Libertine's Wife (29 page)

“
So that justifies you
passing Vale’s child off as mine?” Garret asked hoarsely and gazed
at her with growing fury.

“
No! I knew what I did was
wrong from the start! I have lived with that every day since. I
never thought you would ever want anything from our marriage. You
have to believe me, Garret!” she cried, tears streaming down her
cheeks. “I never meant to hurt you!”

“
Hurt?” He took a step back,
as if struck, looking so out of sorts, she began to cry once more.
“You tell me the child I love and thought was mine is your lovers?
I’m to believe you never meant to hurt me? You have done nothing
but hurt me from the moment I set eyes upon you!”

“
I know you’re angry,
Garret—”

He cut her off with a low laugh,
shaking his head at her words. “No, anger does not even quite match
what I feel right now, Arianne.”

“
Lord Vale has agreed to pay
for Jaime’s safe return,” she continued, seeing him flinch at her
words, his pride devastated to know why. “He will get him back for
us.”

“
Did you go to his bed those
weeks you lied to me that you went to meet his wife?” Garret bore
down on her, reaching out to snatch her by the shoulders and shook
her roughly. “Did you go to him? Tell me the damned truth for
once!”

“
No! We are merely friends!”
She saw his rage and grew fearful. “I knew what you would say if
you knew of it. He told me from the start to tell you the truth
about Eustace demanding money from me. He gave it to me only to buy
more time until I could find some means to get Eustace out of our
lives.”

“
How many times has Vale
paid that scum of a brother of yours off since I brought you back?”
His fingers bit into her upper arms, his face flushed with fury.
“How many times?”

“
Julian gave me the money
only once!” Arianne sobbed, eyes drenched with tears. “I couldn’t
tell you! I tried, but then Eustace came back saying the money
lender was after us now. I couldn’t go to Julian. He refused to
give me anymore money by then. Now it is too late.”

Garret’s hands fell from her shoulders.
He looked at her as if she was a stranger. “You knew these men were
out there? You said nothing of it?” Distaste was evident in his
expression now. “How far would you go to cover your damned lies,
Arianne? When Jaime is returned, I want you gone from this
house.”

“
I expected as much,”
Arianne said in sorrow. “You will send me back to your estate to
shut me away again.”

Garret stared down at her with cold
bitterness. “No, you are very much on your own now, madam. You have
lost the right to bear my name. Be gone when your son is
returned.”

Arianne stared at him with grim
acceptance, realizing he was putting her out in the street now.
What had she expected? She deserved every bit of his scorn, felt it
as his eyes lashed out at her. “I never meant to hurt you, Garret,”
she whispered hoarsely.

His lips twisted with contempt. “Spare
me more of your bloody lies! You mean you never meant for me to
find out what a duplicitous little whore you are! Isn’t that more
the truth, Arianne?” he asked harshly. “I can’t even stomach the
sight of you anymore! When your former lover arrives with the means
to buy back your child; I suggest you save those pretty words for
him. I want you gone today!”

“
I have nowhere else to go!
Please don’t do this!” she cried and stared up at him in growing
alarm.

“
You might wish to ply your
trade on your back with Lord Vale once more.” He laughed at her
devastated expression. “I can vouch for your skills.”

“
Please don’t do this to us,
Garret.” She saw he was unmoved. “We can work through this!
Please!”

“
If you’re not gone by the
time I return here; I will have my servants toss you out,” he said
and sneered down at her. “Does that tell you how I feel for you,
Arianne? Now get from my sight before I throttle you as you
deserve!”

Arianne left his study blinded by her
tears. She ran to her room, throwing herself on her bed to cry out
her misery. When she was spent, she sat up and faced the fact her
marriage was over with a calmness she hadn’t expected. All along
she knew this fragile dream she had of being happy would shatter
the minute he knew about Jaime.

She deserved his hatred. He felt
bitterly betrayed and wouldn’t listen to anything she could offer
in her own defense. The fact he refrained from striking her only
attested to his refusal to even touch her. The hope she allowed to
grow was diminished under the heels of her brother’s
sickness.

Had she told him the truth from the
start, he might have learned to forgive her. Now, he despised her
and she couldn’t blame him. Because of her, the child he adored was
now claimed by another.

Garret was gone when she came down
later. He left word with Elliot and Mrs. Phelps he was going out
and wouldn’t return until late. She waited an excruciating amount
of time for Julian to return.

Lord Vale arrived with two
dangerous-looking men with him. He gazed at her tortured face when
he came into the salon. He knew at first glance she told her
husband the truth. He took the kidnapper’s note where the money was
to be left and gazed at her sadly.

“
He will get past this in
time, Arianne,” Julian attempted to console her. “You need to give
him a chance to take this all in.”

She shook her head as she rose from the
settee. “He wants me out as soon as Jaime is returned. He says he
never wishes to see me again.”

Julian gazed at her in obvious shock.
“He puts you out on the streets?”

“
He says I belong there,”
she replied bitterly. “It’s what I deserve for staying silent. This
is my fault. If anything happens to my son; I shall never forgive
myself.”

Julian looked outraged. “You will pack
your things at once. I won’t see you tossed out of his home like
rubbish.”

“
I feel like rubbish!”
Arianne looked out of sorts, eyes wild with emotion.

“
You will stay at the manor
until we find you a suitable house. I will not allow the mother of
my son too live on the streets,” Julian said and gazed at her
sadly. “I am not altogether happy to know I have a son you never
told me about, but I know why you did it, Arianne. If I can forgive
you, so can he.”

“
You don’t know him!”
Arianne cried and looked miserable. “He doesn’t trust easily. I’ve
hurt him terribly by this. It’s more than just the fact Jaime isn’t
his. We had a pact to trust each other completely. I never kept it
from the start by not confessing to this.”

“
Then the loss is his,
Arianne,” Julian snapped, angry her husband would toss her out. “If
he can’t see past his damnable pride, you are better
off.”

“
It’s more than pride,
Julian. He loves Jaime. This news has destroyed him.”

Julian rolled his eyes, refusing
sympathy for his rival. “Arianne, don’t make excuses for
Ravensford. He has no room to talk. He’s being a bloody hypocrite
here! He certainly never told you of his children. Look how you
found out?”

“
That’s different, Julian,”
she argued wearily. “A wife isn’t supposed to know of such things.
Besides, those children were born before we married. I accepted all
in his past, knowing he has been far from conventional in his
dealings with women. He hasn’t lied to me of anything, don’t you
see? Every awful thing he’s ever done, he’s told me of.”

Julian looked hesitant. “His most
recent bastard just turned two, Arianne. While he locked you away
at his estate, he had no problem with involving himself with the
wife of a peer I’m acquainted with.”

She looked miserable to know it; her
heart devastated to think of how he turned his back on her then and
picked up with another. “That was before we decided to work on our
marriage. The news hardly pleases me, but I cannot fault
him.”

“
You condone his appalling
behavior!” Julian looked harsh and disbelieving.

“
No! I don’t condone
anything he’s done, Julian,” Arianne said angrily, her eyes
flashing. “We were hardly in love then! You know how he felt about
marriage! Everyone knew how he felt! He has never lied to me about
anything! Now do you see?”

“
Are you in love now?”
Julian challenged her words with a raised eyebrow. “He has no
trouble tossing you out of his life, Arianne. That isn’t the
behavior of a man in love at all. If he cared for you, he would try
to see why you did it. I had no such trouble.”

Arianne was too sick to discuss it
anymore. Everything he said was true. Knowing why she kept silent
didn’t matter to Garret. All he saw was that she deceived him once
more. She despised herself for shattering the fragile hold she had
on his heart so briefly. She shivered as she felt the loss, knowing
tears wouldn’t come right now.

“
I go to get our son. I want
you packed and ready to leave. I’ll send a coach for
you.”

Arianne no longer cared where she went,
nodding with a numb feeling inside. The feel of her heart breaking
overwhelmed such concerns, knowing she would be without Garret. She
was too sick at heart to cry anymore. “Get my son back for me,
Julian.”

“
I’m to meet the kidnappers
in one hour, according to the note,” he said and frowned. “I don’t
want you here then.”

He left then, leaving her alone. Mrs.
Phelps and the maids packed her trunks, eyeing her sadly and
wondering what was afoot. She left her jewels in the safe, refusing
to take them. She was calm and dry-eyed as the trunks were carried
below. Julian’s coach arrived for her and a wagon for her
belongings. She looked around the foyer one last time before she
left; haunted by the dream she woke up from at last.

~ ~ ~

Julian smiled as he stood on the
terrace and watched his son running in the gardens below, his
mother fast on his heels. They lived with him a month now and no
word was heard from Arianne’s husband.

Ravensford knew where she was and
refused to speak to her. She sent countless letters and notes. The
man rejected any overtures she made, even went as far as sending
the notes back to her unopened.

She was heartbroken by his putting her
out of his life. He saw it in her eyes each time her letters came
back unopened. He knew no words could comfort her now and didn’t
try. The man was a fool. Julian wasn’t about to waste such an
opportunity.

Arianne was back in his life and he
would have her under any circumstance. Once she got over
Ravensford; they could be happy once more. She refused to come to
his bed, but he knew once she accepted her husband no longer cared
for her, she would come around.

Julian told himself this even as he saw
the pain in her eyes for another. He cursed Ravensford his pride,
knowing that was all that kept the man for forgiving his wife. He
refused to see reason. Julian knew a visit from him wouldn’t be
appreciated.

Eustace was caught a few weeks after
the child was returned. He was charged with aiding Dench in the
kidnapping. The money lender went into hiding then. Eustace was
arrested and tossed into prison to await his sentence.

It was quick to come. He received seven
years of indentured servitude in a penal colony in Australia. He
was to be put on a ship, bound in chains. Julian had little mercy
for the man when he cried and pled his case the day his men caught
him at a gaming establishment. It gave Julian great pleasure to see
his sentence carried out swiftly to spare Arianne further
grief.

He watched her scoop up their son with
a tight feeling in his chest. The woman he loved was back in his
life, whether by her choice or fate. He’d not second guess matters
and lose her again.

~ ~ ~

Garret stared at the letter, fuming the
bloody woman wouldn’t stop sending them. He put her out of his life
and was determined to forget her. Still, the images of her were
there to haunt him each day, her laughter echoing within his mind
as he recalled the blissful months before his life was upended once
more.

Arianne made her bed with her former
lover now and still sent him daily messages. The gall of the woman
knew no end. He refused to read even one, until today, that is.
Something in him wanted to hear her pretty lies and ridiculous
excuses for why she betrayed him so foully.

He read the letter and his eyes closed
in dread. A curse flew from his lips as he threw the letter to the
floor. It appeared his desire to get his wife out of his life was
to be denied him once more.

Arianne was expecting his child. It was
his this time, he knew. She hadn’t the nerve to do that to him
twice. Thoughts of punishing her for her actions came to mind. He
didn’t think he had it in him anymore. What fight was left in him
was challenged when he returned home to find her gone, told by
Elliot she left for Vale’s residence.

Garret was furious to learn she left
with her lover when he had time to calm down. What choice had he
given her then? In his rage and pain, he’d lashed out, threatening
to toss her into the streets. Even as angry as he was, he wouldn’t
have done it. He returned home determined to send her back to
Ravensford Hall until he could bear to look upon her
again.