Before she could approach them, Richard strode away and stalked through the door that led into the gardens. Rain swirled in through the entry, snapping over the stone floor until the howling wind slammed the door.
Leah stood motionless, frozen in place by the stunning suspicions forming in her mind. Then her feet were moving, drawing her closer to the woman who had made her life miserable from the moment she'd entered this house.
"You are in love with my husband," she said, amazed her voice sounded so steady, so calm and assured, when she was a quivering mess inside. She thought of her babe and she drew a deep breath to quiet her spiraling pulse.
Rachel's brows lifted, her lips pursed, not in puzzlement or surprise, but more a satisfied smirk. "Of course. And he is in love with me"
It was a lie and Leah would not respond to it. "I want you to leave my house. You may make your own arrangements or I will make them for you, but you will leave. Today."
"You poor, pathetic child." Rachel shook her head. "You do not understand. I suppose you have spun dreams of happilyever-after and years to come. The problem with dream worlds, Leah, is that, sooner or later, they come tumbling down around one's ears. It is me he loves. You are simply a means to an end"
"You are the one spinning dreams," Leah said, with more conviction than she felt. "Richard loathes you"
Rachel laughed, a soft, delicate sound. Ever the lady, even when shredding her enemies. "Oh, did he tell you that?"
"He did not have to tell me. I can see it in his eyes every time he looks at you" Or was it all a sham?
The traitorous thought sucked the breath from Leah's lungs and she thrust it away.
"Is that hate you see ... or desire?"
Leah fought to gain control over the tempest inside her mind. That something had happened to cause Richard's recent desertion from her bed, she could not deny, but it was not this.
At least now she understood Rachel's animosity. All her sweetly worded insults, her whispered innuendoes meant to raise friction between Leah and Richard. Rachel would say anything, do anything, to hurt Leah and think her gullible enough to believe it. "I will not listen to any more of your spite. I will make preparations for your departure. You will leave. Tonight."
Head high, back straight, Leah walked toward the door.
Rachel scooted around her, swift as an eel, and blocked the path. "If it weren't for you and your despicable father, Richard and I would be married now."
Leah gasped. "I do not believe you. Even if he had wanted to marry you, he couldn't. You are his brother's widow. His sister! In the eyes of both God and the law."
"It matters not. He would have damned the proprieties. Or we would have fled the country. Do you not see? He has always loved me. And I him. We were the best of friends as children. We would have wed, too, if not for my parents. They betrothed me to Eric against my will. Richard was devastated. He joined the army, supposedly to fight the French, but he was really running from the pain of seeing me with his brother."
"Your love is cheap. Not worth the words used to utter it." Leah ached for the devastation Richard had endured from such a cold-hearted betrayal. No wonder he had closed himself off, denied his needs and his emotions. Why would he ever risk love again when he'd offered his heart to this shrew, only to have it trampled upon as if it were an unwanted frippery. "Had you truly loved him, you would have defied your family to wed him."
"It isn't that simple, as well you know," Rachel said, giving a delicate shrug. "A woman has precious little power over her destiny. There was nothing I could do. But Richard couldn't understand. He was hurt. And you are right. For a time, he hated me. But all that changed when Eric died. I was free. Richard was free. And we were reunited. Then your treacherous father came along with his blackmail scheme"
Rachel was a liar. Not a word coming out of her mouth could be trusted, but it did not stop the vicious, ugly words from looping through Leah's mind, Blackmail scheme, blackmail scheme, blackmail scheme.
She willed herself to walk away, nay, run from the poisonous miasma building around her, but her feet would not move, as if they were lashed to the floor by the creeping ivy. "What do you mean?"
Rachel shrugged. "I cannot believe you haven't guessed. But it isn't for me to tell. Let's just say, Richard has a secret, and he is terrified of society learning the truth. Honor and pride and all that. Your father learned his secret, from Geoffrey, of all people, and he forced Richard to marry you"
Leah wanted to flee, to hide from the awful words that attacked her deepest fears, but it was as if she had turned to stone and couldn't move. She tried to shut out Rachel's hideous words, but they hacked through her defenses, lashed her with their insidious implications.
"Why do you think he wed you?" Rachel was saying. "You cannot possibly believe he wanted to marry you? It was to protect someone he holds dearer than he holds his own life. It is me he loves. Never forget it. Why do you think he nearly ravished you in the salon the day he returned from Yorkshire?"
Leah shook her head. Her skin grew cold, despite the heat of the plants and the furnace forcing tropical weather in the midst of London. Her thoughts were as foggy as the steamy mist.
And all the while, Rachel continued her torturous assault. "It was me he wanted. We were together in the library, but I told him I could not sleep with him, not with his wife in the house. Because of your father, he cannot send you away. So I sent him to slake his lust on you. How does it feel to know when he closes his eyes as he beds you, it is me he sees beneath him?"
With a look of bored detachment on her face, Rachel stud ied the orchid to her right. "Do you want to know the basis of your marriage? Richard weds you and beds you and your father guarantees his silence after the first male child is born. Once he gets his heir on you, he will leave you. Never doubt that"
Leah's hand crept to her belly. "No, I don't believe you"
Rachel walked up behind Leah, her invidious words hot against Leah's neck. "Think of how it must be for him. Forced to bed a woman thrust upon him by the vilest of treacheries. But he gritted his teeth, closed his eyes, and did his duty. You are only useful until you bear his babe. Then his secrets will be safe. Then he will cast you aside. And if you do not believe me, ask him. Go on," Rachel taunted in her ear. "Ask him to send me away. Make him choose between us. Or are you afraid?"
Chapter Twenty-Six
Rachel's laughter followed Leah from the conservatory, but she kept her back straight, her head high, and forced her shaking legs to carry her from the room. Her stomach was churning, her blood rushing too swiftly through her veins.
She forced a serenity to her expression as she progressed down the corridor. She would not let the servants see her distress. If only her thoughts would turn as numb as her skin, but they tortured her with each step she took as she went in search of Richard. That her father would stoop so low as to blackmail a peer of the realm, Leah did not doubt.
But what could he know? What secret could a man have that was so dark, so dirty, he would do anything to protect it, even marry a woman he must hate? And what of Richard? What of all the tender words and passionate moments in his arms?
Had they all been a lark? Designed to keep her complacent until he sired a child upon her?
No, she would not believe it. It could not be true.
He might not have wished to marry her, and he might not love her, but he had come to care for her over the course of their marriage. Of this, she was certain. To believe otherwise, she would have to believe every kiss, every touch, every moment in his arms was a pretense and she could not do that. He was too noble, too honorable, to commit such a heinous act of deception.
But what of his recent desertion from her bed? Did he already know that she carried his child? That his seed had taken? His mission accomplished? Could he truly love Rachel?
Leah clenched her eyes against the memory she had tried so hard to deny. The night of Geoffrey's suicide attempt, when she had gone to fetch Richard, he had be
en dreaming, thrashing about on the bed. Richard had blamed his distress on a nightmare.
Afraid to think otherwise, Leah had accepted his words.
But she could no longer pretend. He had called out a name.
Rachel, Rachel, Rachel, over and over she heard his lowpitched voice groan the hated name. The same seductive voice that had so often whispered Leah's name as he drove himself within her body, deep within her body until he touched her womb.
That he loved Rachel once, Leah could understand. But not now. She saw the hatred that flashed in his eyes every time he looked at Rachel. She heard the contempt in his voice every time he spoke the woman's name. Whatever he may have felt for her, it was in the past. But Rachel still loved Richard, so she had spit her venom at Leah to hurt her and wound her and drive her away.
Leah would not let Rachel win. She would not allow Rachel to poison her mind against her husband, the father of her unborn child. The thought of her child flamed her anger into rage.
Never would she allow her babe to be used as a pawn in a battle between her husband and her father.
She retraced her earlier steps until she found Richard in the library. He stood before the windows, looking out over the gardens. His hair, wet from the storm, glistened in the slategray light beyond the glass. He had removed his coat and waistcoat, slung them over a chair, along with his neck cloth.
He rolled his shoulders. His damp shirt pulled over every ridged muscle in his back. She must have made a sound, perhaps a choked gasp as she remembered the heat of those muscles beneath her palms. He swung around, met her gaze, his eyes dark, shadowed by fatigue, by pain, by some emotion she could not name.
She wanted to run, to flee to the safety of her room, but she forced herself to approach him. She tried to speak, but the words tangled up in her throat. She drew a deep breath, started again, but still, no sound came out. Her courage fled along with her voice and she swayed on her feet.
Afraid she might faint, she staggered toward the nearest chair. He caught her elbow in his hand, the heat of his palm soothing against her frigid skin as he guided her to the settee near the hearth. A small fire burned to ward off the chill of the storm. He knelt before her, his beloved face sun-bronzed and rugged, his eyes narrowed in concern. "The doctor said there was nothing wrong with you. I shall have that quack's head"
"No," she said. A sob rippled up her throat, but she choked it back down. "I am well. I assure you"
"You do not look well. Your skin is as gray as day-old ashes and your eyes are black smudges in your face"
She managed a weak smile, a faltering laugh to cover her sobs. "What a dreadful fright I must be"
He held her hand in his, rubbed circles over her palm. The motion, soft and seductive and oh, so, familiar, brought a watery mist to her eyes. She rolled her lips between her teeth. She would not cry. Nor would she listen to Rachel's words, the hideous refrain circling through her mind.
She longed to rest her palm against his jaw, to rub her cheek against his neck, to press her lips to his.
Instead, she gathered her courage and her dignity.
It was time to face the truth.
"I know why you married me," she said. "I know my father blackmailed you"
She watched the lump in his throat move up and down as he swallowed. His eyes closed. His lips tightened. His jaw grew hard, an unforgiving slope of granite.
For a moment, Leah thought he might deny it. Then he opened his eyes, their dark centers turbulent as the storm outside the window and just as bleak. Was that pity or regret she saw in his eyes?
"Yes, it is true," he said, his voice rough, his hand tightening on her fingers. "How did you find out?"
She pushed herself from her chair. He approached her slowly, warily, as if he feared she would bolt from the room, or leap from the windows. Did she appear as wild as she felt, like the wind rattling the shutters, like the rain beating the glass? "How you must hate me "
"No," he said quietly. "I wanted to hate you. I tried, but it took only moments in your presence to realize you were an innocent victim in your father's grand scheme. You are too sweet, too innocent to partake of such a deception."
Unable to bear the compassion in his eyes, she turned away. Her life was a sham, her marriage not truly a marriage. What it was, she did not know. Her skin burned with shame, with despair, with bone-crushing fatigue.
She raised a shaking hand to her brow.
He came up behind her, gripped her shoulders. "Who told you?" When she did not respond, he dug his fingers into her skin. "Was it Rachel? What did she say?"
Leah shook her head. She stepped out of his grasp, then turned to face him. "Tell me of my father's trickery."
She saw a flicker of emotion in his obsidian gaze, a flash of relief, perhaps, or rage, before he closed his eyes. It happened so swiftly, Leah almost thought she had imagined it, for when he looked at her again, his gaze was clear and hard.
He folded his hands behind his back. "It matters not"
"It matters to me," she said. "I have a right to know. Do you not see? My life is based on a lie, my marriage on treachery. How am Ito live with that?"
He sliced his hand through the air. "You are not to blame for your father's misdeeds. It has naught to do with you"
"It has everything to do with me. I tried to set you free. I offered you a divorce, but you refused"
No words. He simply nodded.
"And now? If I offered now, would you agree?"
"Never," he said, grabbing her arms. He dragged her close until she was crushed against his chest, until his hot breath caressed her face, until his sensual scent seared her lungs.
"Why? For my father?"
"No. For you. Because you are my wife. It has nothing to do with your father, and everything to do with you"
To her shame, silent tears slid down her cheeks. "Then what has happened to change you so? Why have you become so distant, so cold?"
"Because I am a fool, as more than one person has tried to tell me. My love," he whispered, then touched his lips to hers.
Oh, God, she could almost believe all would be well when he kissed her like this, hot and demanding. His tongue ravishing her mouth as she wanted his hands to ravish her body. Reason fought with desperate need unfurling within her as he dragged her against his chest, her breasts tingling as the dampness of his shirt seeped through her dress, his mouth trailing a fiery path along her jaw, then down the sensitive curve of her neck.
It had been so long, too long, since he had touched her in passion, but she wanted more than passion. She wanted his love.
As the serpent taunted Eve in the garden of Eden, Rachel's words taunted Leah. It is me he loves ... and if you do not believe me, make him choose ...
Leah shook her head. "Not yet. We need to talk."
He ignored her words, slanting his mouth once more against her lips, his tongue thrusting within, the slow, delicious sweep drawing a moan from her throat and dampening the flesh between her thighs. She wanted nothing more than to tumble to the floor with him atop her, his hands scraping against her thighs as he shoved her dress up to her waist and drove his straining sex deep within her body. But she had to face the truth.
She pushed against his chest, broke from his embrace. She stumbled to the window, her vision blurred by the rain as she stared out over the gardens. He walked up behind her.
Afraid he might touch her, she wrapped her arms around her waist. Her heart and soul cried out in fear, do not do this.
But Rachel's hideous words chanted, make him choose, make him choose, make him choose.
Leah knew she was making a dreadful mistake by paying any heed to Rachel's vicious lies, but she could not seem to stop herself. As if from a very great distance, she heard herself say, "I want you to find Rachel a home of her own. I cannot live with her another day."
His face blanched. "And what of Alison? I am her guardian. I want her here where I can see to her needs"
Leah stared at the floor
. While Rachel's words had tossed about in the turbulent storm in her mind, she had never once considered Alison. Leah loved that little girl so much, it hurt her heart, but she could not stand the mother. She could not live in the same house with Rachel any longer, not with her vindictiveness and her coveting of Leah's husband.
"Perhaps she would agree to leave Alison with us?"
Richard laughed, a bleak sound with no humor. "No. She would never agree, and I have no reason to keep her from her mother, at least, no reason that would not ignite a blaze of gossip. And I will not do that"
"Even if she took Alison with her, we could still see her every day. We could still see to her needs. Not every child lives under the same roof with their guardian."
"I thought you loved her."
"Of course I love her," Leah said. "I could not love her any more than if she were my own daughter. But she is not my daughter. Nor is she yours. She is Rachel's."
He stared at her through eyes devoid of emotion. Neither spoke. The mantel clock ticked off the passing seconds. Every stroke brought a new pain to Leah's already aching heart.
His chest heaved as he sucked in his breath. "You have seen the kind of mother she is and still you would ask this?"
"I have never seen her ill-treat Alison. Are you saying she abuses her?"
"No, she does not abuse her. Not physically. She simply does not know the child is alive. And believe me, that hurts more than a physical slap to the face" Richard clenched his fists at his side. "Damn it! Why are you doing this to me?"
"Twice I offered to set you free. Twice you refused. I cannot live with that woman " Leah bit her lip to stop the tumble of words, but it was no use. She was far beyond rational thought, tossed about by the turbulent emotions controlling her tongue. "I am your wife," she said. "Either she goes, or I go"
His eyes flashed with chilling fury. "Do you dare to offer me an ultimatum?"
A Dangerous Man Page 25