Read Online His Shadowed Heart ((Books We Love Regency Romance)) by Hazel Statham - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Hazel Statham
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become plain and then some understanding can exist between us. Go to your garden room, we will not be interrupted there.”
*****
Ordering candles to be brought into the room, Caroline sat in some trepidation of her husband’s arrival but she did not have to wait long before his quick, even step was heard approaching and she turned toward the door not knowing what to expect.
He came purposefully into the room and she rose at his entrance to stand apprehensively before him, her hands clasping and unclasping, unable to contain her unease. She had no notion what to expect, fearful lest he wish to put her from him.
Seating himself on the couch, he patted the cushion beside him. “Come sit here with me Caroline,” he said. “I want you by me. Such is the issue, we cannot talk at a distance.”
Hesitantly she took her seat, keeping to the other side of the couch and dropping her eyes before his intense gaze.
“I served you ill this morning,” he said in a quiet voice. “It was unforgivable of me and I ask of you the chance to explain.”
Raising her voice barely above a whisper she turned toward him, “I understand how difficult it is for you to recover from your loss, from your love for Elizabeth ….”
He rose from the couch in much agitation. “ My loss? My love for Elizabeth? Is that how you perceive it? Yes, I see that you must. How else must it appear?”
Thoroughly perplexed by his reaction she went to stand before him and placing her hand on his arm looked up at him. “It is common knowledge that you adored your wife, Richard, you need not hide it from me.”
“Loved? Adored?” he repeated harshly. “How little you know. I hated her. Yes, hated! It is a very cruel word is it not?”
She fell away from him, her hand going automatically to her mouth at the fierce expression that crossed his countenance, the passion that filled his voice. “But….” she stammered.
“Oh aye, I know,” he mocked , “we presented as a very devoted couple. Who would not in the face of society? I admit that at first I thought myself madly in love with her. She fascinated me, but that infatuation was brought to an abrupt end. We were but a sennight into the honeymoon when I became aware of her true nature. I came to her with a small token of my love, a locket, a mere trifle, but one that had meaning to me and she threw it in my face … such a mere trinket with which I had presented her was beneath her notice. She saw not the sentiment and considered it an insult as she expected more from a man of my wealth. She declared she had married me for my rank and fortune alone.” He became slightly calmer and taking Caroline’s hand, led her once more to the couch, seating her there.
“She informed me that I had provided her with the wealth and standing she desired and in return was prepared to act the dedicated wife in public. However, I must not look for her attentions in private. She would order her own life and I would be left to pursue mine. If I took mistresses I must be discreet as she, in turn, would be with her lovers. It would not do for us to bring the family name into disrepute … it would not suit her purpose.” He laughed harshly, confining his gaze to some distant point.
“I was congratulated on winning her, where so many others had failed. Little did they know that it had been my fortune alone that had prompted her acceptance. They did not know the reality of our marriage, how she scorned me and all that was mine. Derided my devotion and attempts to win her affection. There were quirks to her nature that no one would believe and her fury became something to avoid at all costs. The servants were in constant fear of her and her petty cruelties. My life became insupportable.
“ I could not believe that I had been so easily duped as to be unable to see her true nature. I had been driven by infatuation, for now I realized that it was certainly not love. She took lovers. Oh yes, she was very
*****
Ordering candles to be brought into the room, Caroline sat in some trepidation of her husband’s arrival but she did not have to wait long before his quick, even step was heard approaching and she turned toward the door not knowing what to expect.
He came purposefully into the room and she rose at his entrance to stand apprehensively before him, her hands clasping and unclasping, unable to contain her unease. She had no notion what to expect, fearful lest he wish to put her from him.
Seating himself on the couch, he patted the cushion beside him. “Come sit here with me Caroline,” he said. “I want you by me. Such is the issue, we cannot talk at a distance.”
Hesitantly she took her seat, keeping to the other side of the couch and dropping her eyes before his intense gaze.
“I served you ill this morning,” he said in a quiet voice. “It was unforgivable of me and I ask of you the chance to explain.”
Raising her voice barely above a whisper she turned toward him, “I understand how difficult it is for you to recover from your loss, from your love for Elizabeth ….”
He rose from the couch in much agitation. “ My loss? My love for Elizabeth? Is that how you perceive it? Yes, I see that you must. How else must it appear?”
Thoroughly perplexed by his reaction she went to stand before him and placing her hand on his arm looked up at him. “It is common knowledge that you adored your wife, Richard, you need not hide it from me.”
“Loved? Adored?” he repeated harshly. “How little you know. I hated her. Yes, hated! It is a very cruel word is it not?”
She fell away from him, her hand going automatically to her mouth at the fierce expression that crossed his countenance, the passion that filled his voice. “But….” she stammered.
“Oh aye, I know,” he mocked , “we presented as a very devoted couple. Who would not in the face of society? I admit that at first I thought myself madly in love with her. She fascinated me, but that infatuation was brought to an abrupt end. We were but a sennight into the honeymoon when I became aware of her true nature. I came to her with a small token of my love, a locket, a mere trifle, but one that had meaning to me and she threw it in my face … such a mere trinket with which I had presented her was beneath her notice. She saw not the sentiment and considered it an insult as she expected more from a man of my wealth. She declared she had married me for my rank and fortune alone.” He became slightly calmer and taking Caroline’s hand, led her once more to the couch, seating her there.
“She informed me that I had provided her with the wealth and standing she desired and in return was prepared to act the dedicated wife in public. However, I must not look for her attentions in private. She would order her own life and I would be left to pursue mine. If I took mistresses I must be discreet as she, in turn, would be with her lovers. It would not do for us to bring the family name into disrepute … it would not suit her purpose.” He laughed harshly, confining his gaze to some distant point.
“I was congratulated on winning her, where so many others had failed. Little did they know that it had been my fortune alone that had prompted her acceptance. They did not know the reality of our marriage, how she scorned me and all that was mine. Derided my devotion and attempts to win her affection. There were quirks to her nature that no one would believe and her fury became something to avoid at all costs. The servants were in constant fear of her and her petty cruelties. My life became insupportable.
“ I could not believe that I had been so easily duped as to be unable to see her true nature. I had been driven by infatuation, for now I realized that it was certainly not love. She took lovers. Oh yes, she was very
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