i ed84d0e516761e5e (5 page)

He held her gaze. «And seeing as you intended to use the

allowance I gave you to pay your debts, some might say you did

earn that money on your back after all.»

She drew in a ragged breath. «Sometimes I don’t like you at

all, Blaize.»

«Good. Perhaps you should remember that and go home.»

She turned on her heel and left his study. He frowned after

her. It wasn’t like Jane to give up so easily. Had he really

frightened her off or had she gone to find a pistol to shoot him

with as he had suggested? He kept his seat, strained to hear her

returning, sat back and pretended to be examining some

correspondence when she reentered.

«Here you are.» He tried not to flinch as she dropped a leather

bag on his desk with a thump. «My money.»

34 /
Kate Pearce

He stared at the leather sack, watched as she upended it and

sovereigns poured all over his desk. Some rolled to the edge and

down to the floor below.

«If I was supposed to earn this on my back, I owe you, don’t

I? You haven’t been near my bed for seven years. I’d hate to take

something I didn’t deserve.»

Minshom said nothing, just focused on the coins and her left

hand that she’d planted on his desk. Her fingers were ringless.

He studied the faint indentations on two of her fingers.

«Where are the rings I bought you?»

She snatched her hand away from under his nose. «Do you

think I’ve pawned them?»

«Perhaps.»

«They are upstairs in my jewelry box. Would you like me to

fetch it so you can rummage through and check your property is

all there?» She headed for the door, looked back at him and

curtsied. «I’m going out now. Perhaps I’ll see you at dinner.»

Minshom stared at the bills and the money scattered over his

desk. If she thought he was going to change his mind, she was

mistaken. Her foolish attempt to shame him into giving her what

she wanted was doomed. He had no reason to be guilty at all.

He started to gather up the money, calculating as he went,

surprised at the quantity of coin his wife had amassed. Once the

coins were all safely in their bag, he took out his ledger, found a

clean page and entered the amount on the first line with Jane’s

name alongside it.

He watched the ink dry, aware of an unusual sense of unease,

as if someone had prodded his long dormant conscience. He

jammed his pen back into the inkwell and slammed the book

shut. Damnation, he was within his rights to take her money.

Apart from the pitiful amount settled on her by her family in the

marriage settlement, legally everything else she had belonged to

him.

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And he had to get rid of her. She’d been here for more than a

week and she unsettled him with her inability to listen to reason,

to bow to his will like everyone else did, to leave. In truth, he was

almost obliged to use any ammunition he could to get her to

leave him in peace.

No doubt she’d be back when she realized he wasn’t going to

change his mind. He deposited the coins in a drawer and locked

it. And when she came back, perhaps he could use the lure of a

new wardrobe to finally send her packing.

«He is insufferable!» Jane fumed as she sat opposite Emily in

the luxurious Millhaven carriage.

«And he is also right. Legally he owns you.»

«I know!» Jane tried to smile. «But it doesn’t make it any easier

to live with his ridiculously old-fashioned notions.»

«So what did you do when he refused to let you pay the bills

with your money?»

«I went and got the money, dumped it on his desk and told

him he was welcome to it.»

Emily’s brows wrinkled. «Do you think that was wise? Now

you have nothing.»

«He suggested that by giving me pin money, I was no better

than any prostitute.»

«He didn’t!»

«Well, not in those exact words, but that was what he implied.

I told him that if that was the case, I owed him a refund anyway,

and then I left before I picked up the poker and brained him.»

Jane met Emily’s gaze and her lips twitched. Within a moment

they were both laughing uncontrollably.

«Oh, Jane, I know it isn’t really funny, but I wish I’d seen

Minshom s face when you did that.»

«He didn’t look particularly happy but he quickly masked it.»

Jane sighed and cast a glance down at her beautiful new dress. «I

don’t know what he’ll do now, but I’m going to have to send the

clothes back.»

36 /
Kate Pearce

«Stuff and nonsense. The gown you have on is a present from

me and so is the pale blue satin ball gown.»

«I can’t take those from you.»

Emily glared at her. «Yes you can, and doesn’t Minshom pay

you a dress allowance as well?»

«He does, it was included in the original marriage settlement,

and hasn’t been increased for years. Living in the countryside

meant that I didn’t need any particularly grand clothes.»

«Then I have an even better solution. I’ll deal directly with

Madame Wallace and you can send me your allowance and

gradually pay off the debt to me.»

«Emily, you don’t have to do that.»

«I jolly well do. I’m not having my best friend reduced to

walking around in rags, and I’ll be more than delighted to impede

Minshom in any way I can.» She held out her hand. «Are we in

agreement?»

Reluctantly Jane shook the proffered hand. «I almost looked

forward to walking around London in my country clothes and

seeing how Minshom handled the gossip. Despite all evidence to

the contrary, he’s quite proud of his family name.»

Emily’s smile widened. «Then you should do exactly that and

see what happens. Most of your clothes won’t be ready for a

week or so, which gives you the perfect opportunity to play the

poor downtrodden wife in public.»

Jane nodded at her best friend. Minshom might think he

owned her, but as women had learned for themselves, there was

more than one way to gain power in a marriage.

At dinner that night, Jane wore her oldest gown, a faded

patterned pink muslin from several years ago, which she wore at

home to do the dirtier tasks associated with living on a large

country estate. She took her seat at the bottom of the long table,

nodded cordially at Robert, who was standing by the door, and

looked expectantly at the empty seat at the head of the table.

«Is Lord Minshom joining us?»

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«I believe he is, my lady. I helped him dress for dinner.»

Robert hesitated and looked hopefully at the door. «Would you

like me to go and see if he is coming?»

«There’s no need to chase me like a mother hen, Robert. I’m

here.»

Jane pasted on a bland smile as her husband strolled into the

room and across to his seat. He wore a tight-fitting blue coat and

black waistcoat with white pantaloons. Mentally Jane calculated

how much it must cost to have a coat tailored so perfectly to a

man’s form, reckoned it would be far more than the cost of a

dress. Despite her inner fuming, she continued to smile.

«Good evening, my lord.»

Minshom turned to her, his expression guarded.

«Are you still here? I thought you’d finally decided to go home

in a huff.»

«Oh no,» she said sweetly. «I’m having far too much fun to

ever contemplate leaving.» She looked across at Robert who was

edging toward the door. «Robert, Lady Millhaven took me to

Somerset House today to see an exhibition of the most

interesting landscape pictures.»

«Really, my lady?»

«Are you sure she didn’t take you shopping?» Minshom asked,

his mouth curling in apparent distaste.

«Oh no, my lord. I have no money to shop. I have no money

at all.» She opened her eyes wide at him. «I am totally dependent

on the good will of my husband.»

«As you should be.»

Oh, she wanted to hurt him so badly. «As I should be.»

His pale blue eyes narrowed. «I’m not convinced by this

sudden wifely devotion, Jane, and I’m not going to change my

mind.»

«I understand that, my lord.» She turned her attention back to

Robert, who looked distinctly uneasy. «Do you like art, Robert?»

38 /
Kate Pearce

«Not particularly, my lady. Most of the time it seems a great

fuss about nothing. I like a picture to look like what it’s supposed

to be, not some watered-down blurry version of it.»

«Then you would probably prefer the work of Mr. John

Constable to that of Mr. Turner. He depicts ordinary scenes from

farming and village life. One of his paintings was in the gallery

today and I believe he has just been elected an associate of the

Royal Academy.»

Minshom cleared his throat and Jane paused to look at him.

«When you’ve finished trying to educate my valet, perhaps we

could eat?»

«Of course, my lord. Isn’t Robert going to join us?»

«Robert?»

«I understood that he ate with you before my arrival. I would

hate to disrupt your routine.»

«No you damn well wouldn’t. You positively thrive on it,» he

grumbled.

Robert bowed. «It’s all right, my lady, I’m quite happy to eat

in the kitchen.»

«Leave him alone, Jane, and eat your dinner.» Minshom

gestured at the footmen to remove the covers from the dishes.

«You can all go—we’ll serve ourselves.»

Jane waited until the staff filed out and shut the door behind

them. She surveyed the dishes set before her and slowly inhaled.

Minshom’s cook was from France and it showed. She wondered

how Minshom remained so slender when faced with such

delights on a daily basis. She wanted to sample everything, savor

every single taste and flavor.

«You are licking your lips in a decidedly salacious manner,

Jane.»

«I’m trying to decide what I should eat first. Your cook is very

talented.»

«He should be. He costs me enough.»

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Jane stood up to ladle some soup from the imposing china

tureen in the center of the table. She took her time, aware of

Blaize’s gaze fixed on the loose bodice of her old gown, the lush

display of her breasts as they fought to escape the thin fabric.

«Would you care for some soup, Blaize?»

He took his time returning his gaze to her face.

«No, thank you.»

«Are you sure?» She held up her bowl, leaned farther forward

to blow on the soup’s surface. «It smells delicious.»

«I’m sure, thank you.»

She smiled and sat back down, concentrated on eating her

soup, on the freshness of leeks and cream against her tongue and

the tang of parsley and pepper.

«I wish you wouldn’t do that.»

«Do what?»

«Make that sound when you are enjoying your food.»

«I make a noise?»

«You do. It’s somewhere between a purr and a moan.»

She held his gaze. «And that offends you?»

«No, but it reminds me of the sounds you make when I make

you come.»

«You can remember that far back?»

«Of course.»

«I remember the first time you used your fingers and mouth

on me. It was so shocking, and not what I had expected at all,

and yet so... addictive.»

He shrugged. «That’s the purpose of sex, isn’t it? To make our

baser selves forget caution and simply mate.»

Jane licked the rim of her spoon and studied her husband. He

was so calm, so seemingly untroubled by his determination to

reduce love and passion to their most primitive and

unsentimental level. It was almost a pleasure to pick at him.

«Is that why you prefer men? Because they don’t expect

anything more than sex from you?»

40 /
Kate Pearce

«I don’t prefer men.»

«Gossip says otherwise.»

His blue eyes narrowed. «And I told you what I think of

gossip.»

She finished her soup and put down her spoon, searched the

delights in front of her for something else to taste.

«Have you thought any more on my offer?»

She looked up at him, hand poised over a dish of chicken in

cream sauce. «Which offer?»

«Don’t be obtuse. I’ve only made one.»

«Ah, the offer to take me to your favorite brothel so that I can

see for myself the depths of depravity you have embraced.»

«To be fair, it’s not exactly a brothel. It’s a private pleasure

house for both men and women run by a very astute

Frenchwoman named Madame Helene Delornay.»

«Women can buy sexual partners too?»

He smiled. «You have no money, remember? So you can’t buy

anything. And it doesn’t work like that. Members pay a yearly fee

to enjoy all the amenities available for as little or as long as they

wish.»

«And you intend to take me there?»

« If you accept my offer.»

«They will let me in?»

«As my guest, yes.»

«Then I think I would like to go.»

«Good. Now perhaps we can finish our dinner without you

moaning or threatening to unleash your breasts in the soup?»

Jane smiled at his irritated tone, wondered if she had aroused

him and whether he would admit it if she asked. «Of course, my