Wronged (The Cuvier Widows Book 1) (33 page)

The bastard had whispered words of trust and
affection and then intended to ask for her signature. “How
considerate,” she said sarcastically.

“So what do I tell the buyers?” he asked,
perplexed. “You tell them there’s been a huge mistake and that
Cuvier Shipping is not for sale. It never has been for sale.”

The man stared, his mouth open in shock. “I
don’t know what to say, Mrs. Cuvier. I’m sorry you had to find this
out from me. Are you certain you don’t want to sell? I have an
excellent buyer who will pay well.”

“I’m certain,” she said feeling her strength
slowly draining from her.

He sighed. “All right, I will go back to the
buyer and tell them that there will be no sale.”

“Thank you, Mr. Hudson,” she said standing so
he would get the message that their meeting was over. She could
feel her composure beginning to crumble and she didn’t want to
break down in front of the man.

He stood and gathered his hat and briefcase.
“Good day, Mrs. Cuvier.”

“Good day,” she said, and watched him walk
out the door. She sank back into her chair, and her carefully
constructed self-control disintegrated. She lay her head down on
her arms and sobbed. Damn Louis for hurting her this way. Damn him
for his deceitfulness and damn him for wooing her heart only to
break it!

***

Louis opened the door to Cuvier Shipping and
couldn’t imagine feeling any better than he did right at this
moment. Since Marian had agreed to be his wife, he’d made the
decision not to sell Cuvier Shipping. He couldn’t do that to his
soon-to-be-wife. With the sale canceled, he would forfeit any
chance of owning the mill for the time being, but he was willing to
put his dream on hold for Marian and hope for some other
opportunity later.

He walked into the office and greeted Jon
with a smile. “Good morning.”

“Good morning,” the man said, not looking him
directly in the face.

Louis passed Henry in the hallway and the man
ducked his head and kept walking, refusing to meet his gaze. He
passed one of the clerks and the man turned his face away from him
and Louis felt like he had suddenly developed leprosy.

What was wrong with everyone this
morning?

He walked into his office and set his bag
down, his intention being to stroll over and say good morning to
his soon-to-be wife. But before he could settle in, he looked up
and saw her standing in his doorway.

“Good morning,” he said, his voice trailing
off. Her eyes were dull and swollen as if she’d been crying, her
expression appeared almost hostile. “I ... I was just coming over
to say hello. What’s wrong, honey? You look like someone died.”

“Not someone, but something,” she said, her
voice even and cold. She shut the door to his office, the click
seemed loud and fear trickled through him. Distraught didn’t begin
to describe the way she looked and an eerie feeling of apprehension
crept through him. He wanted to run from the office, alarmed at
what she would say filling him.

“I had a visit from a Mr. Hudson this
morning,” she said, her voice shaky. “He came to see you and
instead met with me.”

“Oh, God,” he said putting his hand to his
head. His fears were being realized.

She ignored him. “He spoke with me about the
buyers for our business that I didn’t know was for sale.”

“Let me explain,” he pleaded, hoping she
would listen. “I’ve been going to tell you for the last week and I
just hadn’t found the right moment. And then last night I decided
not to go through with the sale.”

She took a deep breath, her chin quivered,
but she quickly recovered. “Well you don’t have to tell me anymore.
I know.”

“Please Marian, believe me, I was going to
back out of the deal. I did this months ago. Right after Jean
died.”

“You’ve used that excuse once too often,
Louis. It doesn’t work anymore,” she said.

Louis remembered their conversation after the
strike when she had asked him if there was anything else he’d
forgotten to tell her. But at the time, he hadn’t realized he cared
for her. He’d still been intent on deceiving her.

“I’ve already told Mr. Hudson that I will not
sign
any
papers that sell Cuvier Shipping. Not now, not
ever.”

He shook his head. The fear that everything
was lost almost choked him. She would never understand what had
driven him to this point.

“Listen to me, Marian. I wanted to tell you
so many times, but...”

She sobbed, but quickly gained control. “You
knew how I felt regarding this company.” She took a deep breath.
“If you want out, then I’ll do what I can to buy you out, but you
are not going to sell this company without my knowledge,” she said,
her voice rising and gaining strength. “How dare you even try!”

He felt awful. All his fears slammed into him
like a punch to his belly and he sagged, knowing she couldn’t
forgive him. “I understand. I didn’t think anyone would buy just
part of the business. I was wrong for wanting to sell all of
it.”

She took two steps toward him, her eyes
flashing with fury. She slammed her hand down on his desk, causing
him to jump with shock at her response. “How can you sleep at night
for your lies? How could you do this to me, Louis? You lied and
were willing to sell the business out from under me? What kind of
person are you?”

“I’m a louse, okay? After you agreed to marry
me, I decided I would back out of the deal, but I just hadn’t done
it yet. I hoped you would never find out.” But inside he knew he
hadn’t backed out of the deal before now because part of him wished
he could convince her to sell the business. Now his lack of action
was going to rob him of the one thing worth keeping in his life:
Marian.

“I don’t want to hear any more of your lies,”
she said, her voice rising. “Everything you’ve said has been a lie
and I believed you.”

“No, Marian. You’re wrong.”

A tear slid down her cheek. “How can I
believe you? How can I ever trust you again?”

“Marian, I promise you, that the only thing
I’ve lied to you about is the sale of the business.”

“You’ve never told me any untruths regarding
the business before now? You’ve been completely honest?” she
asked.

He paused for a moment thinking over the
previous months and knew he’d never been completely honest with
her. “I ...”

“That’s what I thought. You know, Louis, it
hurt badly enough when Jean betrayed my trust. I thought I would
never get over him. But now I see that your disloyalty is even
worse.” She wiped away a tear. “You’ve betrayed my love and that’s
something that Jean never had.”

God, she’d said she loved him, but then she
turned and walked out the office door, leaving Louis feeling as if
someone had dropped a load of bricks on him. He lay in the dust
hurt and bleeding, wishing for the end. He watched her leave and
knew she’d just taken his heart with her and he might never get it
back.

***

Marian cleared off her desk and then promptly
left, not telling anyone where she was going. She needed some time
away from the business, away from Louis, everything. She needed
some time to resolve the questions that fogged her brain and made
her feel crazy. She needed someone to surgically remove Louis and
everything about him from her mind and her heart.

How do you replace someone who is constantly
in your thoughts and repair the hole their love has left in your
soul?

Marian sat in her carriage looking out at the
city she loved, not really seeing the people or the places, her
mind still reeling with the implications of what had happened this
morning. When the carriage pulled up in front of the house on
Josephine Street, she wondered if she should sell the home that
Jean and she had shared.

Since his death three months ago, had she
taken any time to really reflect on her life and decide where she
was going? In the past, she’d always taken the children to Virginia
to visit her family, but this summer she’d spent her time at Cuvier
Shipping, trying to make sure she’d saved the business for her son.
But now she even wondered if saving the business for Philip was
really worth her effort.

Climbing out of the carriage, Marian walked
up the sidewalk to the front door and entered the house. She leaned
against the wooden portal, wanting to cry now that she was
home.

Claire rounded the comer. “What are you doing
home at this hour?” Her eyes narrowed at the sight of Marian.
“What’s happened?”

Marian shook her head, the tears starting to
fall and she knew she could no longer hold them at bay. “Louis ...
he’s such a bastard.”

Claire took her sister by the arm and led her
into the parlor and shut the door. She sat her gently down on the
settee and handed her a handkerchief. “What has he done now?”

For a few moments, Marian just sat and cried
letting all the anguish she’d held inside her flow out through her
tears. Finally after several moments her tears began to subside,
and she wiped her face.

“I’m sorry. It’s just that he asked me to
marry him and we’ve been waiting to announce it to everyone.”

“I would say congratulations, but somehow I
don’t think you’ve told me everything. And I get the feeling there
will be no wedding.”

“Today, he was late coming into the office
and Mr. Hudson, an attorney, came to the office to meet with Louis.
Since Louis was not there he asked to speak with me.”

She began to tear up again as she recalled
the man’s visit and the horrible look of surprise on his face when
he realized she knew nothing about the sale of the business.

“He told me the buyers for Cuvier Shipping
were awaiting my signature on the final papers and the sale would
be complete.”

“Dear God!” Claire gasped, her voice filled
with shock.

“Louis has been trying to sell the shipping
company,” she said, her voice quivering.

“Did you confront him?”

“Yes and he said that he started the process
of selling the company before I was involved, but that’s his excuse
for everything. He said that he decided to cancel the sale, but
just hadn’t gotten around to doing it,” she said, her heart
breaking as she realized the extent of his betrayal.

“Or he was waiting until you said ‘I do’ and
then he could do what he wanted,” Claire said quietly.

Marian started to cry again. “Of course he’s
been telling me how much he cares for me. And now I find out the
truth. He didn’t want me. He just wanted Cuvier Shipping.”

“Oh, Marian, I’m so sorry,” Claire said
patting Marian’s back. “What are you going to do?”

Marian wiped her eyes with the handkerchief
in her hand. “I’ve not taken any time off since Jean died. I need
some time with my children. I need some time away from everything
to think. So, I’m going to go to Virginia for a few weeks.”

Claire nodded her head. “That is a good idea.
It would give you time to decide how you’re going to work closely
with Louis after everything that’s happened.” The thought of going
back into the office and sitting across the hall from the man who
had lied his way into her bed was impossible. “I can’t see him
right now. I can’t see him until I’ve gotten over falling in love
with him.”

Claire frowned. “That may be impossible.”

“I can’t work with him, knowing that I love
him and that he’s deceived me. I have to get over Louis before I
can go back to work.”

But how could she forget the man who had
finally won her heart and healed her broken spirit? How could she
forget the man who’d made her realize she was a desirable woman
once again? How could she ever forget Louis?

T
wo days passed, and
Louis begin to wonder if Marian would ever return to Cuvier
Shipping. Funny how at one time, he would have been overjoyed by
her lack of attendance. But now he missed her. Despondent and
miserable, he stared across the hall at the empty office, blaming
himself. Everything had blown up in his face and it was all his
fault.

He walked across the hall and stood staring
into her office. Breathing deeply he thought he could smell the
scent of her perfume lingering in the air. An ivy plant grew in the
windowsill, a small bowl and pitcher of water stood in the comer
with a dainty hand towel for washing. The feminine touches and
tidiness made the room look more like a powder room than an office,
but they were remembrances of Marian. And he feared he would never
see her again.

With fierceness he’d never known, he could
feel his heart aching, missing her desperately.

How could he have handled things so badly?
How could he have imagined that she would agree to sell Cuvier
Shipping? And why hadn’t he been honest with her once he realized
he wanted to marry her and spend the rest of his life with her?

Was he so blind that he couldn’t see that he
loved her? That he’d probably been in love with her for months now?
When had he become the type of man who couldn’t recognize love and
was so selfish that he hurt other people just to get what he
wanted?

How could being a mill owner be so important
to him that he would sell out someone he loved? Guilt at his
egotistical actions ate at him like a cancer. He was a fool to give
up a woman like Marian for a mill, but the lure of owning his own
business had driven rational thought from his head.

With a sigh he started to turn away when
Henry came to the door.

“It’s been awfully quiet around here without
Mrs. Cuvier,” he said, a sad tone in his voice.

“Yes,” Louis said tiredly.

“Is she coming back?” Henry asked glancing at
him uneasily.

“I don’t know.”

“We tried so hard to get rid of her at first
and now since she’s gone, we all want her back,” Henry said, with a
sigh. “Everyone misses her.”