Quicksilver Passion (47 page)

I am dead in spirit,” she said, and responded even less because her soul felt so crushed and because it was the only way she knew to fight back. Silver couldn’t escape and she had too much pride to let him conquer her. Her revenge was engendering the rage he felt at not being able to reach her soul or make her respond to him.

Brett took her driving in his fine carriage, even dressed her up and escorted her to the theater. Men commented on her beauty and Brett displayed her like some lovely rare pet. He was at his zenith during these times, preening like a peacock while other men lusted after the beauty he owned.

Early on, Silver thought about running away on these outings or simply screaming for help. But she had a feeling no one would help her. Bart Brett was a powerful man with much influence and she couldn’t escape the silken prison he had made for her. She felt like a pet in a golden cage or a slave girl in a harem. The rest of the time, she never left Brett’s rooms at the big Victorian house. She made no friends with the girls of the establishment. Most seemed coarse and vulgar to the little farm girl, and they were all jealous of her place in Brett’s affections, making envious comments to her.

Bart Brett even tried forcing Silver to drink liquor before he took her to bed. If she wouldn’t drink it, he pried her mouth open and forced it down. Then she either swallowed or choked.

This’ll lessen your inhibitions,” he snarled,
maybe you’ll respond to me instead of acting like a lovely corpse.”

What might have made her respond was gentleness, tenderness, a feeling of sincere caring rather than lust for her voluptuous body, but of course she didn’t say that because she wasn’t sure he was capable of dealing with that kind of response. Half the time when he dragged her to bed, she was half drunk as well as wet with the spilled liquor. It made her feel degraded, but at least the pain wasn’t so bad.

The more frustration he displayed, the more determined she was that he would never get the response he wanted from her. He could use her body, but he could never break her spirit.

Months passed. She saw the leaves turn brown then blow away with winter’s coming. Silver knew everyone in the house whispered that she had become his obsession and that the master now was the slave. It didn’t matter to her. Nothing mattered except escaping this place and Bart Brett’s bed. He began to drink heavily.

And one night, he got drunk and wept.
What does it take to get through to you, Silver? What does it take to make you come into my arms the way I want you to?”

She toyed with a button on her negligee, not knowing what answer he wanted to hear. Maybe someday she could love a man if he was kind and gentle with her and loved her for some other reason besides her beauty. But Bart Brett was not that man.

Look,” he said, kneeling before her chair,
look, I’ll marry you. Is that what you want? You want the ring and the whole thing? Is that what you’re holding out for?”

Marriage?” She looked at him blankly. The thought had never occurred to her.

I’ve never told you this, but I’m from a very rich and prominent family.” He took her hand between both of his.
My brother Lon and I are the black sheep, but the rest of the family is highly respectable.”

She simply stared at him, feeling nothing, registering nothing.

He must have taken her silence for interest.
Look”—he squeezed her hand—
I’ll sell this place. We’ll close the door on all this and go back East where I come from. No one need know anything. You could be part of the best society there, Silver. I’ll invent a past for you. With your beauty, you could be the most talked about, admired wife of the social set.”