Lady Thief (6 page)

She had feared it from the start of this
whole mistake, knowing that she would be required to give her body
to her husband.
Her nervousness intensified into something far more
frightening than she had imagined when the ladies downstairs
gathered around her to give their praise and, in the cases of the
soon-to-be-wed, awkwardly ask questions on what to expect
themselves.

They thought she had been deflowered already
and knew the ways of the bed.
And why wouldn’t they?
She’d been
married for two weeks.
What bride went so long without knowing the
touch of her husband?

But she did not know it; the mere thought of
it brought a fresh wave of heated embarrassment to her cheeks.
When
the younger girls asked her questions she could not answer, she
could do naught but blush and refrain from answering, claiming it
to be too unladylike a topic.

By the end they had all assumed her to be a
prudish shrew.

Marianne groaned.

William kissed her neck.
She had not realized
he had come so close and she shrieked and leapt away from him,
bounding across the bed and landing on the other side, using it as
a barrier between them.

His eyes were wide with shock.
“What is
this?”

“We can end it,” Marianne said.
“we do not
have to do this.
You can have your freedom from me.
Send me home
and keep the chest with the money, for all I care.”

Chapter Four

“
End it?
‘Tis
impossible.”

He was laughing at her!
The nerve of him!
She
was perfectly serious!

She clenched her hands in his bed sheets and
tightened her jaw.
She would be taken seriously.
“Nay, we could do
it.
I am not truly your wife until the marriage has been…” she
blushed and plowed on.
“…consummated.
We can petition for an
annulment.”

William stopped his chuckling and folded his
arms.
Marianne did not know what to make of his stance until he
spoke.

“You are more simple minded than the average
female.”

“What?”

“We both swore in front of a houseful of
guests that you and I have been one already.
How would we explain
such a thing to them?
Without
ruining my reputation,” he
added when she tried to speak up.

Marianne chewed her bottom lip.
He was right.
Everyone on the bottom floor already thought they had consummated
the marriage and would likely not believe otherwise even if told
so.

She thought of allowing him to question her
virtue, but that would not work either since everyone assumed she
had given it to him weeks ago.

She clutched the bed sheets tighter, wishing
for a solution to present itself, but none came.

He watched her with his piercing eyes,
waiting to see what she would do to bring a solution to their
problem.

She pounded the bed.
“But can you not see how
wrong this is?
You would only be using me to disperse of your
anger,” she accused, her voice high pitched, hoping to stall what
was to come.
“You are vengeful and ‘tis disgusting!”

He shrugged.
“Aye, ‘tis true.”

Marianne gasped and stepped back.
“You admit
it!”

“Of course I do!” He roared, coming forth but
not passing the bed she hid behind.
“Why should I cater to your
emotions after you put us into this position?
And even if the
possibility of an annulment was still available to us, I would not
allow you to have one even if you had not been so reckless, and
foolish, and
stupid
as to kidnap the wrong man!”

A swelling ache built in her chest and rose
up painfully, and Marianne put her hand to her throat to ease the
building lump.

This was not what she wanted.
She walked away
from Ferdinand and into something just as horrible.
Why was she
such a fool?

William knew she had naught to give, nor any
other excuses, but she would not surrender.

“I refuse,”

“
Refuse?
” His face exploded in red,
fists clenched and shook at his sides.

Marianne watched, mixed fascination and fear
as his veins popped up around his forehead and neck.
She stepped
back.

“Nonsense!
I am your husband and you my wife.
‘Tis my right to demand this of you, and should I wish it I could
walk over to where you stand and take you.
You would have no one
but yourself to blame.”

Marianne wished he were laughing again.
That
mockery would have been preferable to the anger she had to deal
with now.

“You should think very carefully,
Marianne,”

She tensed when he used her given name,
lacing it with a cold and unforgiving hiss.
Whatever patience he
had with her had vanished.

He was still not finished with her.
“My
reputation would suffer incredibly, that much is true, but who
would be forgiven for this should the truth raise its head?
Myself
or you?
You are the culprit here and should I turn you out of my
house I doubt very much that your father would welcome you back
into his.
Not for all the gold in the world, I would say.”

Marianne fought tears.
The fight only
worsened her sore throat and she was certain it gave her a red
face.

Why did he have to be so infuriatingly
correct?
She had no choice in this matter.
‘Twas his right to ask
for what was his and sinful that she should deny him, just as it
had been sinful for her to disobey her father and Ferdinand and
rush behind their backs like that to kidnap herself a husband.
And
look at the rewards
that
act bestowed upon her.

***

William took note of the helplessness of her
stance as his words sunk in.
The loosening of her shoulders and the
enlightenment that showed in her face as she realized her
defeat.

He knew she would give him what he wanted,
but never before had he been brought so low as to force himself on
the unwilling.
No matter how much the woman in question richly
deserved it.

His fists clenched at the thought, and the
consequences she would suffer if he went through with such a plan
were more than he wished to inflict upon her.

He regretted the anger he displayed to her,
his cruel words and the fear he could see in her now.
He could not
punish her like this.

He crossed to the other side of the bed in
two swift strides and lifted her chin.
How strange to see it so low
when he was used to having her thrust it in the air in that prim
way at him.

She was nothing at all like Alice.

Perhaps Marianne’s courage in the church had
been an act.
A shame, really, since he rather liked her that way.
The idea that she could be as mousey as every other woman he had
ever met was nearly as infuriating as believing he had been cheated
in a dice game without proof.

But then he recalled, only moments earlier
bluntly refusing to give him what was rightfully his to take, and
he changed his mind.

No, she was a courageous woman, bold and
daring.
She simply had no place to put it all.
Right now, however,
her pride had suffered a beating.

Damn if it was not killing him to not take
her.

He could not help himself.
He kissed her.
He
had to.
He had not touched her like this since the day of their
wedding when he forcefully pulled her mouth to his, and he had to
experience it again.
This time, however, he was sure to keep his
touch light, his fingers threading through her hair unthreatening.
He didn’t want her springing away on him again.

He was shocked when, after a moment, she
moved her lips against his, pressed herself closer and clutched his
shoulders for balance.
Her mouth parted and he groaned and plunged
in.
His body readily responded to her and he reminded himself that
she only did so because she thought it was what he wished her to
do, not what she wanted him to do.

For the second time, he made a decision
concerning her that he knew he would likely regret.

He pulled his lips away from her mouth,
pleased to see that they were fuller from his kiss and her cheeks
were coloring the same shade as her hair, and he could tell ‘twas
only the embarrassment that put the color there, not any fear he
had caused.

He removed his hands from her and stepped
back, relishing her confused eyes, and hands that were still held
out to him.

He bowed his head.
“Goodnight,”

He spun on his heel and left the room before
his lust commanded him to go through with it, no doubt leaving her
very confused in his wake.

***

A week passed, and most of the guests had
their fill of food, drink, and music before departing for home with
both her and William’s blessings.

Marianne still spent every night in William’s
chamber, in his bed, waiting with shaking anticipation for him to
come and take her.
And every night he either slept next to her
without so much as laying a little finger on her body, or he
disappeared for the night to some mysterious place and she did not
see him at all.

It made her strangely angry to think that he
was most likely with a mistress, but there was naught she could do
to stop or scold him in that respect but to glare at him at the
table whenever they took their meals in their chamber.

He never spoke to her except to ask if she
found her new living arrangements comfortable.
Considering what she
had expected of him the night she made Graystone her home, his
concern irritated her.
On that night he could barely keep his
hands, or his anger, to himself.
Now he never touched her.

Marianne was grateful for his distance at
first, but as time went on it made her horribly lonely.
Not for the
first time since she had discovered the truth in that old church
did she wish she had thought her plan through a little more
carefully.

William’s footman, Adam, gave her a tour of
her new home, the first she would receive since living at
Graystone.

Judging by the healthy complexion and casual
form of the tall, dark haired man, Marianne knew that William must
be a good master who took excellent care of the needs of his
servants.

Perhaps a little too good.

In the week that she’d lived in the castle,
Marianne had seen little of anything other than William’s chamber,
the great hall, and the gardens.
While she saw naught but utter
devotion from Adam when he did his chores, the other servants
worried her.

Nearly every new morning she awoke to a
chilled room.
The maid was usually late to light the fire.
Often
times Marianne found either herself or William, when he bothered to
sleep in his own bed, rising to set the logs ablaze.
Her food was
served cold, the gardens were in a decaying mess of weeds and bugs,
and more than once she had walked down the halls to see several men
and maids conversing among themselves as if they were the masters
of the castle rather than the ones who kept it in fit condition.
Some of the same servants she suspected had hid away from the
wedding celebration to avoid their work.

Something had to be done, and Marianne
wondered if this was the true reason William had agreed to marry
her in the first place.

Her own words rang back in her ears, You will
be rewarded with a suitable dowry, a woman of age to bear you
children and handle the affairs of your home.

It was high time she started acting like she
was the Lady of Graystone.
She made a mental list of the things
that needed to be done, a list she planned on presenting to her
husband to prove that, despite their situation, she could show him
that their bargain could work.

“These are the stables,” Adam said, leading
her inside.
The smell of earth and manure scratched her senses, but
the stench was not strong enough that she needed to cover her nose.
Once Marianne’s eyes adjusted to the dim lighting she saw that
despite the condition of the castle, the stables were kept
remarkably well.

The dark haired man shifted his feet and
looked about as though expecting his master to appear at any
moment.
“I don’ know if you should be in here, milady.”

Marianne ignored him.
Grooms stacked the hay
stacked properly, fresh water and grain for the horses had been
laid out while the grooms inside brushed the animals.
Her eyes
found Archer down at the other end of the stables, sitting on a
stool under a window and cleaning out one of the horses’ shoes with
loyal attention.

Marianne suddenly felt as if she could float
away.
How happy she was to see him, unhurt and where William said
he would be put.

“If I am to be the mistress of this castle
then ‘tis time I see what needs to be done.” She lifted the hem of
her gown to keep from dirtying them and continued to where Archer
sat.
Happiness filled her when he looked up at the sound of her
voice.
How she wanted to speak with him.

He stood when she approached and bowed, but
then looked over her shoulder and saw Adam.

Damn!
How could she apologize to Archer if
William’s footman insisted on following her so closely wherever she
went?
Before she could steal Adam away to have her tour of the
castle, Lord Gray had seen them, pulled her away from Adam and had
made clear to her that he wanted no one to know that she had forced
him into a marriage.
There was not a chance he would have let a
servant, even if he was the most loyal servant, know about the
condition of their union.

‘Twas foolish for him to have Adam remain so
close.
The true reason was that he did not want to risk that she
might run away.