Bittersweet Endeavors (32 page)

T’was time to greet her guest
s
.

215

Myra stood atop the steps and looked down at the visitors below. 
Guests already arriv
ed
and a handful of them waited at the bottom of the ste
ps
for her to make her appearance
.  But
of them all
that eagerly awaited her arrival
, only
one
caught her attention.  Seth.

He wasn’t alone.  Cassandra stood by his side
.  H
er arm entwined within his
as he led her to the
entryway at the
bottom of the staircase
.  A thought occurred to her, and she swallowed the tears that formed in her throat. 
Perhaps
he
told her the truth that day by the lake.  She wondered if he truly
had
thought about
Cassandra when
they
made love
.
 
She brushed the
disparaging
thought aside. 
Seth loved her once,
and would again,
she
had
to believe that. 

Myra
blatantly
stared
at Seth.  Drawn to him
by the need in having him back
,
she couldn’t look away.  He
appeared
more handsome
than she had
ever
seen him
in his gold embroidery waistcoat accompanied with tight black breeches.  She continued down the steps
and tried
not to look at
him
again
.  But she
felt
his gaze
on her—and his hatred. 
Heat rose from her body by
her
knowing his eyes
followed her down each step.
  S
he swallowed a deep breath of air
and
finished her descent down the stairs.

To Seth’s right stood
his
parents,
Anvil and Anna.  Anna offered
Myra
a warm smile,
and
withstanding the decorum of polite society
,
Anvil took her hand into his and dutiful
ly bowed over it.  She knew he
’d
rather spit in her eye than show such display of respect, but while others looked on from the adjoining rooms,
he displayed
due
c
ordial
ness.  Anvil rose to look at her
,
and
by his shocked expression, he noticed
the mark
Zachary had left behind
.  H
is d
emeanor
changed
.
He hemmed and sputtered then
looked at his wife.  Anna
squeezed
her hand tightly, smiled sympathetically,
and
closed her long lashes slowly
as if she
felt
Myra’s
pain
.
 
E
mbarrassed for not hiding the shameful bruise,
Myra
relented and
wanted to return upstairs.

“Let me be the first to introduce you to my wife,” Zachary offered
, and
he led
Myra
into the sitting room
.  M
any guests
eagerly
awaited within for
her arrival.  No
doubt
their
attendance
was for the purpose of having
visual confirmation that
Zachar
y Frederickson truly married a
servant girl.  Tongues wagged
faster than a dog’s tail
the p
revious
week
by the
announcement in town
.

Zachary’s eyes lowered and
perused
her
f
orm-fitting
,
gold satin gown.  B
y the
pleasing
hum and benevolent smile he offered, she
earned
his
unsolicited
approval. 
His gaze
roamed
to
ward
her black ringlets where the
thick
strands
curled
in neat, orderly fashion a
round
her neck. 
S
he stole a glimpse
at
Seth
and wondered if he saw her
dignified appearance
that befitted
her
true station
.  Yet to her irritation,
he
centered his attention on Cass
andra, the beauty at his side.  It was as if Myra wasn’t there at all.

Zachary cleared his throat
and began to make her
introduction into
Jamestown society.  She nodded her head and demurely blinked in silent approval for him to continue.
 
His
arrogant,
smug look again appeared on his face, and it brought
an instant bout of sickness
inside
t
he pit of her stomach.  T
he heavily curled periwig he donned gave
him
a sinister appearance
, and t
here was an odd look in his eye.  He was up to something. 
He
planned some form of trickery; she
could feel it right down to her bones. 
Insomuch that he was too preoccupied to notice the ghastly mark he left
behind
on her face
.  Unless
,
he didn
’
t care who saw it.

“As I was saying,” he began again.  “Let me intr
oduce you to my lovely wife
.
”
  After a dramatic pause
, as well as
he afforded
time for
the guests
in the adjoining rooms
to
gather, Zachary looked at her. 
This time he noted the bruise
on her face. 

“How dar
e
you come down looking like that for our guests?” he hissed in her ear. “Why
didn’t you cover it
?  Any proper woman would have.”

“I thought our guests
mayhap want to see
what wedding token
my husband gave me
,” she said coldly.

He wrapped his hand around her arm and squeezed so tightly that
Myra
winced and a
n unladylike
curse lingered on her tongue.

“You must excuse my new wife’s appearance this evening,” he offered to all the
callers
within earshot.  “She had a small
mishap
.  She b
umped her head
on the bedpost late last evening.”  He turned to
Myra
and smiled,
but
still target
ed
his guests
whilst
he spoke.  “The wedding bed can
produce such a
dangerous
sport when a spirited woman as my wife joins it
,” he said aloud.  “
Perhaps next time,
my wife should be less exuberant in trying to please her new husband,
aye
?”

Tawdry laughter rang out amongst many of the male guests, and the women in the crowd lowe
red their head
s
, and blushes tainted
thro
ugh their pale, powdered skins.

How dare he humiliate her! 
Myra
searched for Seth, praying there
might
be a
way
to
relay her denials to him.  To Hell with all
the rest, but dear Lord,
don’t
let Seth
believe Zachary’s words
were
truth
ful
. 
Their
visitors
crowded closer but she
wasn’t able to
find Seth
within the throng.

When the lau
ghter died down
, Zachary continued. 
This time,
he was
m
ore dignified in tone and manner.  “Good people of
Jamestown
,” he addressed.
“I give you my wife, Lady
Myra
. 
The
Lady
Myra
of Brunnington
, as well as
she is
a
cousin to our very own King Charles.”

Gadzooks
!  What
is
he doing
? 
She wondered why he hadn’t
consider
ed the
repercussions
at such an announceme
nt before Mary was found and placed somewhere safe
. She also began to fret about the she carried.
  If her uncle discover
ed
there was another heir that threatened to unseat him, it’d
give him
more cause to hunt her and remove the threat
. 

She searched
for
Seth again.  S
he feared he may have left, but when she almost gave up hope
that he was still in attendance
, she saw him. 
Only
an arm
’s
length away, he stood
behind her
and his face held the same expression as that of the other guests—complete
confusion.
 
Anvil stood near his so
n. H
is eyes
were
wide with amazement
and
his face
blushed
into
crimson
red
.  Showing
an
unusual
amount of
indiscret
ion, Anvil pulled Zachary aside.  My
ra
heard
e
ach
word with distinction, as well as most of their guests.

“What is the meaning of this?  Surely you
don’t believe her
nonsense!  Admittedly, I
heard
the blather
within my household about the girl’s claims, but I wasn’t foolish
enough to believe them.  Certainly
it’s not true.  You’ll be made a fool when the truth is discovere
d of her poor lineage
.”

“Anvil,” Zachary cooed
out
softly, condescendingly.  “Do you honestly think that I
’d
marry and not make inquiries about my bride’s past
?” 
The
laughter
that followed from Zachary’s mouth
made Anvil’s face
deepen
into a brighter
red.

“
Tis
true?  She is
actually
T
he King’s cousin?  But had I known—”
Anvil
abruptly stopped after
he realized
h
is error, but Zachary didn’t give
courtesy in
letting the opportunity pass.

“You’d have what?  Saved her for your son?  Wouldn
’
t have come to me that night
and beg
my assistance to separ
ate the two?”  His eyebrow quirked, as did the corner of his mouth with that haughty grin he displayed
so well
with disdain.
  “
W
ould have secured your son for the position of Lord
Brunnington
?”

For as much as she hated the pompous
man
, she gave Zachary credit
for setting Anvil in his place.
 
Myra
wished
she
possessed
the audacity to
have
do
ne
it
herself.

Anvil looked around
and noticed
the attention
they
received
from
the
other guests,
and he then
suggested
they
continue their
discussion
privately.
“I’d like to
converse
further on this matter in your study.
”  It
came more
as
a demand than
request and it surprised M
yra
when
Zachary
granted him the private audience
.