With His Ring (Brides of Bath Book 2) (34 page)

If she couldn't lie with Blanks the rest of
her days, she had no desire to live.

She made no effort to check the flow of her
tears as she wove in and out of the stream of people. She thought
back over all the words that had passed between Blanks and her at
the Pump Room. Hadn't he said he could not bear to think of her
demise? He had also paid homage to her body. Her heart nearly
stopped. He said he wished he could die in her arms.

Then why had he decided he could not allow
himself to renew their lovemaking? She remembered seeing Carlotta
at the Pump Room. Could the sight of Carlotta have reminded him of
what pleasures he was missing? But hadn't he told Glee he'd never
in his life been more
well pleased
? The more Glee thought
she knew Blanks, the more she realized how little she really knew
about him.

When a knot of woman stopped to peer in a
milliner's window, Glee impatiently walked around them, splashing
in a puddle on the street, not caring that she stained her dress
and ruined her shoes.

She made it to Queen Square and ran up the
stairs to her chamber, slamming the door behind her, locking it and
throwing herself prostrate on the bed.

The flow of tears had stopped, yet she
continued to lie there for another hour, a gnawing emptiness
stripping her of all feeling, save a deep, lonely melancholy.

Finally, she rose and bathed her swollen
eyes. Her inflexible husband had met his match in his
not-to-be-dissuaded wife. Hadn't her determination secured Blanks
for her husband? Blanks's denial of the most intrinsic human
emotions only drove Glee to orchestrate the desired compliance. It
would just take time, like chiseling a rock. Alas, she had pledged
a lifetime to him. She could wait while her ministrations wore away
his resolve.

She smiled to herself as she drafted a note
to Winston Hall inquiring about Diana's health, then she went to
speak to Mrs. Roberts about dinner and paid a call on her friend,
Miss Arbuckle.

* * *

At dinner Glee reigned over the table.
Neither Blanks nor his brother would have been able to guess how
fragile her nerves had been just hours before. For she gave no sign
of it. She spoke solicitously to her husband. She complimented
Jonathan on the success of his literary career. She and Jonathan
spoke of Melvin and the many similarities between Melvin and
Jonathan.

"He confided to me he has drafted a treatise
on the extension of suffrage, and I agreed to look over it
tomorrow," Jonathan said excitedly.

"So you see," Glee said to Jonathan, "your
brother's set is not comprised solely of bloods."

"So it seems."

"Though it may come as a shock to you, dear
brother," Blanks said with levity, "I've even been known to read
the Edinburgh Review on occasion."

Glee watched with amusement as the brothers
began to talk of liberal reforms and found a great many common
beliefs.

After dinner they took the carriage to the
Upper Assembly Rooms. "I hope you don't mind picking up my friend
Miss Arbuckle," Glee said. "I daresay her mother is suffering the
same complaint as Diana and is unable to accompany her; so, I've
offered to."

"How is your sister?" Blanks asked.

"The note I received before dinner said she
was much improved. It is to be hoped she can return to the
assemblies soon."

"Is Miss Arbuckle the lady who speaks only
in monosyllables?" Blanks asked.

Glee frowned. "Only when she's addressed by
gentlemen. I have found her speech quite animated when we talk of
books. She shares my great love for them."

They collected Miss Arbuckle, and she sat
next to Jonathan on the ride to the Assembly Rooms. In the dim
carriage Glee watched the two of them, wondering how Jonathan would
react to the timid miss. Unfortunately, Miss Arbuckle's dress was
constructed of very heavy fabric and its neckline was rather higher
than that dictated by fashion. Though plain, her face had a
delicacy about it, but Glee decided the lady's best features were
her piercing black eyes. And fortunately tonight, she refrained
from wearing the spectacles she usually wore.

Jonathan turned to the young woman and
cleared his throat. "My sister tells me you are enamored of
literature, Miss Arbuckle."

"Yes," she answered with no further
elaboration.

"We are very excited," Glee said to Miss
Arbuckle, "that Jonathan's to be published in the Edinburgh
Review."

Miss Arbuckle's eyes danced and she broke
into a friendly smile. "May I inquire as to the nature of your
article?"

"Primogeniture, particularly as it relates
to the crown."

"How very interesting," Miss Arbuckle
said.

Those three words were the most words Glee
had ever heard Miss Arbuckle utter to a gentleman. For the
remainder of the journey, Glee had no worries over Miss Arbuckle
being neglected.

In fact, even at the Assembly Room, Miss
Arbuckle and Jonathan—and later Melvin—sat in The Octagon and
conversed on political matters.

The absence of Mr. Jefferson and Carlotta
inordinately pleased Glee. Also pleasing her were the many
attentions Blanks lavished on her throughout the night. They danced
with each other for two waltzes, provoking a bittersweet memory of
the intimacy that had bound them the night before.

There was nothing to do for it, Glee
decided. She would simply have to seduce her husband.

* * *

After they dropped off Miss Arbuckle that
night, Jonathan said, "I find Miss Arbuckle to be the most well
informed young lady I've ever met. It's women like her who make one
want to extend the franchise to woman. In fact, she encouraged me
to write an article on the very matter."

"I'm amazed that you actually elicited
complete sentences from the lady," Blanks said.

Glee directed her attention to her husband.
"You have to understand, Blanks, most young woman have been
schooled to think of you as a rogue, and I daresay rogues hold no
attraction for Miss Arbuckle."

Blanks grinned. "Decidedly none, I should
say."

When they arrived back at Queen Square,
Blanks helped Glee from the carriage but held her hand not a second
longer than necessary. Even as they mounted the stairs to the
second floor, he avoided touching Glee in any way.

They came to her door first. He stopped in
front of it. "Good night, my love," he said, pecking the top of her
head.

Fuming, she answered through gritted teeth.
"Good night, dearest."

Closing her door behind her, she backed into
it. Perhaps she would not seduce her husband tonight, after all.
She was not about to stride through their connecting dressing rooms
and demand her husband bed her. She must force herself to muster a
semblance of pride.

Instead, she shed her gown and donned a more
substantial night shift than she had worn the night before and
climbed into her bed, dousing the candle. She lay in the darkness,
listening to Blanks stirring in his dressing room. She pictured his
bronzed chest as it would look when he removed his shirt. She
thought about the feel of his hands and mouth as they had devoured
her the night before, and she remembered how his sinewy back and
legs had felt when beaded with moisture as she stroked him with the
gentle hands of a lover.

And she lay bereft in her bed, praying
Blanks would change him mind and come to her.

Chapter 30

Despite that he had been unable to sleep
because of his debilitating want of Glee, Gregory decided a trip to
the booksellers was in order. He most definitely desired to
purchase a copy of the Edinburgh Review.

Since the bookshop was only two blocks away,
he walked. Every step of the way, Glee filled his mind and senses.
Then another scent infringed on his thoughts.
Lavender.
He
looked up and into the lavender eyes of Carlotta Ennis as she
walked toward him and met him with a solemn gaze. "Hello, Gregory,"
she said in that husky voice of hers.

"Good morning, Mrs. Ennis," he said stiffly,
coming to a sputtering halt.

She edged up to him. "Do you mind if I walk
with you for a spell?"

He shrugged. "I lay no claim to the public
pavement."

They walked a block before she finally
spoke. "When you. . .dismissed me, you said it was your desire to
continue our . . .relationship after you wed. Do you still feel the
same?" she asked.

His mouth went dry. His heart beat
erratically. God, but he wanted, indeed needed, a woman. 'Twas all
he could think of throughout the long night. But the woman he
wanted was not Carlotta.

His silence spoke more eloquently than his
words.

She laughed a bitter laugh. "It's as I
feared. You've fallen in love with your wife."

He gazed into her misty eyes and nodded
somberly.

"Then it appears I've not only wasted your
time, I've made an utter fool of myself," she said in a trembling
voice as she turned away from him.

He hated to see her hurt, especially now
that he knew what it felt like to crave a union that could not
be.

She started to walk away, but he reached out
to touch her arm. "Never a fool, Carlotta," he whispered in a low,
remorseful voice.

Their eyes met and held for the briefest of
seconds before she spun around and left.

* * *

With Jonathan at the ribbons of the phaeton,
he and Glee were en route to pay a morning call on Miss Arbuckle.
Glee was most pleased. Jonathan had stopped at the florist's and
bought a nosegay of posies to present to the worthy lady. The day
was lovely with cloudless cerulean skies, and despite that Blanks
had not come to her bed the night before, Glee's spirits were high.
Never one to accept defeat, she had confidence that, with time, she
could bring Blanks around.

Then she saw the beautiful woman in lilac
walking with somber grace along Quiet Street. Glee's stomach
tensed. Next she was witness to her own husband stopping and
talking to Carlotta Ennis before the two of them continued along
the pavement.

Had Blanks driven a stake through her heart,
Glee could not have been wounded more deeply. Unknowingly, she let
out an anguished cry when Blanks, with a solemn look on his face,
grasped Carlotta's arm after she spun away from him.

The man Glee had bestowed all her love upon
had lied to her. He was still meeting his mistress.

Jonathan, following the direction of Glee's
gaze and sensing the cause of her distress, quickly turned the
phaeton onto Stall Street.

Glee was unable to check the flow of her
tears. As painful as was the realization Blanks still bedded
Carlotta was the betrayal Glee suffered over her husband's lies.
More than once he had insisted his relationship with Carlotta had
been severed. By defiling Glee's trust he had wounded her more
deeply than even his infidelity could have.

His face grim, Jonathan spoke. "So I
perceive there's one area in which my brother shows no inclination
to change."

As angry and anguished as she was, Glee
could not betray the man she had married. To seek consolation from
Jonathan would be to acknowledge the vulnerability of her marriage.
"I will not allow you to malign my husband," she defended.

Jonathan cursed under his breath and angrily
flicked the ribbons. "I cannot take you to Miss Arbuckle's if
you're going to be a watering pot."

"Then I beg that you set me down at Queen
Square," she said, sniffing.

He mumbled something unintelligible and
turned at the next corner.

When he pulled up in front of the town
house, she spoke to him, careful to shield her tear-stained face
from his scrutiny. "By the way, it pains me that I'll not be able
to be here for your entire stay. I have pressing duties to attend
to back at Hornsby."

He nodded solemnly.

* * *

In her chambers, Glee and Patty hurriedly
packed a valise and portmanteau for their return to the home where
Glee was born. "Will the master be going, too?" a surprised Patty
asked.

Glee cleared her throat. "Not at this time,
I don't believe."

Patty's brows lowered. "I declare, I hope
he's had more notice of this journey than I have!"

Impertinent girl
! What occurred
between Glee and her husband was no business of Patty's.

With her packing complete, Glee penned a
brief note to Blanks.

Darling,

It seems I've served the purpose of our
marriage; so, now

I am returning to Hornsby and releasing you
of all responsibility toward me.

With deepest affection,

Glee

Her heart pounding in her chest, she went
into his chamber, to the room where their marriage had so
gloriously been consummated. The very smell of the dark chamber
evoked Blanks and all the love she felt for him. But she could not
allow herself the luxury of remembering the magic that had occurred
between them in this very room. Her eyes avoiding the bed, she
propped up her letter on his desk, then fled from the room.

In the hallway Hampton, in his
characteristic expressionless delivery, informed her the carriage
was ready. Her eyes watery, Glee wouldn't chance a last look at
what had been home to Blanks and her.

Along with her maid and with help from the
coachman, Glee grimly boarded the coach-and-four. Since it wouldn't
do to weep all the way to Warwickshire, to distract herself Glee
had carried along a volume of Sir Walter Scott, which she proceeded
to read.

"I don't know how ye can read when the
carriage is in motion!" Patty exclaimed. "I declare, it rattles me
stomach somethin' awful."

Glee did not look up from the page. "I
believe a number of people suffer from the same complaint, but my
own stomach is affected neither by movement nor vapors. Mama always
said my stomach was as strong as iron."