The Worldly Widow (62 page)

"I love you,
"
he said. "I love you,
"
and his lips swooped down, cutting off any protest, kissing her again and again, melting her resistance, persuading her to yield to the intimacy he had been too long denied.

And it felt so good, so right, so absolutely what the doctor ordered, thought Annabelle dizzily, that she would not have cared if they had been a pair of equestrian performers in Astley
'
s Royal Amphitheater. Where there was a will, there was a way, and where there was love, everything was possible.

Epilogue

T
he gray light of dawn cast its first feeble rays over the Georgian city of Bath. In the Christopher Hotel, in High Street, in an upstairs chamber with a view over the River Avon and to the hills beyond, Annabelle slept in the arms of her husband.

As the new day progressively filtered into their chamber, Dalmar gazed tenderly down at the softly breathing girl fitted so closely to his length, and he reflected on his good fortune. Annabelle was his. The thought humbled him. Again and again he had to remind himself that they were man and wife. Again and again the vows he had so solemnly sworn to her drummed in his mind like a lover
'
s litany:
to have and to hold from this day forward, to love and to cherish, ti
ll
death us do part.

His lips brushed her ear. "I love you,
"
he whispered.

Annabelle sighed and nestled closer.

Gently, so as not to wake her, he lifted the bed covers and feasted his eyes on the softly rounded figure of his naked wife. He pulled back slightly to make a space of a few inches. Annabelle grew restless, emitted something cross and unintelligible, and closed the distance between them. Dalmar smiled.

He loved the way she crowded him in bed; loved the way she possessively curled herself around whichever part of his anatomy lay to hand; loved the way she trustingly allowed him to arrange her inert limbs to suit his own purposes.

His eyes roamed familiarly from the curtain of glorious,
flame-red hair spread across his pillow to the lush curve of the feminine leg which he had drawn over his hips. Inevitably his breathing quickened. His body grew hard. Oh God, he thought, he loved a hell of a lot more than what they did in bed. But words could never adequately express the ferocity of emotions this one girl could so effortlessly arouse.

"Annie-love,
"
he crooned. He didn
'
t give her time to come to herself. He wouldn
'
t dare. Even on their honeymoon, he did not doubt that Annabelle planned to manage every blessed minute of their time. They would get to that
later. But for the present…

Her eyelashes fluttered. She stirred and turned up her head. Her lips were only inches from his. "David,
"
she breathed, "what time is it?
"

His tongue sank into the silky, moist recesses of her mouth the moment before he claimed her with his body. He felt her surprise, then savored her instinctive, voluptuous movements as she responded to his hungry possession. He fed her passion with deep, powerful strokes and dark sensual words.

It was a quick coupling. He scarcely gave her time to recover.

"Again,
"
he said.

And this time he claimed her slowly, bringing her again and again to the verge, delaying the final moment of rapture till he thought he would go mad with wanting her. Her response to him never ceased to awe him. She needed him almost as much as he needed her. She was so giving, so loving. She made him feel things he had never believe
d in…
until now.

She was still panting hard in the aftermath of their lovemaking when he pulled away. He rolled to his side, stretched one hand to the bedside table, and retrieved a rolled-up scroll tied with a red ribbon. He thrust it into her hands, then turned back to the bedside table and lit a candle.

"What
'
s this?
"
she asked.

"A policy paper,
"
he answered shortly.

Her eyes lit up. "I love policy papers,
"
she said, and dragged herself into a sitting position, tucking the ends of the bed sheet under her armpits.

Dalmar smiled at the gesture and negligently clasped his
hands behind his head. At ease and yet on his guard, he propped his broad shoulders against the bedrest and studied her with covert interest.

She presented a curious dilemma for him, he thought. For while he admired her mettle and knew without a doubt that a lesser woman would not do for him at all, he was determined to be master in his own house. And perversely, without Annabelle
'
s consent, his very reasonable and very masculine ambition was doomed to come to nothing.

Her look was frankly curious. "Have you come round to my way of thinking?
"
she asked. "Honestly, David, when there
'
s a policy in place, things run so much more smoothly. But I
'
ve told you this before.
"

"I could not agree with you more,
"
he said, surprising her. "Now read it and tell me what you think.
"

She removed the ribbon and unrolled the heavy vellum document. From time to time, as she read, she chewed on her bottom lip. Dalmar found that he was holding his breath.

She was silent for so long that he felt compelled to jog her memory. "As policies go, I think it
'
s fairly lucid in its design.
"
He was careful to sound faintly bored and affected an interest in the intricate folds of the bed canopy overhead,

"As clear as crystal. In fact, patently transparent, if you don
'
t mind my saying so,
"
came the clipped rejoinder.

He chanced a quick sidelong glance at her. The expression on her face was unmistakable. Definitely mulish.

"There are only two major clauses in the whole document,
"
he replied defensively. Her peeved look decided him against mentioning a third and very minor clause which was hidden away on the back page. It was only a piece of frivolity, after all, he reasoned, and he did not think that Annabelle was in a frame of mind to accept his feeble attempt at levity. No, better by far to persuade her to the reasonableness of his two major clauses.

"True,
"
agreed Annabelle. "But they are very comprehensive. You are to be congratulated. I admire well-written policies.
"

"Thank you.
"
To his ears it did not sound as if she meant the words as a compliment.

"But if I agree to these terms, you have virtually the last word in how I run my business, and how I conduct myself in private, isn
'
t that so?
"

"Annabelle,
"
he protested, "I
'
m not an ogre. You won
'
t find me unreasonable.
"
With a blend of tenderness and blatant cajolery, he went on, "Surely it
'
s not too much for a husband to ask of his wife—that he be permitted some say in how she goes on?
"

She cocked her head to one side and gave him the strangest look. After a moment
'
s consideration, she said, "I
'
m not most wives, David. You must remember, I
'
m used to ruling the roost. I don
'
t think I could take direction very easily.
"

"Who
'
s talking about direction? That
'
s not what I meant. Think of Bailey
'
s. We
'
re partners, aren
'
t we? And after a few false starts, we
'
re getting along amazingly well, wouldn
'
t you say?
"

"Amazingly,
"
replied Annabelle. "But that
'
s because, by and large, you
'
ve left me to run things the way I see fit.
"

"Don
'
t you see? That proves my point. I
'
m an agreeable fellow. As husbands go, you
'
ll find me very accommodating.
"

"Mmm!
"
said Annabelle. "I don
'
t think that
'
s much of a recommendation, David.
"

"You don
'
t think I was right to try to stop publication of Monique Dupres
'
s diaries?
"

"Well,
"
said Annabelle, squirming under his direct look, "I
'
m not infallible.
"
When Dalmar
'
s eyebrows rose fractionally, she said, "All right. I admit that sometimes I
'
m a bit headstrong for my own good. But if you hadn
'
t taken that highhanded attitude, I wouldn
'
t have dug in my heels.
"

"I
'
ve learned my lesson,
"
he said. "Haven
'
t I proved it?
"

Annabelle could not in all honesty deny that he spoke nothing less than the truth. And she
'
d discovered to her great surprise that she rather enjoyed having him for a partner. Shyly she offered, "We do work well together, don
'
t we?
"

Surprise and pleasure etched his voice. "Do you think so?
"

"Oh yes,
"
said Annabelle. "I
'
m coming to rely on your advice. Do you know, you have the makings of a first-class entrepreneur?
"

Dalmar
'
s jaw sagged. When he had recovered from the
shock of her words, he said, "I love working with you. In fact, I love doing everything with you.
"

He moved closer. Annabelle inched away.

"About the policy,
"
she said.

"What about it?
"
He had almost given up hope that Annabelle would agree to his terms.

"What I was thinking,
"
she mused, and her eyelashes fanned down, veiling her expression, "what I was thinking
was this: if we were to make the terms of this document reciprocal, I would not be
averse to accepting
it. In other words, would you be prepared to allow me a similar latitude in
your
affairs?
"

She was thinking that Dalmar had just bought a major share in some tin mines in Cornwall. The company was simply begging for some astute man or woman of sound business sense to reorganize it from top to bottom. And as for Bailey
'
s, Albert was more than competent and pressing for more responsibility. And she was restless and ready for a new challenge.

"Reciprocal?
"
asked Dalmar cautiously. "Do you mean we should both have an equal say in the ordering of our private lives and that our business ventures should be joint?
"

"Don
'
t you think that
'
s fair?
"
asked Annabelle, slanting him a carefully artless look.

"Oh, I think so,
"
he quickly agreed. He was thinking that he had just bought a major share in some tin mines in Cornwall. The company badly needed reorganizing from top to bottom. Only, he was not sure where to begin. And managers were sometimes known to rob their employers blind. But if he could inveigle Annabelle into taking hold of the reins for a time, it would greatly relieve his mind. And her services would cost him next to nothing, he reasoned, or very little. To cover his eagerness, he frowned.

"I have no objections to what you suggest,
"
he said, striving for a casual tone. "Does this mean you would be willing to help me set things up with that company I
'
ve just bought over? Not that I would expect you to devote all of your time to it, you understand.
"

"Well,
"
said Annabelle, feigning reluctance, "I suppose I could spare myself from Bailey
'
s for a short while. It
'
s the least I could do, under the circumstances.
"

She lowered her lashes to conceal the flame of victory which she suspected had kindled in her eyes.

He pretended an interest in the carving on one of the bedposts to conceal his gloating smile.

After a moment he said, "Do we shake hands on it or what?
"
He was hoping it would be the "what.
"

"We
'
ll get to that later,
"
said Annabelle. She had that look about her which told Dalmar that she was in her "business
"
frame of mind. "Have you got a pencil handy?
"
she asked.