A Scarlet Bride (25 page)

"He's doing just fine." She paused. "I'm more concerned about you right now than I am about your uncle."

Alexandra tried to act surprised. "Me?
Whatever for?"

Aunt Clara took a deep breath. "Have you seen the
Gazette
recently?"

"Yes, Connor was reading it this morning over breakfast."

"Did you see the article about that book
Hester's Revenge
? The one the ladies were talking about at Suzanne's tea?"

"I saw it."

"Dear, I hate to tell you this, but people are talking. They're asking who could write such a book. They say it's about the
Thurstons
and the
Halsteds
. They're wondering if such a tale could be true."

"What part of the tale?"

"That Gordon trumped up the charges of adultery in order to marry his mistress. That you were innocent all along."

Alexandra folded her hands in her lap demurely. She was trying not to react, but all she wanted to do was jump up and down shouting for joy. Everything was working.

Everything was going according to plan. It was hard to contain her excitement from the rest of the world when she wanted to shout that she was the author. She was the one who would cause Gordon's ruin, just as he'd spoiled her reputation.

She tried to keep her face as bland as possible. "The book is true."

"But I don't understand ..."

Alexandra bit the inside of her hp. Since the time of her mother's death, the only secret she had ever kept from Aunt Clara was the truth regarding her divorce and Gordon. After her father had rejected her explanation as rubbish, she had simply withdrawn and eventually packed her bags and escaped to England.

No one knew the truth except herself, Gordon, and James Bradley, Gordon's partner, the man her
exhusband
had named as her defiler. Now the rest of the world would read her story and know of Gordon's immoral behavior.

She took her aunt's hands in her own. "Aunt Clara, I wrote
Hester's Revenge
. I'm John Smith."

Aunt Clara
stood,
a hand at her throat.
"Oh, my."
She paced the floor, looking worried. "Alexandra, dear, why didn't you come to me and tell me what was going on in your marriage?"

"I should have, Aunt Clara. I was young and frightened.
Especially after Father didn't believe me."

"He is such a pigheaded fool!" The rustle of her skirts as she walked to the window was the only noise in the small room. "This is going to draw so much attention to you. It's going to drag up all the ugliness about your divorce to Gordon. You realize you're jeopardizing your future, your marriage to Connor?"

"Perhaps."

"Not perhaps. Charleston is all abuzz about who the author of this book is. They're comparing you and Gordon to the main characters. They're saying terrible things about Gordon and you. You already know what gossip can do to a person's reputation." She stopped and faced Alexandra. "I'm surprised you haven't heard from your father."

"Father will research every possibility before he reaches the conclusion that I wrote the book. Even then he'll think I hired someone to do the writing, and Gordon thinks I'm much too weak to do this to him."

"But what about Connor and Suzanne?
Did you consider how this is going to affect them? Suzanne is entering into her first season, and poor Connor is going to be caught in the middle of a scandal that he had nothing to do with."

"I'm sorry about Suzanne. The book was already with the publisher before I met them. As for Connor, don't feel too sorry for him. He's not exactly been innocent since our marriage."

"But dear, this is going to affect your future. Society was just beginning to accept you again."

"Oh, please. Society is never going to accept me. They've proven that just in the last few months." Alexandra stood and began to pace. "When I wrote this book, I wasn't married and had no intentions of ever remarrying. I only wanted the real story to be told, to somehow vindicate myself for the pain Gordon caused me. This time the gossip is adverse to Gordon. This time he'll be hurt by the scandalous rumors."

Aunt Clara put her arm around Alexandra's waist and gave her a slight hug. "I know he treated you badly and I've never believed you committed adultery. I just wish you would have come to your Uncle Sydney and me. We would have tried to help you. We wouldn't have let him get away with his scandalous lies."

"After the trial, I just wanted to run away and hide forever. I never expected Gordon to treat me so shabbily."

"Some men are born bastards."

"I had to do something, Aunt Clara. I couldn't let the scoundrel get away with ruining my life."

Aunt Clara patted her on the back,
then
moved away. "I understand, dear. I truly do. But I don't know how this is going to affect your relationship with your new husband. I don't know how you're going to withstand the gossip a second time."

Alexandra frowned. How would everyone react when they found out she'd written a second
tellall
book that was even more revealing than the first?

***

Connor paced the reception area of William's office, waiting to see his friend. This would be their first meeting since that fateful day when Alexandra caught him receiving payment for the bet.

For an attorney, William didn't do too badly. The waiting area of his office was furnished with brown English sofas and club chairs. A young male secretary took care of the
daytoday
running of the office, while William handled the legal end.

A copy of the
Charleston Gazette
lay on a German Gothic table, and Connor resisted the urge to pick the newspaper up and read the article one more time. Why would anyone write a book about Alexandra's family and subsequent divorce?
But most of all, who would write such a tale?

The book was sold out in the local bookstore, and Connor felt odd about ordering a copy, so he hadn't.

Could his wife have written this book? After all, it was about her family. Obviously someone close had to have written the novel.

The door to William's office suddenly opened and a gorgeous woman dressed in black stepped out. She turned and placed her arm on William's lapel.

"I can't thank you enough for all your help," she fairly cooed, her face turned up to William's.

Connor had seen his friend's expression before.
Pure adoring lust.
He watched as William picked up the lady's hand and kissed its back.
"My pleasure, Mrs.
Dierich
."

The lady walked past him and out of the office, her heels rapping on the boardwalk outside.

William wiped the back of his hand across his forehead at the close of the door. He motioned for his friend to enter his office and shut the door behind him.
"Crying rich widows.
It's such a difficult job to take care of these women."

Connor laughed. "You wouldn't give it up for the world, especially when nice little packages like that one come in."

William shrugged. "The lady needs my expert legal counsel. After all, her
dear
husband has gone to the grave. She's all alone and doesn't know how to take care of the
halfmillion
dollars he left her. Poor dear needs my advice and comfort."

"Sell it to someone else, William. I know you'll make a nice fat commission and seek out a bonus."

"If I get the opportunity," William acknowledged.

The two men shook hands. "It's good to see you again," William said. "I was beginning to think I'd never hear from you."

Connor shook his head. "The tension in my home has been quite unbearable. Besides Alexandra locking herself in her room, not coming out at all, even the servants were upset with me. Leona barely spoke to me, and when she's angry, my breakfast is usually inedible at least once or twice. She nearly poisoned me those first few days."

William laughed. "So are things better, I hope?"

"They are livable, but still not the way I want. I have to admit your timing could not have been any worse."

"What can I say? I felt like such a fool, having her find out from me. I'm sure I'll never be welcomed in your home again."

"Right now, I'm not pushing her on anything. But that's not why I came here." Connor took a seat across from William's desk while his friend poured them a brandy.

Accepting a snifter of liquor, Connor waited until William was seated in the leather chair across from him.

"I came here to ask you questions about my wife. I remember from the first night I met her, you seemed to know quite a bit about her background."

"My sister roomed with her at boarding school."

Connor sipped his drink. "Specifically, what do you know about her first marriage?"

William smiled and shook his head. "She was right out of boarding school when the engagement was announced. I remember my sister, Beth, saying that Alexandra really wanted to do some traveling before she settled into marriage, but her father refused to accompany her and insisted she marry."

"Did she love Gordon Thurston?" Connor could not refrain from asking.

"I think that's a question you should ask your wife, not me. Besides, how in the hell am I suppose to know?"

Connor leaned back in the chair and crossed his legs, trying to settle the feeling of unease that had descended on him with this morning's article in the paper.

"That's a tough question to ask the lady. She would probably tell me it's none of my business."

"Probably.
By the way, since I wasn't here for the wedding, I want to give the two of you tickets to the opera as a wedding gift. I'd like to make up for my bad choice of moments."

"Thank you. There's a definite chill in my home right now. Maybe a night out will help." Connor sipped his brandy. "Do you know anything more about the divorce?"

"Gordon filed for the divorce, using the grounds of adultery. His partner testified that he had an affair with Alexandra. But I've often wondered why a man would keep his wife's lover employed at his bank."

"The man still works for Gordon?" Connor asked, a feeling of revulsion sweeping through him.

"The last I heard, he was running a branch operation in Boston."

"Good God, man. I think I would have killed the bastard. He certainly would not be working for me."

"You wouldn't think so." William sipped his drink. "You have to consider, though, that in the state of New York the only reason for divorce is adultery. And even then, the accused party must wait five years, and for the other spouse to marry, before they are permitted to remarry."

"Has Gordon remarried?" Connor asked, wondering if his vows were legal.

"Almost immediately after the divorce."

Connor rubbed his hand across his chin, stroking the rough texture of his whiskers. "William, when we married, I believed my wife was an
adulteress
. But now I'm not so sure."

"Have you read
Hester's Revenge
?" William asked.

"No. The bookstore was sold out when I went by this morning after reading the article in the
Gazette
."

"Quite an interesting piece, wasn't it?"

"That depends on whether or not you're married to the lady."

Why was it suddenly so important to know the truth regarding Alexandra's marriage to Gordon? Obviously, the relationship was over, but somehow Connor could not help but feel that all the clues to Alexandra were somehow tied to her
exhusband
. And the article in this morning's paper had led him to believe that his wife could have been innocent.

"Do you think your wife wrote this book?" William asked.

"I honestly don't know. She spends a lot of time in her room. But if she's the author, she did not let on this morning at the breakfast table."

"So she's seen the article?" William questioned.

"She probably has by now."

"If she didn't write this book, then it had to be someone close to the family."

Connor swirled the last of his brandy in his glass and then tossed it down his throat, trying to drown the anxious feelings speaking of the novel evoked.

"I'm beginning to find it hard to believe she committed adultery. She's different, William. And you know I've had enough women to know the difference between a woman who uses sex for her own pleasure and a woman who has experienced little or no passion."

William shook his head. "Maybe I could interest you in a little wager? Five hundred dollars says your wife wrote this book?"

"No. I'm not betting with you anymore. I've made my last bet regarding my wife or any other person."

William smiled. "Good.
Just checking to see if you learned any lessons from our little wager.
I know I certainly did. Your wife's face haunts me still."