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
"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
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