Seduction

FOUR

Julian heard the bedchamber door open. Hushed feminine voices exchanged words. The door closed again and then he heard the cheerful clatter of a breakfast tray being set down on a table nearby.

He stirred slowly, feeling unusually lethargic. His mouth tasted like the inside of a horse stall. He frowned, trying to remember just how much port he had swallowed during the course of the previous evening.

It was an effort to open his eyes. When he finally did so he was totally disoriented. The walls of his room had apparently changed color overnight. He stared at the unfamiliar Chinese wallpaper for a long moment as memory slowly filtered back.

He was in Sophy's bed.

Julian eased himself up slowly onto the pillows, waiting for the rest of what should have been a very satisfying memory to emerge. Nothing came to mind except a faint, annoying headache. He scowled again and rubbed his temples.

It was not possible he could have forgotten the act of making love to his new bride. The anticipation had been responsible for keeping him in a state of aching arousal for too long. He'd been suffering for nearly ten days awaiting the right moment. Surely the denouement would have left a most pleasurable recollection.

He glanced around the room and saw Sophy standing near the wardrobe. She was wearing the same dressing gown she had worn last night. Her back was to him and he smiled fleetingly as he caught sight of a stray ruffle that had been accidentally turned under around the collar. Julian had a strong urge to go over to her and straighten the bit of lace. Then, he decided, he would take the dressing gown off altogether and carry her back to bed.

He tried to remember what her small, gently curved breasts had looked like in the candlelight but the only image that formed was one of dark, taut nipples pushing against the soft fabric of her lawn nightgown.

Deliberately he pressed his memory further and found he could recall a hazy picture of his wife lying on the bed, the nightgown drawn up above her knees. Her bare legs had been graceful and elegant and he recalled his excitement at the thought of having those legs wrapped around him.

He also remembered discarding his dressing gown as a sweeping desire kindled within him. There had been shock and uncertainty in Sophy's gaze when she had looked at him. It had angered him. He had come down onto the bed beside her, determined to reassure her and make her accept him. She had been wary and nervous but he had known that he could make her relax and enjoy his lovemaking. She had already shown him that she responded to him.

He had reached for her and…

Julian shook his head, trying to clear the cobwebs in it. Surely he had not disgraced himself by failing to carry out his husbandly duties. He had been consumed with the need to make Sophy his, he would not have fallen asleep in the middle of the procedure no matter how much port he had downed.

Stunned by his incredible memory lapse, Julian started to push back the covers. His thigh scraped across a stiff portion of the sheet—a damp patch that had dried overnight. He smiled with relief and satisfaction as he started to glance downward. He knew what he would find and it would prove he had not humiliated himself after all.

But a moment later his sense of satisfaction gave way to appalled disbelief. The reddish brown stain on the sheet was far too wide.

Impossibly wide.

Monstrously wide.

What had he done to his gentle, delicate wife?

The only experience Julian had ever had with a virgin had been his wedding night with Elizabeth and with the bitter wisdom gained in recent years he'd had cause to question that one occasion.

But he had heard the usual male talk and he knew that in the normal course of events a woman did not bleed like a slaughtered calf. Sometimes a woman did not bleed at all.

A man would have to literally assault a woman to cause this much bleeding. He would have had to hurt her very badly to produce so much damage.

A queasy sensation gripped Julian's belly as he continued to stare down at the terrible evidence of his brutal clumsiness. His own words came back to him. You will thank me in the morning.

Good God, any woman who had suffered as much as Sophy obviously had would not be in any mood to thank the man who had wounded her so grievously. She must hate him this morning. Julian closed his eyes for a moment, desperately trying to remember exactly what he had done to her. No incriminating scene appeared in his beleaguered mind yet he could not deny the evidence. He opened his eyes.

"Sophy?" His voice sounded raw, even to his own ears.

Sophy jumped as if he had struck her with a whip. She whirled around to face him with an expression that made Julian grit his teeth.

"Good… good morning, my lord." Her eyes were very wide, filled with great feminine uneasiness.

"I have the feeling this particular morning could have been a great deal better than it is. And I am to blame." He sat up on the edge of the bed and reached for his dressing gown. He took his time getting into it, trying to think of how best to handle the situation. She would hardly be in a mood to listen to words of reassurance. God in heaven, he wished his head did not ache so.

"I believe your valet is ready with your shaving things, my lord."

He ignored that. "Are you all right?" he asked in low tones. He started to walk toward her and stopped when she immediately stepped back. She came up against the wardrobe and could retreat no further although the wish to do so was plain in her expression. She stood there, clutching an embroidered muslin petticoat and watched him anxiously.

"I am fine, my lord."

Julian sucked in his breath. "Oh, Sophy, little one, what have I done to you? Was I really such a monster last night?"

"Your shaving water will get cold, my lord."

"Sophy, I am not worried about the temperature of my shaving water. I am worried about you."

"I told you, I am fine. Please, Julian, I must dress."

He groaned and went toward her, ignoring the way she tried to edge out of reach. He caught her gently by the shoulders and looked down into her worried eyes. "We must talk."

The tip of her tongue came out and touched her lips. "Are you not satisfied, my lord? I had hoped you would be."

"Good God," he breathed, pushing her head tenderly against his shoulder. "I can just envision how desperately you hope I'm satisfied. I am certain you don't want to face the thought of another night like last night."

"No, my lord, I would prefer not to face such a night again as long as I live." Her voice was muffled against his dressing gown but he heard the fervency of her wish quite clearly.

Guilt racked him. He stroked her back soothingly. "Would it help if I swear to you on my honor that the next time will not be nearly so harsh an experience?"

"Your word of honor, my lord?"

He swore violently and pressed her face more deeply into his shoulder. He could feel the tension in her and he had not the foggiest notion of how to combat it. "I know you probably do not place much stock in my word of honor this morning, but I promise you that the next time we make love, you will not suffer."

"I would prefer not to think about the next time, Julian."

He exhaled slowly. "No, I can understand that." He felt her try to free herself, but he could not let her go just yet. He had to find a way to reassure her that he was not the monster she evidently had found him last night. "I am sorry, little one. I don't know what came over me. I know you will find this hard to comprehend, but in all truthfulness, I cannot remember precisely what happened. But you must believe, I never intended to hurt you."

She stirred against him, pushing tentatively at his shoulders. "I would rather not discuss it."

"We must, else you will make the matter out to be even worse than it already is. Sophy, look at me."

Her head came up slowly. She hesitated, slid him a quick, searching little glance and then hastily looked away. "What do you want me to do, my lord?"

His hands tightened briefly on her and he had to force himself to relax. "I would like you to say that you forgive me and that you will not hold my actions last night against me. But I suppose that is asking far too much this morning."

She bit her lip. "Is your pride satisfied, my lord?"

"Hang my pride. I am trying to find a way to apologize to you and to let you know it will never be so… so uncomfortable for you again." Hell, uncomfortable was a ridiculously bland term for what she must have been feeling last night when he was rutting between her legs. "Lovemaking between a husband and wife is meant to be an enjoyable experience. It should have been a pleasure for you last night. I meant it to be pleasurable. I don't know what happened. I must have lost all sense of self-control. Damn, I must have lost my reason.

"Please, my lord, this is so terribly embarrassing. Need we discuss it?"

"You must see we cannot leave it at this."

There was a distinct pause before she asked cautiously, "Why not?"

"Sophy, be reasonable, sweetheart. We are married. We will be making love frequently. I don't want you going in fear of the experience."

"I do wish you would not call it making love when it is nothing of the kind," she snapped.

Julian closed his eyes and summoned up his patience. The very least he owed his new bride now was patience. It was, unfortunately, not one of his strong points. "Sophy, tell me one thing. Do you hate me this morning?"

She swallowed convulsively and kept her eyes on the view outside her window. "No, my lord."

"Well, that is something, at least. Not much, but something. Damn it, Sophy, what did I do to you last night? I must have thrown myself on you, but I swear I can remember nothing after getting into bed with you."

"I really cannot talk about it, my lord."

"No, I don't suppose you can." He raked his fingers through his hair. How could he expect her to give him a detailed description of his actions? He did not want to listen to the chilling tale, himself. But he desperately needed to know what he had done to her. He had to know just how much of a devil he had been. He was already starting to torture himself with vivid imaginings.

"Julian?"

"I know it is no excuse, my sweet, but I fear I drank more port last night than I realized at the time. I will never again come to your bed in such a deplorable condition. It was unpardonable. Please accept my apologies and believe that next time will be far different."

Sophy cleared her throat. "As to the matter of a next time—

He winced. "I know you are not looking forward to it and I give you my word I will not rush you a second time. But you must realize that eventually we will have to make love again. Sophy, this first time for you, well, it's rather like falling off a horse. If you don't remount, you might never ride again."

"I'm not certain that would be such a terrible fate," she muttered.

"Sophy."

"Yes, of course. There is the little matter of your heir. Forgive me, my lord, it almost slipped my mind."

Self-loathing ripped through his gut. "I was not thinking of my heir. I was thinking of you," he ground out.

"Our agreement was for three months," she reminded him quietly. "Do you think we could return to that understanding?"

Julian cursed violently under his breath. "I don't think it would be a good idea to wait that long. Your natural uneasiness will grow to unnatural proportions if you have three whole months in which to dwell on what happened last night. Sophy, I have explained to you that the worst is over. There is no need to retreat behind that agreement you insisted upon."

"I suppose not. Especially since you have made it clear I have so few means by which to enforce the agreement." She pulled out of his arms and walked over to the window. "You were quite right, my lord, when you pointed out that a woman has very little power in a marriage. Her only hope is that she can depend upon her husband's honor as a gentleman."

Another wave of guilt rolled over him, drowning Julian for an instant. When he surfaced he longed to be able to confront the devil himself rather than Sophy. At least that way he could fight back.

The position he was in was intolerable. It was shatteringly clear that there was only one honorable way out and he had to take it even though he knew that it would ultimately make everything far more difficult for her.

"Would you be able to trust my word a second time if I agree to return to our three month arrangement?" Julian asked roughly.

She shot him a quick glance over her shoulder. "Yes, I think I could trust you this time. If, that is, you would agree not to seduce me as well as not to force me."

"I promised you seduction last night and forced myself on you, instead. Yes, I can see where you might want to expand the terms of the original agreement." Julian inclined his head formally. "Very well, Sophy. My judgment tells me it is the wrong course of action, but I cannot deny your right to insist upon it after what happened last night."

Sophy bowed her head, her fingers clenched in front of her. 'Thank you, my lord."

"Do not thank me. I have a strong conviction I am making a serious mistake. Something is very wrong here." He shook his head again, trying to will forth the memories of last night. He got only a blank wall. Was he losing his mind? "You have my word I will make no attempt to seduce you for the remaining time of our agreement. It goes without saying that I will not force myself on you, either." He hesitated, wanting to reach out and hold her close again but he did not dare touch her. "Please excuse me."

He let himself out of her bedchamber feeling he could hardly sink lower in her eyes than he already had in his own.

The next two days should have been the most blissful of Sophy's life. Her honeymoon was finally turning into the dream she had once fondly conceived. Julian was kind, thoughtful, and unfailingly gentle. He treated her as if she were a rare and priceless piece of porcelain. The silent, subtle, sensual threat that had plagued her for days was finally removed.

It was not that she no longer saw desire in Julian's gaze. It was still there, but the fires were carefully banked now and she no longer feared they would rage out of control. At last she had the breathing space she had tried to negotiate before the marriage.

But instead of being able to relax and enjoy the time she had bought, Sophy was miserable. For two days she fought the misery and the guilt, trying to assure herself that she had done the right thing, the only thing she could do under the circumstances. A wife had so little power, she was obliged to use whatever means came to hand.

But her own sense of honor would not let her soothe her anxiety with such a rationale.

Sophy awoke on the third morning after her fictitious wedding night knowing she could not continue the charade another day, let alone the remainder of the three months.

She had never felt so awful in her entire life. Julian's self-chastisement was a terrible responsibility for her to bear. It was obvious he was berating himself savagely for what he thought he had done. The fact that he had done nothing at all was making Sophy feel even more guilty than he did.

She downed the tea her maid had brought, set the cup back in its saucer with a loud crash and pushed back the covers.

"My, what a lovely day, ma'am. Will you be riding after breakfast?"

"Yes, Mary, I will. Please send someone to ask Lord Ravenwood if he would care to join me, will you?"

"Oh, I don't think there will be any doubt about his lordship joinin' you," Mary said with a cheeky grin. "That man would accept an invitation to go all the way to America with you, if you asked him. The staff is enjoyin' the sight to no end, you know."

"Enjoying what sight?"

"Watchin' him fall all over himself tryin' to please you. Never seen the like. Reckon his lordship is thankin' his lucky stars he's got himself a wife who's very different from that witch he married the first time."

"Mary!"

"Sorry, ma'am. But you know as well as I do what they used to say about her back home in the village. Tweren't no secret. She was a wild one, she was. The brown or blue habit, my lady?"

"The new brown habit, I think, Mary. And that will be quite enough about the first Lady Ravenwood." Sophy spoke with what she hoped was a proper firmness. She did not want to hear about her predecessor today. The guilt she was suffering was causing her to wonder if, once he learned the truth, Julian would conclude she was very much like his first wife in certain scheming ways.

An hour later she found Julian waiting for her in the front hall. He looked very much at ease in his elegant riding clothes. The snug, light-colored breeches, knee-high boots, and close-fitting coat emphasized the latent power in his figure.

Julian smiled as Sophy came down the stairs. He held aloft a small basket. "I had Cook pack us a picnic lunch. Thought we could explore the old castle ruin we spotted on the hill overlooking the river. Does that appeal to you, madam?" He came forward to take her arm.

"That was very thoughtful of you, Julian," Sophy said humbly, striving to maintain a smile. His anxiousness to please her was touching and it only served to make her feel even more miserable.

"Have your maid run upstairs and fetch one of those lamentable books of yours. I can tolerate anything but the Wollstonecraft. I've picked out something from the library for myself. Who knows? If the sun stays out we may want to spend the afternoon reading under a tree somewhere along the way."

Her heart leapt for an instant. "That sounds lovely, my lord." Then reality returned. Julian would not be in any mood to sit reading with her under a tree in some leafy glade after she told him the awful truth.

He led her outside into the bright Spring sunshine. Two horses stood saddled and waiting, a blood bay gelding and Angel. Grooms stood at their heads. Julian watched Sophy's face carefully as he slid his hands around her waist and lifted her into the saddle. He looked relieved when she did not flinch at his touch.

"I'm glad you felt up to riding again today," Julian said as he vaulted into his saddle and took the reins. "I've missed our morning treks these past two days." He shot her a quick, assessing glance. "You are certain you will be, uh, comfortable?"

She blushed vividly and urged her mare into a trot.

"Most comfortable, Julian." Until I find the courage to tell you the whole truth and then I shall feel absolutely terrible. She wondered morosely if he would beat her.

An hour later they drew to a halt near the ruins of an old Norman castle that had once stood guard over the river. Julian dismounted and walked over to the gelding Sophy was riding. He lifted his wife gently out of the saddle. When her feet touched the ground he did not release her immediately.

"Is something wrong, my lord?"

"No." His smile was whimsical. "Not at all." He took his hand from her waist and carefully rearranged the plume that had fallen forward from the brim of her small brown velvet hat. The plume had been dangling at a typically precarious angle.

Sophy sighed. "That was one of the reasons I was such a failure during my short season in London. No matter how carefully my maid did my hair and arranged my clothing I always managed to arrive at the ball or the theater looking as if I'd just been run over by a passing carriage. I think I should like to have lived in a simpler time when people had fewer clothes to worry about."

"I would not mind living with you in such a time." Julians grin widened as he surveyed her attire. There was laughter in his sunlit green eyes. "You would look very good running about in very few clothes, madam."

She knew she was turning pink again. Hastily she swung away from him and started toward the tumbledown pile of rocks that comprised what was left of the old castle. At any other time Sophy would have found the ruin charmingly picturesque. Today she could hardly focus on it. "A lovely view, is it not? It reminds me of that old castle on Ravenwood land. I should have brought along my sketchbook."

"I did not mean to embarrass you, Sophy," Julian said quietly as he came up behind her. "Or frighten you by reminding you of the other night. I was just trying to make a little joke." He touched her shoulder. "Forgive me for my want of delicacy."

Sophy closed her eyes. "You did not frighten me, Julian."

"Whenever you move away from me like that I worry that I've given you some new cause to fear me."

"Julian, stop it. Stop it at once. I do not fear you."

"You do not need to lie to me, little one," he assured her gently. "I am well aware that it will be a long while before I can redeem myself in your eyes."

"Oh, Julian, if you say another word of apology I think I shall scream." She stepped away from him, not daring to glance back.

"Sophy? What the devil is wrong now? I am sorry if you do not care for my apologies but I have no honorable recourse other than to try to convince you they are genuine."

It was all she could do not to burst into tears. "You don't understand," she said miserably. "The reason I do not want to hear any more apologies is because they are… they are entirely unnecessary."

There was a short pause behind her before Julian said quietly, "You are not obliged to make matters easier on me."

She gripped her riding crop in both hands. "I am not trying to make matters easier. I am trying to set you straight on a few points about which I… I deliberately misled you."

There was another short pause. "I don't understand. What are you trying to say, Sophy? That my lovemaking was not as bad as I know it must have been? Please don't bother. We both know the truth."

"No, Julian, you do not know the truth. Only I know the truth. I have a confession to make, my lord, and I fear you are going to be excessively angry."

"Not with you, Sophy. Never with you."

"I pray you will remember that, my lord, but common sense tells me you will not." She gathered her courage, still not daring to turn around and face him. "The reason you need not apologize for what you think you did the other night is because you did nothing."

"What?"

Sophy wiped the back of her gloved hand across her eyes. In doing so she jarred her hat and the plume bobbed forward again. "That is to say, you did not do what you think you did."

The silence behind her grew deafening before Julian spoke again. "Sophy, the blood. There was so much blood."

She hurried on quickly before her courage deserted her entirely. "On my own behalf, I should like to point out that you did try to break the spirit of our agreement as far as I am concerned. I was quite nervous and very, very angry. I hope you will take that into consideration, my lord. You, of all people, know what it is to be in the grip of a fierce temper."

"Damn it, Sophy, what the devil are you talking about?" Julian's voice was far too quiet.

"I am trying to explain, my lord, that you did not assault me the other night. You just, well, that is to say, you merely went to sleep." Sophy finally turned slowly to confront him. He stood a short distance away, his booted feet braced slightly apart, his riding crop held alongside his thigh. His emerald gaze was colder than the outer reaches of Hades.

"I went to sleep?"

Sophy nodded and stared fixedly past his shoulder. "I put some herbs in your tea. You remember I told you I had something more effective than port for inducing sleep?"

"I remember," he said with terrible softness. "But you drank the tea also."

She shook her head. "I merely pretended to drink it. You were so busy complaining about Miss Wollstonecraft's book that you did not notice what I was doing."

He stalked one step closer. The riding crop flicked restlessly against his leg. "The blood. It was all over the sheet."

"More herbs, my lord. After you fell asleep I added them to the tea to produce a reddish stain on the sheets. Only I did not know how much liquid to use, you see and I was nervous and I spilled some and thus the spot grew somewhat larger than I had intended."

"You spilled some of the tea," he repeated slowly.

"Yes, my lord."

"Enough to make me think I had torn you most savagely."

"Yes, my lord."

"You are telling me that nothing happened that night? Nothing at all?"

Some of Sophy's natural spirit revived. "Well, you did say you were going to seduce me even though I had distinctly told you I did not wish you to do so and you did come to my room over my objections and I truly did feel menaced, my lord. So it is not as if nothing would have happened, if you see what I mean. It is just that nothing did happen because I took certain steps to prevent it. You are not the only one with a temper, my lord."

"You drugged me." There was something between disbelief and rage in his voice.

"It was just a simple sleeping tonic, my lord."

The riding crop at Julian's side slashed against the leather top of his boot, cutting off her explanation. Julian's eyes burned brilliantly green. "You drugged me with one of those damn potions of yours and then you set the stage to make me think I had raped you.

There was really nothing to say in the face of that blunt statement of facts. Sophy hung her head. The plume waved in front of her eyes as she looked down at the ground. "I suppose you could view it that way, my lord. But I never meant for you to think you had… had hurt me. I only wanted you to think you had done what you seemed to feel was your duty. You seemed so anxious to claim your rights as a husband."

"And you assumed that if I thought I had claimed those rights, I might then leave you alone for the next few months?"

"It occurred to me that you might be satisfied for a while, my lord. I thought you might then be willing to honor the terms of our agreement.

"Sophy, if you mention that damned agreement one more time, I shall undoubtedly throttle you. At the very least, I will use my riding crop on your backside."

She drew herself up bravely. "I am prepared for violence, my lord. It is well known that you have the devil's own temper."

"Is it, indeed? Then I am surprised you would bring me out here alone to make your grand confession. There is no one around to hear your cries for help should I decide to punish you now."

"I did not think it fair to involve the servants," she whispered.

"How very noble of you, my dear. You will forgive me if I have trouble believing that any woman capable of drugging her husband is a woman who is going to waste time worrying about what the servants might think." His eyes narrowed. "By God, what did they think when they changed your bedding the next morning?"

"I explained to Mary that I had spilled some tea in bed."

"In other words, I was the only one in the entire household who believed myself to be a brutal rapist? Well, that's something, at least."

"I am sorry, Julian. Truly, I am. In my own defense, I can only point out again that I really was frightened and angry. I had thought we were getting along so well, you see, getting to know one another and then there you were threatening me."

"The thought of my lovemaking scares you so much you would go to such lengths to avoid it? Damn it, Sophy, you are no green chit of a girl. You are a full-grown woman, and you know well why I married you."

"I have explained before, my lord, I am not frightened of the act itself," she said fiercely. "It is just that I want time to get to know you. I wanted time for us to learn to deal together as husband and wife. I do not wish to be turned into a brood mare for your convenience and then turned out to pasture in the country. You must admit that is all you had in mind when you married me."

"I admit nothing." He slashed the crop against his boot one more time. "As far as I am concerned, you are the one who violated the basic understandings of our marriage. My requirements were simple and few. One of them, if you will recall, was that you never lie to me."

"Julian, I did not lie to you. Perhaps I misled you, but surely you can see that I—"

"You lied to me," he cut in brutally. "And if I had not been wallowing in my own guilt these past two days I would have realized it immediately. The signs were all present. You haven't even been able to look me in the eye. If I hadn't assumed that was because you couldn't bear the sight of me, I would have understood at once that you were deceiving me."

"I am sorry, Julian."

"You are going to be a great deal sorrier, madam, before we are finished. I am not anything like your foolishly indulgent grandfather and its time you learned that fact. I thought you were intelligent enough to have realized that from the start, but apparently the lesson must be made plain."

"Julian."

"Get on your horse."

Sophy hesitated. "What are you going to do, my lord?"

"When I have decided, I will tell you. In the meantime I will give you a taste of the exceedingly unpleasant experience of worrying about it."

Sophy moved slowly toward her gelding. "I know you are in a rage, Julian. And perhaps I deserve it. But I do wish you would tell me how you intend to punish me. Truthfully, I do not think I can stand the suspense."

His hands came around her waist from behind so swiftly that she started. Julian lifted her into the saddle with a barely suppressed violence. Then he stood for a moment looking up at her with cold fury in his eyes. "If you are going to play tricks on your husband, Madam Wife, you had better learn how to handle the suspense of worrying about his revenge. And I will have my revenge, Sophy. Never doubt it. I have no intention of allowing you to become the same kind of uncontrollable bitch my first wife was."

Before she could respond he had turned away and mounted his stallion. Without another word he set out at a gallop for home, leaving Sophy to follow.

She arrived a half hour behind him and discovered to her dismay that the cheerful, bustling household that had emerged during the past few days had been magically altered. Eslington Park had become a somber, forbidding place.

The butler looked at her with sad eyes as she stepped forlornly into the hall. "We were worried about you, my lady," he said gently.

"Thank you, Tyson. As you can see, I am quite all right. Where is Lord Ravenwood?"

"In the library, my lady. He has given orders he is not to be disturbed."

"I see." Sophy walked slowly toward the stairs, glancing nervously at the ominously closed library doors. She hesitated a moment. Then she picked up the skirts of her riding habit and ran up the stairs, heedless of the concerned eyes of the servants.

Julian emerged at dinner to announce his vengeance. When he sat down to the table with an implacable hardness in his eyes Sophy knew he had plotted his revenge over a bottle of claret.

A forbidding silence descended on the dining room. It seemed to Sophy that all the figures in the painted medallions set into the ceiling were staring down at her with accusing eyes.

She was trying her best to eat her fish when Julian sent the butler and the footman out of the room with a curt nod of his head. Sophy held her breath.

"I will be leaving for London in the morning," Julian said, speaking to her for the first time.

Sophy looked up, hope springing to life within her. "We're going to London, my lord?"

"No, Sophy. You are not going to London. I am. You, my dear, scheming wife, will remain here at Eslington Park. I am going to grant you your fondest wish. You may spend the remainder of your precious three months in absolute peace. I give you my solemn word I will not bother you."

It dawned on her that he was going to abandon her here in the wilds of Norfolk. Sophy swallowed in shock. "I will be all alone, my lord?"

He smiled with savage civility. "Quite alone as far as having any companions or a guilt-stricken husband to dance attendance on you. However, you will have an excellently trained staff at your disposal. Perhaps you can amuse yourself tending to their sore throats and bilious livers."

"Julian, please, I would rather you just beat me and be done with it."

"Don't tempt me," he advised dryly.

"But I do not wish to stay here by myself. Part of our agreement was that I not be banished to the country while you went to London."

"You dare mention that insane agreement to me after what you have done?"

"I am sorry if you do not like it, my lord, but you did give me your word on certain matters before our marriage. As far as I am concerned, you have come very near to breaking your oath on one point and now you are going to do so again. It is not… not honorable of you, my lord."

"Do not presume to lecture me on the subject of honor, Sophy. You are a woman and you know little about it," he roared.

Sophy stared at him. "I am learning quickly."

Julian swore softly and tossed aside his napkin. "Don't look at me as if you find me lacking in honor, madam. I assure you, I am not violating my oath. You will eventually get your day in London but that day will not arrive until you have learned your duty as a wife."

"My duty."

"At the end of your precious three months I will return here to Eslington Park and discuss the subject. I trust that by then you will have decided you can tolerate my touch. One way or another, madam, I will have what I want out of this marriage."

"An heir and no trouble."

His mouth crooked grimly. "You have already caused me a great deal of trouble, Sophy. Take what satisfaction you can from that fact because I do not intend to allow you to create any further uproar in my life."

Sophy stood forlornly amid the marble statuary in the hall the next morning, her head held at a brave angle as she watched Julian prepare for his departure. As his valet saw to the loading of his baggage into the coach his lordship took his leave of his new bride with chilling formality.

"I wish you joy of your marriage during the next two and a half months, madam."

He started to turn away and then halted with a disgusted oath as he caught sight of a dangling ribbon in her hair. He paused to retie it with a swift, impatient movement and then he was gone. The sound of his boots echoing on the marble was haunting.

Sophy endured a week of the humiliating banishment before her natural spirit revived. When it did she decided that not only had she suffered quite enough for her crime, she had also made a serious tactical error in dealing with her new husband.

The world began to seem much brighter the moment she made the decision to follow Julian to London.

If she had a few things to learn about managing a husband, then it followed that Julian had a few things to learn about managing a wife. Sophy determined to start the marriage afresh.