Read Online Wolf of Arundale Hall by Jennifer Leeland - Free Book Online Page B

with him, her fists clenched. “You who refused to discuss any personal issues? Have you forgotten your second letter to me? ‘It is, perhaps, best that we keep our letters about business rather than personal matters. I cannot guarantee others will not see our words.’” She sneered his words, her lips twisted in anger. “You weren’t worried about the eyes of others. You didn’t want to discuss anything with me.” She turned her back on him and yanked open a drawer, removing underwear and a nightgown. “You don’t discuss anything now. You have come home and barked out orders, taken me to bed, but there has not been any discussion.”
    The next thing he knew, she had a pistol pointed at him. “I am sick of you and your entire family taking advantage of me. Get out of my room.”
    How had this gone so badly? Would she truly shoot him? He studied his wife carefully.
    He stepped closer, the muzzle of the gun against his belly. He slid his hands up her arms and winced when she shoved the gun deeper into his gut, her finger hovering over the trigger. “Even if it costs me my life, Elizabeth, I won’t go.”
    Her eyes narrowed. “You don’t think I’ll do it?”
    He stepped away and picked up his discarded clothes. “You’re too good—”
    The explosion of the gun echoed in the room and Joshua felt the sizzle of the air as the bullet missed his head by a fraction. The splat sound against the wall reverberated in the silence.
    The gun was still aimed at him. Her face had changed from the vulnerable, sweet wife ashamed of her lustful side to a cold, heartless expression he’d never seen on her face before.
    “Elizabeth!” He couldn’t stop the involuntary protest. He started for her but she backed away, the gun still aimed at him. “People will talk.”
    For a moment he thought she was going to chuck the gun at his face. “Talk? Talk? What do you think they did when you left me for ten years? What do you think they did when Perry was found drunk almost every night?” She gritted her teeth. “Don’t tell me about talk.”
    “Elizabeth—”
    “Get out of my room,” she repeated slowly.
    “This is my room,” he argued.
    The snick of the hammer as Elizabeth yanked it back registered with him. It was nothing compared to the murderous expression in her eyes. Forgiveness wouldn’t be forthcoming this night. “If you change your mind—”
    “I won’t,” she snapped.
    He picked up his remaining belongings and headed for the door. When he turned back, she held the gun steadily at his head.
    “So, tomorrow then.”
    She tipped her chin. “If you’re still here. I will be amazed if you are,” she said.
    For a moment, he considered taking the gun away but what then? He had given her pleasure using all the finesse and experience he had and she’d tried to shoot him. What was a man to do?
    He cursed under his breath and did the manly thing. He left.
    The door slammed behind him and he heard the bolt slide home. A scuffle and a slam indicated that she’d jammed a chair against the door. And then he heard a sound he never wanted to hear again. He heard his wife sob. It was a muffled, contained sound all the more pathetic because it made such little noise. It made his heart clench.
    What had he been thinking? He leaned his head against the door, his stomach rolling and churning. Had he expected her to go back to the way they had been as children? For she had been little more than a child when he’d married her.
    Fool. He’d come home thinking she was only waiting for him to arrive. Instead she hated him.
    He pushed away from the door and pressed his fingertips against the solid wood that was only one small barrier between them. He wouldn’t give up. He had to prove to her that he was worthy of the love she’d given him when they were young.
    Next to the master bedroom was a small servant’s room and Joshua crawled into the empty bed wondering what the next day would hold—forgiveness or another cold