Stormswept by Sabrina Jeffries

consummated! ”
    “Ah, but if Juliana claims you were impotent and you’re not there to refute her, then everything is done. Over. Complete. She’s free to marry another, with a fine property to attract him.”
    Rhys gritted his teeth, wishing he could wipe the smug smile from the viscount’s face, wishing the man’s words weren’t so convincing. He made himself remember Juliana’s face as she’d sworn to love, honor, and obey him for a lifetime. She’d meant her words. He could swear she did.
    But someone had summoned her brothers to the inn tonight. It wasn’t likely that they’d figured it out on their own, for they hadn’t even known he was seeing Juliana, and she’d promised not to leave a note telling them about the elopement. He’d certainly told no one where they were going, not even the bishop. And she had been alone with the innkeeper while Rhys had gone back to the horses . . .
    He beat back his doubts. Whom would he believe—a black-hearted Englishman like the viscount? Or his sweet Juliana?
    His sweet Juliana . . . who’d always run off at the first sign of trouble . . . at the meeting . . . after her father’s threat to cane her . . . He’d heard Darcy tell her that day in the forest that he wouldn’t hide her anymore. And she’d relied on her mother to get her out of her caning.
    Yes, his sweet Juliana did have a penchant for acting impulsively, then doing whatever it took to avoid the consequences. If she’d thought that he’d somehow learnedLlynwydd belonged to her, would she have balked at the marriage?
    Worse yet, she had known that Morgan had printed the pamphlets. And she was, after all, a pampered young English noblewoman.
    He cursed himself. He knew Juliana. Pampered she might have been, English she certainly was, but she wouldn’t run from their marriage. Would she?
    He fixed Blackwood with a threatening gaze. “I won’t listen to your lies about my wife . She will be my wife until the day I return, and I will return. You can be sure of that, you son of a bitch! ”
    “If you do, it’ll be your death.” The viscount gestured to Rhys’s neck. “I’ll make sure they hang you and Pennant as deserters! ”
    “If you won’t release me, at least release Morgan,” Rhys gritted out. “No matter what you think, he had nothing to do with those pamphlets. I had them printed in London. And if Juliana says otherwise, she’s lying.”
    A dark smile creased Blackwood’s face. “Is Lettice lying, too, then?”
    “You whoreson Englishman! ” Morgan exploded. “If you think to malign my woman as well—”
    Blackwood’s harsh laugh cast a chill on the already cold room. “You two are such fools. Women are cowards at heart. All I had to do after I brought Vaughan here was confront Lettice with what Juliana had told me. She confirmed it as soon as she realized what hot water she was in.” He gave Morgan a hard stare. “Once I knew for certain you’d been involved, of course I had to take you, too. Wecan’t have you radicals stirring up the Welsh—not with an election nigh. Lettice understood that.”
    “Nay, she would never betray me,” Morgan choked out. “She couldn’t—”
    “Of course she could.” Blackwood shoved the snuff box into his pocket with vicious energy. “When it came to choosing between her post and a Welsh radical, she certainly didn’t throw herself into poverty.”
    “I don’t believe it,” Morgan whispered. But his anguished tone said he might.
    The viscount drew himself up. “Well, that’s that. I’ve tarried here long enough. Now that you know why you’re being impressed, I hope you’ll not trouble the men with questions. They’ve been well-paid to ignore them.”
    Rhys felt as if a boxer had been pummeling him, each blow primed to hit his most vulnerable spots.
    The viscount turned for the door. “I’ll leave you two gentlemen to your thoughts. After all, once you’re aboard ship you won’t have much time