Page 57 of Her Dark Seduction
“He left her in our care, Lily, and we must trust him.”
The voices were silent for a minute until Lily spoke again.
“She is with child.”
A chair scraped on the floor, and I heard a low cry.
“I’m sorry, Lily,” Jack said, his voice low and soothing.
“Why, Jack? Why am I not given a child when women like her—undeserving whores—are more fortunate?”
“Shhh my love; come here.”
Her cries were muffled, and I imagined Jack taking her into his arms. I couldn’t hate her, even though her anger was directed at me. The harsh top notes of bitter hatred in her voice were tempered by a deeper tone of sadness born out of years of longing for a child. She had a husband to love and cherish her, but no child of her own. I had been blessed with a child, but my husband did not love me.
In my mind’s eye, I pictured them together at the hearth; Jack holding his wife, stroking her head; a man and a woman living together, loving each other openly and honestly, as equals. I closed my eyes and imagined a different husband and wife—Vane, smiling down on me as I placed his child in his arms. Would he love me, when I gave him a child?
Unwilling to intrude on their pain I waited until Lily’s cries subsided. Eventually she sniffed and spoke again.
“Who do you suppose sired the child? Valentine said ’tis not the traitor’s brat.”
“Valentine himself, I would assume.”
“No, Jack.” Lily’s voice was firm. “That woman was widowed barely a month ago, and she’s nearing her confinement. He would not be so disrespectful as to flaunt the fruits of an adulterous relationship in my home. He’s a good man.”
“Then why marry her?”
“I know not. ’Tis plain he loves her not. That whore Elizabeth was his undoing, and he will never love another as he loved her. After what happened, do you think he would cuckold another man under his very nose; a man he served, even if he was playing the spy for de Beauvane?”
“You don’t know my brother as well as I.”
“I do, Jack!” Lily’s voice rose in anger. “Oh, I know about his whoring, and he’ll very likely continue that here. I know all he did to erase the memory of that bitch. But I also saw how it changed him. His fate was worse than William’s. William is at peace, but Valentine lives his torment day after day. I see it in his eyes. The kind, loving man who was your brother was all but destroyed.”
“Lily, please…”
“No, Jack! I’ll defend him if you won’t. You think that heartless mare upstairs cares for him? She saw him as a means to secure her future to avoid condemnation as the wife of a traitor. Another person who uses him for their own ends. Just like Elizabeth. Just like de Beauvane.”
“De Beauvane is an honorable man.”
“That man took advantage of Valentine at his weakest. Your brother was condemned by his entire family, even you, Jack! Only I saw how he cried over William’s body, how his loving heart was destroyed. The stigma of his birth has clung to him all his life. Your father died cursing him. Valentine does not deserve that, Jack. Under that exterior beats the heart of a good man. I believe in him even if nobody else will. Do not doubt my faith in him.”
“You love him, Lily?”
There was a pause and I held my breath, terrified of her response.
“Aye I do, as a sister loves a brother. Even though God has seen fit not to give me a child, I love him as a mother would love her son—to atone for the mother who disowned him and declared him dead to her, in an attempt to assuage her own guilt at her weakness. She was a sinful woman who blamed her child for her sins—much as that bitch upstairs will.”
I pushed the door open. The room was a kitchen; a small fire burned in a hearth at the far wall. Jack sat at a large table in the center, Lily standing beside him. Jack stood and smiled at me but my eyes were on Lily whose expression showed suspicion and hostility.
“Forgive me,” I said, “I was looking for—my husband.”
Lily looked pointedly at Jack.
I stepped into the room. “I assure you Iamhis wife.”
Lily had the grace to look uncomfortable. “Forgive me for being blunt,” she said, “but you are in my home and I must ask.” Jack placed a steadying hand on her arm but she continued.
“Who is the father of your child? Was it Lord Mortlock?”
