The Worldly Widow (32 page)

"Lord Dalmar
'
s orders,
"
he said, and smiled apologetically.

Annabelle whirled to face the Earl. She thought his expression was very grim as his eyes burned into hers. In that moment, she knew that she did not wish to humiliate him before his peers. He deserved to be taken down a peg or two. That was indisputable. But what she had planned for him was worse than infamous. She could not be so cruel. At least not in public.

She gave an anguished cry. "David! Don
'
t touch those drapes!
"

He returned a cool, dispassionate smile and pulled on the cord. The curtains swished back. Annabelle could not bear to look. An awful silence descended. Then, in every part of the room, uproarious laughter broke out.

"She
'
s a great gun!
"

"What a sport!
"

"Three cheers for Annie.
"

Annabelle chanced a quick look. Her eyes became riveted. The oversized satirical cartoon which was revealed was not the one she had commissioned that very afternoon by one of the
famed Cruickshank brothers. The first flush of relief was instantly swamped by the rising tide of temper. It was a portrait of herself. The cartoonist had made her appear all eyes and chin. Her teeth, looking like the white cliffs of Dover, were bared in a travesty of a smile. At her heels were wicked spurs with which she was ferociously prodding the flanks of the most dejected-looking flea-bitten nag she had ever beheld. A pack of hounds, their tails between their legs, were slinking away from the lash of the whip in her upraised arm. The caption infuriated her. "Annie Reformed,
"
she read.

She forced a smile, her eyes all the while shooting sparks at the Earl. He held out his hand. There was nothing for it but to go to him. The applause was thunderous.

For his ears only, she said, "You didn
'
t like my engagement present, I take it?
"

She did not trust the smile he gave her. "I adored it,
"
he said. "But I prefer not to be cut dead by all my friends on the morrow, if it
'
s all the same to you.
"

His long fingers clamped over her small hand like a steel manacle, a warning of things to come.

Chapter Twelve

T
he last guest had finally gone home. The servants were all dismissed. Falconer and Ransome had long since mounted the stairs to their beds. Annabelle and Dalmar were alone in the book room.

"What became of the original cartoon?
"
she asked, her eyes wary as the Earl approached. Silently she accepted the glass of amber liquid he held out to her. Her nose wrinkled. She preferred sherry to brandy, but in that moment, nothing would have made her say so.

He remained standing, his back to the mantel. Annabelle did not demean herself by craning her neck to look up at him. She gazed blindly at the glass in her hand.

"Destroyed,
"
he finally answered, cool eyes raking her. "I could not take the chance that it might fall into the wrong hands.
"

She gave him a smile hinting of insolence. "I thought it was one of Cruickshank
'
s more memorable efforts,
"
she taunted.
"
He caught your friends
'
likenesses to a tee.
"

Brusquely, he answered, "You
'
re playing with fire, Annabelle. What do you imagine would have happened on the morrow when some of the foremost peers in the realm discovered themselves to be the butt of your malicious wit?
"

"Don
'
t forget Monique Dupres,
"
she reminded him airily. "I thought Cruickshank did a fair likeness of her too—not to mention yourself—considering he had only my description to go on.
"

"And in their nightclothes.
"

Annabelle
'
s eyes widened. "Well, I could scarcely have permitted them to be portrayed as naked as the day they were born, though to be sure, the thought did occur to me. D
'
you think I was craven to insist that they were covered, at least to their knees?
"

"What I think,
"
said Dalmar, "is that you
'
ve had a near escape. That cartoon was more than offensive. It was libelous. To portray Wellington, Worcester, Argyle, and so on like a pack of rutting dogs on the tail of a bitch in heat is enough to ruin us both for eternity and beyond.
"

Dryly she answered, "You don
'
t think it would have ruined the gentlemen in question? Perhaps you are right. But you missed the whole point of the exercise, Dalmar. In her hand Monique was carrying her memoirs, and she was running to you.
"
She tipped her head up and said softly, "I only thought to reveal your interest in Bailey
'
s.
"
There was a silence, and she added for effect, "Partner.
"

He stared at her for a long moment. Her eyes never wavered from his. "So that
'
s it,
"
he said, and quickly drained the glass in his hand.

"Yes, that
'
s it,
"
she said, and tried to emulate his example. After one swallow and several mortifying coughs, she rose to her feet and slammed the glass of brandy onto a
side table. "I trusted you…
"
she began.

He cut her off without a qualm. "And I heeded your advice. In business, friendship counts for nothing. Those were your very words, Annabelle.
"

She came to stand a pace away from him, her head held stiffly. "I remember other words, something to the effect that you would never meddle in my business. Or have you forgotten your promise to me?
"

He made a gesture of impatience. "You weren
'
t listening. I tell you now what I told you then, I will not use my position as your
husband
to enforce my will. As your business partner, however, I claim the right to have some say in how things are managed. I have not broken my promise to you. If you remember,
I
was the one who questioned your lack of scruples, and
you
were the one who assured me that in business, no
quarter should be asked or given.
"

"Scruples!
"
she flung at him. "Was it scrupulous to approach my partner and trick her into selling her half of the business when she and I had an agreement to give the other first refusal on it?
"

Unperturbed, he readily agreed. "Not scrupulous at all, at least not by my lights. But that was before you gave me advice on how to conduct myself in the world of commerce. Admit it! You
'
ve been hoisted on your own petard.
"

She could not like his levity. And the twinkle in his eyes set her teeth on edge. There had been times, naturally, when she
'
d taken a tumble and had to cut her losses. And times when competitors had fought her to a standstill. But oh, she
'
d never felt this sense of betrayal with them.

She felt compelled to drop her lashes to check the wet sting of incipient tears. After a moment she turned aside and moved to the window, where she stationed herself, gazing out on the square as if she could see more than the dark, cavernous night, with only the odd lantern swinging from wrought-iron grilles to chase the shadows away.

When she turned back, she had herself well in hand. Her voice as level as she could make it, she said, "I think I once told you that if you got in my way, I would mow you down.
"

"Something of the sort,
"
he said, and turned away to hide a grin.

"I
'
m the one who makes the decisions at Bailey
'
s
Press,
"
she told him, in deadly earnest.

He folded his arms across his chest. "I
'
m prepared to give you a fairly loose rein. In most things, I trust your judgment. When occasion demands, I
'
ll pull on the bit. I think we shall deal very well together, Annabelle.
"

"With you holding the reins? I think not. I don
'
t take direction from anyone.
"

He was very relaxed and even more amused. "It
'
s about time you learned to, my girl. That
'
s been your problem all along.
"

She managed a convincing laugh. "Good God! You
'
re just like all the others. You see me as a challenge. And I thought you were different! Give it up, Dalmar. Better men than you have tried to save me from myself.
"

"Ah, but I mean only to reform you.
"

His unfortunate choice of words brought to mind the caption of the cartoon. Again she laughed, though this time it sounded forced. "Annabelle reformed,
"
she jeered. "I don
'
t wish to be reformed.
"

"Annie
reformed,
"
he corrected, "and your wishes have nothing to do with it.
"

"There
'
s no point in talking to you,
"
she said, turning up her nose, and she made to leave the room.

Laughing, he grabbed hold of her arms and shook her gently. "Where
'
s your sense of humor?
"
he demanded, and forced her to the chair she had recently vacated. "I know you haven
'
t finished with me yet. Nor have I with you. Why don
'
t you get it all off your chest—clear the air—and after, we
'
ll see where we stand?
"

She forced herself to draw several deep, calming breaths. When he saw that she had herself under control, he moved away, giving her breathing room.

Calmly, clasping her hands together, she said, "What I can
'
t understand is why in heaven
'
s name you would want to buy into a publishing house. There are other enterprises which are far more lucrative for a man of your wealth. Tin or coal, for instance.
"
She was thinking that perhaps she could shame him into selling her his half of Bailey
'
s, or at the very least, convince him that his money could be more wisely invested. His next words disabused her of the notion.

"I thought I
'
d explained that. I needed a hold over you, something that would give me an advantage. Did you really think that you could go on as you are? I
'
m even more convinced, having met your brother-in-law, that it needs a strong man with his wits about him to manage a woman of your temperament. I did what I thought was necessary.
"

"You tricked me!
"

"No. I followed your advice. You left me no option once I gave my word that I would not exercise my rights as your husband—rights the law confers—to temper your conduct.
"

Passionately she cried out, "Thank God I discovered the truth about you in time. If I
'
d married you, your power over me would have been absolute. Let me tell you something,
Dalmar. I
'
ve been my own mistress for a good number of years. I
'
m no
t about to trade my freedom for
an uncertain bondage as any man
'
s chattel. I should be grateful to you, I suppose, for having taught me a lesson I needed to remember. Matrimony is a snare to entrap unwary females. Well, thank God I
'
ve come to my senses.
"

His voice as soft as satin, Dalmar said, "I wondered when it would come to this. So! You mean to break off the engagement.
"

"Can you doubt it?
"

"You gave me your word.
"

"Under false pretenses! If I
'
d known then what I know now, I wouldn
'
t have given you the time of day. It
'
s finished, Dalmar. Over.
"

Something awful seemed to have been unleashed in the room. Annabelle clasped her hands more tightly together and braced herself for the storm.

Dangerously calm, Dalmar said, "You
'
re angry now, like a child having a temper tantrum. I should have expected it. That will pass. You need time to accustom yourself to the idea that there
'
s a man in your life who means to exercise some control over you.
"

She blinked, and blinked again. It seemed to her that the man was like a block of granite, impervious and unshakable. Acidly sweet, she inquired, "You mean you
'
ll be the puppeteer and I
'
ll be the puppet?
"

The harsh lines of his features relaxed into a grin. Chuckling, he said, "Nothing so obvious, Annabelle. I was thinking more on the lines of leading strings. Most of the time you won
'
t even know they are there. I promise to pull on them only when I think you
'
re stepping into deep water.
"

The picture his words evoked was highly insulting. Leading strings were for nursery children who were too immature to understand that the world was a dangerous place which could hurt them. Nurses and mothers kept their young charges in check by tying them with long strings either to themselves or to some heavy immovable object.

As if reading her mind, he said, "You
'
ll have more freedom than most wives.
"

"Dalmar,
dogs
have more freedom than most wives.
"

He laughed and shook his head. "There
'
s something in what you say, but it won
'
t be like that with us. I only want to protect you from yourself, like tonight, for example, when I switched pictures.
"

"Should I thank you?
"

"Should I beat you? That
'
s how some men keep their wives in check. Since I don
'
t subscribe to those methods, I have to rely on my ingenuity. All things considered, I think I turned the tables on you rather adroitly, wouldn
'
t you say?
"

It had been in her mind to apologize for the embarrassment she had intended to cause him with Cruickshank
'
s clever cartoon. She knew herself to have been grossly in the wrong even to think of shaming him before his peers. At these polemic remarks, however, her good intentions evaporated. "You deserved a set-down,
"
was all she could say.