Libertine's Wife (12 page)

“
Like hell I
will!”

“
You must like her. You’re
still talking about her.” Martin was grinning ear to
ear.

Garret let loose a torrent of curse
words.

“
Do you see? The woman has
obviously wormed her way under your skin.” Martin chuckled,
enjoying seeing his friend loose his amazing composure in those
minutes.

“
Like her? I don’t even know
her, except on her delightful back. I can assure you, I won’t be
running to my bride any time soon.”

Marty grinned. “I wager my new colt in
my stable you’re back with the woman before I’m home the next
time.”

“
Consider that new colt
mine, Martin.” Garret stubbed out his cheroot and refused to
discuss his wife anymore. The topic always made him think of her
for the rest of the day. He would be plagued with thoughts of her
all night. Even gratifying his urges with another wouldn’t dispel
her image then. “No more talk of wives, please,” Garret implored as
he poured them both another brandy. “Let us talk of other topics,
like the success of your visit to the Colonies. I trust our joint
venture goes well?”

Marty nodded and smiled with
satisfaction. “The tobacco and cotton sales reports will impress
you as they did me. I hardly condone the use of slaves, but the
plantation is very profitable. You’ll not regret joining me in
this.”

“
You trust the overseer;
this Turner fellow?”

“
The man has an eye for his
future. We can trust him not to cheat us.”

“
I deplore slavery,” Garret
lamented as he tossed down his brandy. “The people are treated
well? You saw to them while there?”

Marty nodded. “I spoke with each and
every one of the slaves, ascertained their health and regard for
Turner. None voiced any complaints. All are fit and healthy. They
appear relieved the former overseer was fired, and the new owner
sympathetic to their needs. Do not feel such guilt. They are all
treated well.”

Garret listened as Martin regaled him
with their new business. The topic of slavery depressed him. The
money to be made was considerable, but the use of slaves made him
resistant to buy the plantation in Virginia. He reasoned he didn’t
start slavery in the Colonies. His feelings aside, the people would
be treated better by him and Marty than any other who bought
them.

“
I am pleased with the last
quarter’s earnings, that much I cannot argue,” Garret said with a
smile. “You didn’t lie of what we could make should we buy into the
cotton trade. Just say nothing of it to any here. I doubt us owning
a cotton plantation would go over well among the masses. My
reputation doesn’t need any more hits this year.”

“
Don’t I know it,” Marty
conceded, frowning. “That is the only part that bothered me when we
bought Belle Terre. I hardly like owning another person anymore
than you do.”

“
They are treated well, as
you say,” Garret repeated and sighed. “We can only hope Turner
rules well in our absence.”

“
I like the man,” Marty
admitted. “While I have little love for Colonials; the man is
honest in his dealings. He shares our feelings of slavery, being
from the north. He treats the workers with fairness. You need not
worry he would abuse them behind our backs.”

Garret was pleased with the report. He
could relax knowing his business venture was a sound one. The
monies he could make were staggering. Owning the huge plantation
was a profitable investment.

He and Marty agreed every man, woman,
and child could eventually buy their own freedom after a set term
of service, much like an indentured servant would. He’d not have
agreed otherwise. Offering them the means to buy their freedom
assuaged his guilt.

“
Helms saw to the matter of
your concerns,” Garret informed his friend, smiling to see him
relax. “You need never worry about having to deal with William in
the future. I’ve made you my beneficiary. With your mother’s
shares, you’ll own controlling interest in Belle Terre should
something happen to me, so no worries.”

Martin looked pleased to learn this.
“That will help me sleep at night.”

“
Annabelle will have my cock
in a snare, but we should celebrate this success tonight,” Garret
offered and Marty nodded.

“
Your mistress is still
quite possessive, I see,” Marty said dryly. “You kept her longer
than I thought you would.”

“
Let us just say, she does
what she does best, and doesn’t whine and plague me as so many
women do. She isn’t likely to remind me of my wife
either.”

“
My destination will
doubtless keep us away all night,” Marty warned with a grin of
anticipation.

“
Again, it is not her
business what I do. To be honest, the affair has cooled these last
months. It’s past time I settled a sum on her and walked
away.”

“
Ouch! You do handle
delicate matters with such aplomb, my friend. Poor Annabelle has no
clue you tire of her, I surmise?”

“
Money has a way of
softening the blow. Helms will see to that,” Garret replied with a
shrug. “She will be pleased to find another protector; mark my
words.”

Lord Cosgrove left then, leaving Garret
alone with the promise the pair would meet up later that night.
Thinking of an evening of decadence at Marty’s favorite brothel
might have intrigued him in the past. Thoughts of his bride
intruded, making him curse under his breath. He swore he’d find
some blonde, blue-eyed whore to spend his lust upon and hope it
satisfied the curious ache in him.

I’ll find two just to be
sure
, he thought.

Arianne went into labor in the middle
of the night. Her cries brought Molly running to her side. The girl
slept in her sitting room as she neared her time. Even by her own
calculations, the baby was weeks later than it should have
been.

She panicked, thinking something was
wrong. The midwife arrived from the nearby village and soothed her,
saying first births were often unpredictable. Still, Arianne was
beset with anxiety during the long labor.

Near dawn, her son arrived. He was
screaming his head off, his healthy cries assuring her he was very
normal. The midwife placed the squalling infant in her arms.
Arianne gazed at him with unabashed joy, tears filling her
gaze.

“
He takes after his
lordship, right on time to greet the world,” the old midwife noted
with a toothless smile. “Lord Ravensford will be pleased all went
well.”

Arianne didn’t answer the woman. She
was too caught up in her son. She counted each and every digit,
staring at him in amazement. From the first time she laid eyes on
him, she knew everything she’d done was worth it.

She thought of her husband’s reaction
later while her son nursed. She frowned, wondering why she gave
Garret any thought at all at that tender moment. He spared not a
thought of her these many months.

Garret made it clear he didn’t want a
wife from the start. After one heartless night of passion; he left
her. Even after her perfunctory note informing him of her
pregnancy, he didn’t attempt to contact her. She was devastated by
his rebuff, unable to understand how a man could be so heartless
and ignore such news.

Arianne was overwhelmed with longings
for him that made her uncomfortable when thoughts of Julian grew
fewer and far between. Her former lover no longer filled her mind,
to her dismay. It was her husband she lingered on.

She wondered if the child would soften
his feelings towards her with a hope that made her curse herself.
Her husband’s lasting impression upon her was felt every lonely
month after he left her. She felt fickle in her emotions now,
dwelling on him more than Julian.

Her son was named James Edward Spencer
or Jaime, as she started calling him almost at once. When she was
up and around, she sent her husband word of his birth, feeling a
sense of sadness when he never acknowledge it. Her husband forgot
he had a wife, as he said he would from the start. She should have
been relieved.

Why then did she have such wistful
thoughts?

Arianne held her son at his nursery
window each day thereafter, feeling her heart lurch every time she
heard a coach or carriage approaching. She realized at once she
developed hope he would relent in time. The truth made her writhe
in regret to know he felt no affection for her. No, he very much
despised her.

~ ~ ~

The Marquis of Ravensford arrived at
his country estate at promptly noon. Garret was annoyed when the
servants told him his wife was in her room napping. He went to the
nursery then, delighted to meet his son finally. The boy was now
two. Garret could take it no more and had to come.

Sitting in a rocking chair near the
window of the nursery, he met his son for the first time and was
enchanted with him at once. Jaime, as he was named, talked in
jumbled words. He held him and played with him.

He told himself his heir was the only
reason he came, despite the excitement he felt to see the child’s
mother again. Looking down into his son’s big blue eyes only
reminded him of her.

His eagerness to see her dismayed him.
Arianne hadn’t written to him since telling him his son was born.
She accepted his decree they would never see one another again. His
anger at her was gone. Only a slight irritation persisted still to
know how foolishly she allowed herself to be embroiled in her
brother’s scheme.

Eustace was now on the run from the
same lenders as before; his residence seized and auctioned off by
his creditors. Garret made inquiries. He learned he lived in a
squalid flat on the east side of London, still mustering enough to
keep him at the tables.

Thoughts of what would have become of
his young wife had she not married him made him discomforted. He
stared down at the little boy who regarded him solemnly with his
tiny finger in his mouth.

Garret dropped a kiss on his forehead,
delighted the child didn’t make strange with new people. He had
every intention of knowing this child. Suddenly his eyes lit up. He
could easily use the child as an excuse to force his wife to
accompany him back to London without making an ass of
himself.

As soon as he thought of it, he felt a
wave of disgust. That one night of passion between them haunted
him, reminding him he’d seen little of it since. Annabelle was
replaced by another, who was replaced by another, and so on, until
he realized he wanted only his wife. It took him almost three years
to muster the nerve to return for her, using his son of all things,
as an excuse to see her again.

Just recalling the cold words he’d used
after their wedding night reminded him he very much put his foot in
his mouth. The one place he swore he’d never go again was all he’d
thought about since. Arianne was his wife and could hardly refuse
him. But still, his pride was stung.

Thoughts of her coming to him made his
green eyes darken. He knew he was being ridiculous in light of what
she did to him. Wanting the woman made him gnash his teeth, trying
to hold onto his dignity.

Almost three years passed and his need
for her hadn’t. He was done pretending she didn’t exist when every
night he dreamt of her. He recalled every passionate moment in her
arms, compared every woman in his bed to her, and they all came up
lacking.

Arianne would come back to London with
him. It was time his wife took her place in society. He had much
time to think about what was done. His marriage hardly pleased him.
Running away from the woman proved futile when he couldn’t get her
out of his mind.

Garret knew not what to expect when he
arrived, recalling every curve of his bride’s lovely face. He
craved to feel her in his arms. First, they had to get to know one
another. He despised marriage. Even the word made his skin crawl.
There was nothing he could do about it now except try to find some
civil arrangement between them. He was encouraged by the passion
between them in the past.

His wife would learn only too soon he
was the worst sort of man for a husband. When he tired of her,
which he would eventually, he could only hope they remained
friendly. He determined he would try to keep his cock in his pants
until he got to know the woman. He had enough females in his
household in London to see to his needs. The maids practically dove
into linen closets when he walked by.

Yes, he would discover what it was
about his beauteous young bride that riveted him. He was convinced
it was merely a passing whim. He thought once he bedded her enough,
he would be relieved of her haunting image. Then he could go back
to his former life without these annoying thoughts of her plaguing
him night and day.

~ ~ ~

Arianne woke from her nap and yawned.
She sat up and slid her legs over the side of the bed. She glanced
at the mantle clock, bemoaning her need for naps these days. Her
son waking so early made her eyes droop by midday. She repaired her
image in the dressing table mirror, unable to meet her own eyes.
Her eyes only reminded her of her misery and past mistakes, hollow
and filled with regret.