The Folly by Irina Shapiro

women, she would be seduced by luxury and comfort ; not to mention jewelry and beautiful gowns.  Henry was willing to pay for it all, if only Mariah would grant him her favors, but it wasn’t so simple.  Mariah went to supper, accepted an emerald necklace, but still denied Henry what he wanted most.  She said that she was a God-fearing Christian , and she believed in the sanctity of marriage.  Her future husband would be her only lover. 
    By this time, Henry was so smitten that he proposed marriage on the spot, scandalizing everyone he knew.  To keep an actress as a mistress was socially acceptable behavior , to marry her and make her a l ady was not.  Henry married Mariah as quickly as possible and whisked her away to the country, putting his townhouse in London up for sale.  He wanted her as far away from her old life as possible , and he wanted her all to himself. 
    If Henry had to name the happiest day of his life, it would have been his wedding day, followed by the wedding night, which fulfilled all his expectations.  Mariah was shy and afraid, but he didn’t mind.  He was gratified to know that he would be her first and last.  She was truly his at last.  Henry diligently made love to her every night , and it wasn’t long before his wife announced her pregnancy.  Henry was over the moon .  He watched her body swell and ripen with new life , and he counted his blessings.  For once in his life Henry was truly happy.  
    Mariah gave birth to their son a few weeks early, but the doctor pronounced the lad to be healthy and strong.   Henry held the baby in his arms , marveling at his full head of dark hair and his dark eyes, so much like his mother’s.  He was a beautiful baby and Henry doted on the little boy.  He had his son and heir and other children would follow.  It wasn’t until the child was around three - years - old that Henry began to notice certain things.  There was something in his smile and the way he cocked his head , that reminded Henry uncomfortably of John Sutton, Mariah’s frequent leading man.  Henry dismissed his suspicions as being ridiculous, but as the boy grew older the resemblance grew stronger , causing doubts to gnaw at Henry’s insides .  Henry could no longer ignore the fact that his beautiful boy looked nothing like him , and that he favored what he ass u med to be his father in looks.  What added to Henry’s bitterness was the fa ct that Mariah had suffered several miscarriages, leaving Jeremy an only child. 
    Unable to stand his suspicions any longer, Henry traveled to London to confront the actor.  He invited himself in for a drink , and tried to get him to confess an affair with Mariah, but Sutton wouldn’t say a word.  Henry knew the man had a weakness for drink, so he plied him with alcohol until he was nearly insensible, but he held firm.  He didn’t admit to anything, but he didn’t need to.  Sitting across from him in his shabby dressing room and seeing his face washed clean of his stage make-up, Henry had all the proof he needed.  The way Sutton cocked his head, the way he smiled, the way he absentmindedly tugged at his forelock while thinking of an answer , were all things that Henry saw in Jeremy. No wonder the child was born early.  Mariah had already been pregnant by the time she married him. 
    Henry thanked John Sutton for joining him for a drink and wished him a good night.  They would never see each other again, but Henry would be damned if he let this insult go unpunished.   
    **
                  Henry looked up at the portrait, returning his late wife’s haughty gaze.  “I suppose you ’ re happy,” he addressed the portrait.   “Your son is back safe and sound, here to torment me with his presence.  Evidently, it’s not bad enough that he had the audacity not to die, but now he ’ s set his sights on my new wife, probably as part of some cosmic payback for what I did to his father.” 
    Henry sucked on his