Rebecca Hagan Lee (11 page)

"Isn't this what you wanted? To be discovered. Isn't that why you didn't bother to lock the door?" Blake spoke in a harsh whisper. "You were hoping I'd walk in."

She smiled at him. "Of course."

"Am I the only one who rates a private performance of wedding day adultery or should I shout down the stairs and invite all of our wedding guests to come up and witness this?"

"Why don't you?" Meredith countered.

Jack paled. "Have you lost your mind, girl?" he demanded hoarsely. "My wife is downstairs. What if he does it?"

"He won't." Meredith was confident. She stared at Blake, daring him to invite the cream of London society to share, to witness--her wedding gift to him. Daring him to carry out his threat and expose his family, friends, and colleagues to scandal on the day of his wedding.

He wanted to. He wanted to call the guests to come see his adulterous wife.

He wanted someone else to witness the unspeakable. His wife involved with his cousin. His married cousin. But that was the rub.

Meredith Brownlee was now his wife and any scandal that linked her with his cousin would hurt other people. Innocent people. Jack had a wife and two adorable children. A scandal would taint them as much as it tainted Jack.

Blake wouldn't risk the scandal. And Meredith knew it. He was too honorable, too ambitious, and too full of youthful idealistic pride.

The bedroom door was open. Blake waited until Jack crawled toward it, then slammed the door shut, turned the key in the lock, and pocketed it.

"Sensible, very sensible." Meredith leisurely fastened the bodice of her gown.

"What do you want?" Blake ground the words through his clenched teeth. He had been set up from the beginning. Neatly snared, like an unsuspecting rabbit.

"I have what I want." Meredith smiled at Jack. "We have what we want."

"And that is ..." Blake gripped the bedpost as Jack fastened his trousers, wiped his bloodied nose, and moved to sit next to Meredith.

"Respectability. Land, position, servants, wealth. A mansion in London. I wanted a way out of Everleigh and a ticket into the cream of London society.

And now I have it. I have what I've wanted all my life. Everything you took for granted. I'm the countess of Lawrence and one day, I'll be the marchioness of Everleigh. Nothing can change that."

"Except an annulment. Your tenure as countess will be the shortest in Lawrence history," Blake sneered. "I'll start proceedings in the morning."

"Too late," Meredith purred, placing a hand on Jack's crotch. "If all goes well, I should present you with the Lawrence heir nine months from today." She looked up at Blake. "As all good and faithful wives should do."

"Well, well." Jack smiled approvingly at Meredith. "And I thought you wanted to give me a farewell tumble. I should have known. You are a clever puss."

"Goddamn you!" Blake took a step forward, his fingers itched to curl themselves around her throat. "Any abomination--"

"Abomination! I take exception to that, Blake," Jack interrupted. "You're talking about a cousin fathered by me and I happen to make beautiful babies."

Blake ignored him. "Any abomination you deliver nine months from today won't be the Lawrence heir."

"Prove it. Prove it, Blake. Prove it in a court of law. Tell the world that I betrayed you. Deny your loving wife, deny your heir."

"I haven't touched you," Blake said.

"Can you prove that?" Jack echoed his lover.

Blake focused his attention on Meredith. "If you value his life, you'll keep him quiet." Then, he looked at Jack. "One more comment out of you and you'll be swallowing your teeth and holding your groin."

"I'm not a virgin. Any decent doctor can tell that. How will you explain my condition? Will you admit to being cuckolded in court?"

"That shouldn't be too hard to do," Blake retorted cynically. "Half the men in the village will probably admit to being your lover."

"But you're my husband. It will be your word against mine and I'll swear it's yours. I'll even swear you seduced me before the wedding."

"You'd be lying. No one would believe you."

"Oh yes, they would. I can be very convincing when I want to be and it's common knowledge around the village that you could hardly keep your hands off me whenever we were together. Then there is this hurried marriage. People are already whispering that I'm with child. I'll tell everyone I am. I'll confess to my parents and name you the father. I married you for your money and your position and I intend to keep both. You aren't going to cheat me out of what's rightfully mine without a huge scandal, the likes of which you've never seen.

And think what a scandal like that would do to your diplomatic career and to your family name. Not to mention your mother's weak heart."

"You plan to blackmail me." Blake said. "What makes you think I'll allow it?"

"It's in your best interest." Meredith told him triumphantly. "You have pride, Blake. Too much pride. You're arrogant and ambitious. You would never do anything to bring scandal to your family or to hurt your promising career."

"An annulment of my brief marriage would not cause scandal," Blake reminded her.

"Maybe not," Meredith agreed. "But a divorce would and I'll make certain you're denied an annulment."

Blake had been neatly trapped by his own weakness and he knew it. He was tempted to throw everything away to be free again, but he knew deep down inside he would never be happy if he gave up the career he loved and had worked so hard to attain. A career that could be over before it had really begun. And he couldn't allow Meredith to hurt the people he cared about. He no longer gave a damn about Jack, but that didn't mean he was willing to stand by and allow Meredith and Jack to ruin the lives of Jack's wife and children.

They were innocent. Blake shook his head. He'd been the fool. A blind, impulsive, stubborn, lusty fool and now he was about to suffer the consequences. "Suppose I agree to this idiotic farce ... what do I get in return for not causing a scandal?"

"What you wanted to begin with. The perfect wife, of course. I'll take care of your households and be the perfect companion and complement to you and the perfect hostess for your friends and associates. And you'll have the right to do what you've been itching to do since we met."

Jack groaned aloud and Meredith gifted him with a brilliant smile before she reached over and patted his cheek. "It's only fair, Jack. You sleep with your wife. Why shouldn't Blake sleep with his?" She turned back to Blake.

"You'll have the right to possess my body whenever you like and in return I'll give you your heir and a spare."

"I already have that right," Blake said bitterly. "The law and the church just granted it to me."

"And I won't object to your using it. I know you want children."

"Mine or Jack's?"

"Does it matter?" Meredith asked with a shrug. "As long as we keep it in the family."

"You expect me to accept Jack's leavings?"

"I prefer to think of it as sharing Jack's bounty," she smiled. "And I have no objection if you take a mistress. As long as you respect my position as Lady Lawrence, I'll gladly turn a blind eye to your infidelities."

"If I agree to overlook yours?" Blake responded sarcastically.

"Of course. That's the way the game is played, Blake."

"That's not the way this game is played, Meredith," Blake said coldly. "I don't care who you dally with from now on. As long as it's not him," he nodded toward Jack. "If I catch him in my house with you like this again, I'll kill him and sue you for divorce. And be well within my rights to do so. Adultery is grounds for divorce."

Blake meant it. And Meredith knew he meant it. "You thought of everything except one tiny little detail," he continued. "You've played me for a fool. I know that. And I admit that where you're concerned, I've been a fool. But no more. I may be a fool, but unfortunately for you, I'm a principled one. So, Meredith, you had better pray to whatever gods you hold dear that you are with child. Because if you aren't, there will never be a Lawrence heir and you'll be cheated out of part of the countess of Lawrence's rightful inheritance.

Lawrence House, that London mansion you want so much, is entailed."

"She knows that," Jack snapped. "It's been in the family for centuries."

"Does she know how it's entailed, Jack? Is that why she's so eager to have your child and pass it off as mine? Did you tell her that Lawrence House was originally given to the countess of Lawrence by Charles the Second? He had it built for her, his mistress, because her husband, my ancestor, had threatened to throw her out on the streets when he found out the younger children she'd been passing off as his belonged to the king. Charles, kind and generous lover that he was, threatened to throw the earl of Lawrence in prison instead, but he eventually realized that imprisoning one of his noblemen for his unwillingness to be cuckolded--even by a king--could result in the kind of anger and retaliation by the House of Lords that had cost his father his head.

After all, sleeping with the king's wife is an act of high treason. So Charles decided a wiser, and perhaps more fitting, course of action was to grant Lady Lawrence a separation from her husband, build her a house of own, and gift her with a tidy fortune that would belong solely to the countess of Lawrence, so long as she has borne the earl of Lawrence a recognized heir. Her fortune is to remain separate and apart from the monies and holdings of the earl of Lawrence for as long as the monarchy stands. The earl may add to the wealth, but he can't take anything away from it. The house is tied to the title, but the earl has no right to it or say over its administration. If there is no living countess or dowager countess or female heirs, ownership of Lawrence House reverts to the crown and the fortune is placed in trust until such time as there shall be a living countess, dowager countess or female heir. It cannot be appropriated by the crown or sold by the earl or his male heirs. It belongs to the mother of the heir. Unless you become the mother of the recognized heir, Lawrence House and the money that goes with it will remain in my mother's possession."

"What?" The gasp of surprise came from Meredith.

"That's right. The London mansion currently belongs to my mother. Because I choose to live in London and she chooses to live in the country, she allows me the use of it. But I don't own it and neither does my father, so it's impossible for me to inherit it through him."

"I don't believe you."

"It's true. The jewel in the Lawrence crown is on loan. And should I die without recognizing an heir--legal or otherwise--it reverts to my father's closest female blood relative, our aunt, Delia, or the crown." Blake glanced at his cousin. "I'm surprised Jack didn't tell you."

"I didn't think that it would matter," Jack stammered, staring at Blake. "I never thought there might be. a possibility that you would not recognize any child born to your wife. I never thought you'd be capable of branding a child--any child--a bastard."

"You should have told me," Meredith accused Jack. "You should have explained all of this."

"God, Meri, you've got to believe me, I didn't think it mattered. I thought if Blake ever found out about us, he'd keep quiet for the good of the family."

"Blake is keeping quiet for the good of the family," Blake said as he stared with unconcealed distaste at her exposed thighs. "Your family, Jack. So you'd better start praying, Meredith, because this is your only chance.

Ironic, isn't it? The reason that Lawrence House came into being--the objection of an earl of Lawrence to being cuckolded--is the very same reason you'll never have the opportunity to own it."

"I wouldn't be so sure if I were you," Meredith taunted. "Jack has already proven his potency."

"Granted," Blake replied. "But you haven't."

Meredith's eyes narrowed and she sucked in an angry breath.

"You might try standing on your head," he advised. "To keep as much of Jack's potency as possible from escaping. Because I won't touch you. I refuse to grace your bed. I'll never give you the opportunity to bear the Lawrence heir. And if, after the nine month anniversary of our nuptials, you attempt to pass someone--anyone--else's bastard off as my child, I'll sue you for a divorce on the grounds of adultery and throw you, penniless, into the street."

Meredith nonchalantly shrugged her ivory shoulders. "You'll be the one to suffer, Blake. You'll be the one without a son and heir...."

Blake smiled grimly. "Really? Why is that? No one would fault a man for adopting an heir when his wife is hopelessly barren. And certainly no one could find fault with a man for deeding his entire fortune to his heir--legal or otherwise--in celebration of his birth." Blake turned, and taking the key from his pocket, unlocked the door. He walked back to the bed, grabbed Jack by the collar once again, and hauled him into the hallway. Blake heard Meredith's shriek of fury as he locked the door from the outside.

"And, you, you miserable bastard," Blake shook Jack like a terrier shaking a rat. "You'd better pray you didn't leave a child behind. Because your life will be a living hell if you did. Do you understand me, Jack? I don't have to go public to make you miserable. I know how you live. I know about your reckless gaming--the debts you owe and the men you owe them to. A few well-chosen words in the right ears and you could be out on the street along with your mistress."

"What about Annalise? And the children?" Jack asked. "Would you throw them out on the streets, too?"

"How very ingenious of you to remember your loving, faithful, and wealthy Annalise now that you wish to hide behind her skirts. I'm very fond of Annalise, Jack. I've known her since we were children. Her parents are my godparents. Do you know that your father-in-law is listed to receive the Queen's Cross? I would hate to cost him that richly deserved reward by bringing scandal down around his head. And I have no intention of sacrificing my career or my father's good name and impeccable reputation to amuse Meredith. I've heard the whispers and the rumors regarding my hasty courtship of Meredith and I'm here to tell you that this is the end of them. I've provided all the gossip, all the amusement, all the titillation, and scandal I intend to provide for you, for Meredith, for the county, and for society at large. Do you understand that? Do you realize that my control is the only bloody thing keeping you alive? Can you begin to guess how Annalise's father would feel about what just happened here? Do you understand how he would view an adulterous son-in-law? I won't have to kill you or see that you're thrown out on the streets to fend for yourself if you hurt his daughter. He will."