Page 25 of The Best Husband Money Can Buy

Emma turned to Brand. “You heard what Anthony said. Do you honestly think they’re having an affair?”

Brand wiped his brow with one forearm. Though he still looked dangerous, the wildness had faded from his eyes. “There might not be a physical affair,” he admitted gruffly. “But Anthony has stood between Cecy and me every day and night of our marriage. When he fought me after she accepted my proposal, he said...” Brand stopped and swallowed hard. “He said that whenever I bedded my wife, she would be thinking of him. And he was right, damn him!”

Cecilia gasped. “Brand, how can you say that? I could have married Anthony if I wanted to, but I choseyou.What made you think I secretly preferred Anthony”

“Everyone always did!” Brand stared at his wife, his expression anguished. “He was always the leader. Smarter, more charming, more handsome, everyone’s darling—including yours. You only married me because I have a greater fortune and title.”

Anthony cringed as he remembered how he’d flung both those taunts in Brand’s face when they’d fought over Cecilia. Who would have believed that his angry words would have taken such poisonous root?

Exasperated, Emma said, “Don’t you two evertalkto each other?” She unobtrusively removed Brand’s foil from his relaxed grip. “Cecilia, why did you marry Brand instead of Anthony? I’m sure you had your reasons.”

“I married him because I loved him, of course.” She hesitated, then said painfully, “I loved them both, really, even though they’re so different. But I’d always thought that Brand’s feelings for me were more those of a brother. Anthony was the one who treated me like a sweetheart. He and I both drifted into thinking that we would marry, even though he hadn’t formally offered.”

By this time, tears were running down Cecilia’s cheeks. Emma wordlessly produced a handkerchief from somewhere and handed it over. After Cecilia had blotted her eyes and blown her adorable little nose, she continued, “Then Brand asked me to be his wife, and I realized that he was the husband I wanted, not Anthony.” She stared at Brand beseechingly. “Do you remember what happened after I accepted?”

Her husband turned an interesting shade of red. “Of course I remember,” he said stiffly. “But that is hardly something to be discussed before others.”

Blushing herself, Cecilia gave a nod of agreement. “I didn’t accept because of your fortune or your title, though of course I didn’t object to becoming a duchess. But what I loved was your…your steadiness. The way you made me feel cherished. Special.” She gave Anthony an apologetic glance. “Marrying Anthony would have been very jolly, but he would always have mistresses and we might have ended up in debtors’ prison. I didn’t want that. I wantedyou, Brand! I wanted to build a life with you. To raise children with you. Only you.”

Anthony felt a sharp pang at her words. She hadn’t trusted him. It was not flattering knowledge. Yet he could not blame her for her mistrust. Emma hadn’t entirely trusted him, either.

Brand swallowed hard, a muscle jumping in his throat as he stared at his wife. “I…I wasn’t second best?”

“Never!”Cecilia’s tears began flowing again. “But after we married, I began to wonder if you’d ever really loved me. As time went on and you became colder and colder, I…I decided that you had only wanted me because Anthony did. You two were always competing, and I was merely one more prize. Once you had me, you lost interest.”

Anthony winced. He couldn’t speak for Brand, but he had to admit that there had been an element of competition in his courtship of Cecilia. She’d been the prettiest girl around, so he had assumed that he, dashing Anthony, everyone’s darling, deserved her.

Sometimes he didn’t like himself very much.

Speaking as if he and his wife were alone, Brand said hoarsely, “How could you think that, Cecy? You’re the only woman I’ve ever loved! But you never said that you loved me, not once.”

“You never said that you loved me, either,” she said starkly.

“At first it seemed unnecessary,” he said painfully. “Later, I couldn’t because I started thinking that you had married me for the wrong reasons. It was like…like acid in my belly.”

Cecilia went into his arms, sobbing, “Oh, Brand, Brand. Why didn’t we talk like this years ago? I’ve always loved you, even when I was sure that you didn’t love me!”

Brand embraced his wife with feverish intensity, his own eyes glittering with tears. They clung together for a long moment. Then he looked up and said haltingly, “Anthony, I’m sorry. I’ve behaved abominably. I wanted to blame you for wrecking my marriage because that was easier than blaming myself. Can you forgive me?”

Anthony realized that he was being given a golden opportunity to act like an adult. “Much of the fault was mine, Brand. I didn’t want to believe that Cecilia preferred you, so I said things no man should ever say to another. I’m sorry.” He offered his hand.

Brand reached out and grasped it fervently. With surprising pleasure, Anthony realized that once again they could be friends. If the truth be known, he’d missed Brand far more than he’d missed Cecilia.

Emma, who had been watching approvingly, made a small movement of her head toward the door. Understanding, Anthony ended the handshake. “Can you forgive me, too, Cecilia? I never meant to injure your marriage.”

She gave him a teary smile. “Brand and I did most of the damage ourselves. From now on we’ll do better, won’t we, dearest?”

“We will, darling. I swear it.” Brand bent his head and kissed his wife passionately, one hand slipping down her back to pull her hard against him. The air crackled with sexual tension.

Knowing they would not be missed, Anthony collected his coat. Then he and Emma quietly left the gallery. “I’d forgotten what a watering pot Cecilia is,” he murmured when he’d closed the door behind them. “Thank heaven you’re not like that.”

After donning his coat and straightening his cravat, he draped his left arm around his wife’s shoulders and they made their way down the stairs. “That was a very timely intervention, my dear,” he said sternly. “But don’t youeverput yourself between two armed men again, or I’ll have to thrash you. You could have been killed!”

She said demurely, “If every day you forbid me from doing another thing on pain of being thrashed, very soon I’ll be restricted to sitting by the fire with a book.”

He smiled, but it quickly faded. “Who would have thought that the angry words I yelled at Brand nine years ago could have such terrible, lasting effects? I almost ruined his marriage. I swear before God, Emma, I never meant for that to happen!”

“Words have power, Anthony,” she said quietly. “Especially angry words thrown by someone like you, who affects people so strongly.”

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