Read Online Marigold Chain by Stella Riley - Free Book Online Page A

was
subjected to a long and trying scrutiny.
    ‘ Acquit
me,’ he said coldly, at last. ‘I’m not a fortune-hunter, looking
for a rich child-bride. How old are you, by the way?’
    ‘ What do
you think?’
    He considered
her. ‘Sixteen?’
    She drew
herself up. ‘Certainly not. I’m twenty.’
    Mr Deveril was
not impressed. ‘Well, you don’t look it.’
    ‘ No?’ She
returned his gaze. ‘Well, you don’t look as if you’ll see
thirty-five again – but I suppose that’s the brandy.’
    Alex stared at
her. Then, ‘Oh God!’ he said with a smothered gasp. ‘You mistake
me. I’m not usually crapulous more than four days out of
seven.’
    Chloë remained
unmoved.
    ‘ Oh. But
I could hardly be expected to guess that, could I?’ And meeting his
eyes, saw the very real laughter there. She grinned back. ‘I must
say, you’re taking it better than I expected.’
    ‘ Practice, they say, makes perfect,’ he replied absently. He
rose and walked away from her, running his hands through his hair.
‘Doubtless I was given your name but I’ve forgotten it.’
    ‘ It is
Chloë. But I was becoming quite used to Marigold.’ She looked at
him thoughtfully. ‘If you are willing to forgo my rather small
fortune, we don’t really have a problem.’
    Alex leaned
against the mantel and folded his arms.
    ‘ You are
offering me a divorce?’
    The narrow
brows rose in surprise.
    ‘ No. We
don’t need a divorce. The marriage is only on paper, so what we
need is an annulment. It should be quite simple.’
    The ice-blue
gaze rested on her sardonically.
    ‘ It would
be quite simple if you hadn’t spent a night in my bed.’
    ‘ But no
one knows that,’ she said calmly. ‘However, if you think it
necessary, we can … provide substantiation.’
    ‘ Ah.’ He
smiled. ‘You’re suggesting we rely on medical evidence to dissolve
the bond between us by proving it a marriage nisi accedat copula carnalis ?’
    ‘ If that
means it hasn’t been consummated, then yes.’
    ‘ I see.
Excuse me asking,’ he said delicately, ‘but can we rely on it?’
    She frowned
irritably. ‘Again – yes.’
    Mr Deveril
smiled with what Chloë personally considered to be infuriating
admiration and said, ‘That’s comforting. Unfortunately, however, it
may not be enough.’
    ‘ Why
not?’
    ‘ I
imagine you are a Catholic?’
    ‘ Yes.
What of it?’
    ‘ Simply
that I’m not. Which poses not one problem but two. England was
excommunicated under Cromwell and, even if it hadn’t been, I rather
think we’ll find that no provision has ever been made for cases
such as ours. If that’s so, the theologians and canonists will be
able to use us as an excuse for interminable debate. In short, it
will take time.’
    ‘ Oh,’
said Chloë.
    ‘ Oh,’
agreed Alex. ‘Which brings us to what we are going to do in the
meantime. Is Ashton your only relative?’
    She nodded.
‘Unfortunately. The only good part is that he’s not blood-kin.’
    ‘ So I
presume you don’t want to go back?’
    ‘ Never in
this life.’
    ‘ Do you
mind if I ask why?’
    Wanting,
if possible, to avoid this conversation, Chlo ë said evasively, ‘You know him.’
    ‘ Not well
- but as much as I care to,’ replied Alex. ‘And I imagine the
reasons why I dislike him aren’t the same as yours.
Well?’
    She sighed and,
realising that she was going to have to say something, decided that
it might as well be the truth – distasteful though that was.
    As
dispassionately as possible, she said, ‘He put a roof over my head
because it suited him to have an unpaid house-keeper. And I
wouldn’t have minded that if there had ever been enough money – but
there never was because he either drank it, spent it on whores or
gamed it away. We couldn’t keep a maid-servant more than a week
because he tried to bed them and then hit them when they said no.’
She paused briefly and, when she resumed, her voice was completely
without timbre. ‘Recently, it’s been worse.