Libertine's Wife (31 page)

Garret moved on in his life. His
movements with his current mistress were documented in gossip
papers. Julian’s servants left them lying about. Some masochistic
desire to further humiliate and rub her nose in it made her read
every tidbit. She was miserable to know he could just forget her
and their coming child, as he had before, and shut her out of his
life.

Arianne became angry then, realizing he
was incapable of loving her. Julian forgave her for everything,
even understood why she did it. He never failed to remind her of
his continued feelings for her. She knew her marriage was over, but
still her heart cried out for Garret, seething with jealousy over
his latest paramour.

Her husband might have put her out of
his life and gone on with his, but the question still loomed over
her head what he would do when their child was born. Julian assured
her she needn’t worry, but some part of her knew Garret would seek
to hurt her.

He had his rights. Julian sought a
barrister and posed several questions of what she could do legally.
The man informed them she could do nothing. Ravensford was within
his rights to take both children if he wished.

None of Julian’s money could stop him.
Hearing this gave Arianne nightmares of Garret ripping her children
from her arms and never seeing them again. After losing her husband
and ruining all their lives, losing her children would be the end
of her.

~ ~ ~

Arianne went into labor during the
evening meal. Julian was white-faced to know her water broke and
panicked. He looked like he was going to fall apart. She assured
him it would be hours before she gave birth as he walked her up to
her room and sent a footman to fetch the doctor.

She labored longer with this child,
reasoning she was being punished as she struggled to bring it into
the world for two full days before her second son was born. The
doctor placed him in her arms. She gazed at him in awe, already
seeing he had Garret’s hair.

The child was large, almost nine
pounds, she was told. He was perfect, she thought, gazing at him in
wonder as she nursed him. He was fussy and a voracious eater,
already reminding her of his father with his unruly
temperament.

He was named Stephen Michael Spencer.
With a shaking hand, Arianne sent the announcement to Thomas Helms,
unsure whether to contact his father. Garret made it clear she was
cut out of his life. She naturally assumed that also included his
child.

Two days after Stephen was born, her
husband’s man-of-affairs arrived with two armed guards. They had
nurses in tow to take the children. Julian was away on business and
wasn’t there to put a stop to it. Arianne stared at them in horror
as she read the papers the solicitor gave her.

“
There must be some mistake,
Mr. Helms,” she argued and refused to hand over her children,
terror filling her gaze. “You can’t do this!”

The man gazed at her with a pained
look. “Lord Ravensford is entitled to his children by law, Lady
Ravensford. You are living in open sin with Lord Vale. It is within
his rights. I’ve been instructed to call the authorities if need
be, my lady.”

Arianne stared at the man in stunned
disbelief. The housekeeper bit her lip as she was ordered by Helms
to lead the servants to the nursery to fetch the children. Tears
filled her eyes as they were brought down. She bit back raw sobs of
agony to see the housekeeper hand off Stephen.

“
Unless directed by his
lordship, you are no longer allowed to see both children, Lady
Ravensford,” Helms told her more kindly. The man shook his head in
disgust to be given such an errand this day, obviously appalled at
his employer’s callous behavior. “I’m sorry, but it is the law.
Your husband is within his rights.”

Arianne stood frigid with shock as
Jaime started to cry. The nurse tried to console him but he reached
for her, sobbing as he was carried away. The nurse holding Stephen
started to cry, seeing she held a newborn in her arms.

Both of her children were taken from
the residence then, leaving her standing in stunned horror. The
blood drained from her face, the breath went out of her lungs, and
she slowly slid to the floor, staring unseeing at the closed
door.

Her husband found the perfect means to
destroy her.

~ ~ ~

“
Please, you must calm down,
Arianne,” Julian told her gently, staring at her in concern as she
raged, sobbed, and went hysterical the moment he returned. “I will
not allow him to take your children from you. We will see to this
tomorrow. I will hire whomever I need to get them back.”

“
Neither of us has any
rights, even to Jaime, according to the law!” Arianne wailed and
paced in his study, her ravaged face meeting his before she burst
into tears again. “He will do this. He does it to hurt me as I’ve
hurt him, don’t you see?”

Julian did see. He sighed, rubbing his
eyes. He stared at the papers from the solicitor and knew there was
nothing he could do short of killing Lord Ravensford for doing this
to his wife.

“
Arianne, you can do nothing
tonight.” It was near midnight and she couldn’t be reasoned with
anymore. “Go get some rest. Tomorrow I will go and see your husband
and try to make him see reason.”

She stared at him and laughed then, a
brittle sound that assured him she was more than a little
hysterical. Her eyes were red and swollen and she was agitated,
bouts of rage turning into piteous tears in an instant. He worried
she was becoming unhinged in those moments, knowing this tormented
her like nothing else could.

“
He has taken everything
from me!” Arianne sobbed brokenly and slid to the floor, crying her
heart out. He went to her and took her in his arms, trying to
console her.

“
No! You must let him calm
down for a time, Arianne. He is upset and not thinking,” Julian
argued and held her shaking form, hearing her cry harder. “You will
make yourself ill!”

“
He does this to hurt me!”
she raged and struggled out of his arms, wiping at her tears
furiously. “You don’t know him as I do. He won’t give them back to
me! How can I live knowing they are taken from me?”

Julian tried to console her but she was
hysterical, crying, and unable to see reason. He finally spoke with
his housekeeper about finding laudanum to put in her tea. Soon she
was quiet and drowsy. He carried her up to her room.

She was asleep as soon her he laid her
down. His eyes filled with fury Lord Ravensford would employ such
tactics to hurt his wife. Julian left her room with murder in his
eyes as he shouted for his driver. He would have a long overdue
word with Lord Ravensford.

~ ~ ~

Garret was returning from seeing his
latest mistress when he was waylaid outside his home by Lord Vale.
The man stormed up and sent a punch to his chin before he saw it
coming. Dazed but hardly swayed, he sent one of his own back to the
man’s jaw.

Soon they were grappling in front of
his residence. Lord Vale might have been smaller than him, but he
was enraged. The fists and curses flew, both men bloodied and
breathing raggedly as they broke apart. Julian glared at him as he
held his bleeding nose.

“
I demand you return my son
to me at once, Ravensford!” he shouted, his dark eyes flashing in
outrage. “He is mine! You have no right to take him except for
spite!”

Garret rubbed his jaw and eyed the man
with a furious expression. “Did she send you here to play hero
again, Vale?” He bellowed back. “I regret to inform you that the
law is on my side in this! Arianne is still my wife! Both children
are mine as far as the law is concerned! Maybe you should have
thought about that before you took her in!”

“
Is that what this is all
about? I gave her someplace to go?” Julian looked as if he would
pummel him again. “You think tossing her into the streets will make
you feel better of this, Ravensford? How do you feel now after
ripping a mother’s children from her arms? You’re a bloody monster!
Arianne is lucky she got away from you and her no good scum of a
brother!”

Garret let loose a growl and went
barreling into Julian. They both went down to the cobblestones,
rolling and kicking. Garret was bigger, but Vale had speed. Before
long the younger man was up and sent a hard uppercut to his jaw,
sending him flying backward.

Garret got up and they circled one
another. Lord Vale looked beaten, his nose bleeding profusely.
Garret lunged at him and punched him repeatedly, sending him
sprawling finally. He stood over the man, daring him to get back
up. Julian struggled to rise and flopped back down, breathing hard
and spent. He spit blood from his mouth and glared up at
Garret.

“
You waste your time on her,
Vale,” Garret said with a sneer. “She’s nothing but a grasping,
lying little whore!”

“
Arianne is one of the most
selfless people I know!” Vale got up unsteadily. He glared at him
as he nursed his jaw. “Everything she’s done was for those she
cared about! Don’t try to tell me of it! You don’t even know your
own wife!”

“
So her passing off your
child as mine doesn’t bother you at all?” Garret asked with an
unfriendly snort. “You’re a damned fool, Vale!”

“
You’re right! I am a fool!
I curse the day I ever walked away and let her marry you,
Ravensford!”

“
You’re welcome to her!”
Garret snapped, still wary of the younger man who eyed him with
extreme dislike. “The woman has played me for a fool too many
times, and I’ve had all I will take! Have her with my blessing, but
the children will remain here under my care.”

“
Who are you to condemn her?
Until you married her, your life was one bloody scandal after
another. When have you ever done the right thing? You have no cause
to treat her this way,” Julian said coldly and shook his head,
eyeing him in pity then. “She made a bloody mistake! She never
thought you would ever set eyes upon her again. She didn’t see the
harm in giving the boy a name. You can spout all kinds of filth you
want about her, but she did it because she loved me! She did it for
me, you bloody stupid man!”

Garret was tempted to hit him again.
“What she did was unquestionably for your benefit, Vale. She
thought nothing of her husband.”

“
Until nearly a year ago,
you cut her out of your life!” Julian’s dark eyes narrowed in
outrage as he held his nose. “Had you ever thought of making your
presence known; she would have told you the truth. I know her well.
She wouldn’t have kept it from you!”

“
How well you sing her
praises, Vale,” Garret snarled. “That doesn’t excuse her
actions!”

“
I don’t care if she made a
damned mistake! I love her and I will have her back! Enjoy your
spite, for whatever good it does you, Ravensford. I pity you a life
without her.” Julian limped away, back to his waiting coach across
the street.

Garret stood on the dark street with a
smarting jaw and stung feelings to know every word the man spoke
was the truth. He sat upon the curb and glared at his scuffed
knuckles.

He wondered what a young woman with a
brother like Eustace would have done in the same situation. He hung
his head to know the answer. Arianne did what she had to do, with
no other choice after they wed.

He certainly never gave her the idea he
would be back for her, or even acknowledged the child. No, he had
every intention of never setting eyes upon her again. She made the
best of it, never dreaming he’d stride back into her
life.

The pain he inflicted on her by taking
her children wasn’t close to how devastated he was to know she
passed Vale’s child off as his. Then the weeks she met with Vale
behind his back reared their ugly head, and all the lies, all to
keep him from learning of her duplicity.

With some checking, he learned Lady
Vale resided in the country, never with her husband. It was another
damning truth he couldn’t ignore. The ugly suspicions she went to
Vale’s bed for the money tormented him. The desire to call the man
out and kill him burned within him still.

He couldn’t get past it, even when he
tried to see why she would keep it all from him. Obviously, she
knew how he would react. Arianne didn’t know him well enough to
know he got over things. He got up from the curb and walked up the
steps to his home. He knew he couldn’t get over this anytime
soon.

~ ~ ~

Arianne wore her best gown for this
interview. She was determined to get in to see Garret. She refused
to believe she couldn’t get through to him. She needed to make him
listen to her. The torment of being without him, her children, made
her ignore Julian’s advice.

She stared at her image in the mirror.
Ginny did wonders with her hair. She smoothed the lines of the
lovely green satin frock, turning from side to side. She knew
trying to entice Garret to relent was beneath them both.

She bit her lip as a pang of anguish
assailed her. She had nothing left to lose. Her children had been
gone for many weeks. It was agonizing to see her milk dry up,
knowing her son was now nourished by a wet nurse.