horror of his sister-in-law’s scheme. As a thank you for her efforts, he pretended he had not guessed it anyway.
“I’m sorry. It cannot have been easy for you to hear the depth of her depravity.”
It would have been horrifying. The only consolation was that it had been this way around. He would surely have gone mad ifhe’dhad to hear about someone raping Carys while she was unconscious.
She gave him a taut smile that told him all he needed to know about what she had thought of Margaret’s confession. “Don’t worry about me.”
But he did worry. No one should have to hear such sordid tales about people they cared about. Because in this moment, he felt sure she cared about him as much as he cared about her. And thanks to her, he was once again free to speak about his feelings and intentions for the future. Could he do it now?
No. He had to do things in order.
James closed the gap between them and placed a hand over her cheek, forcing himself to stay still when he wanted to draw her into a kiss. “Will you be all right here, waiting for me a moment?”
“Yes.”
Before he could do anything, he was going to have a discussion with Margaret.
