(1998) With This Ring by Amanda Quick

Author:Amanda Quick [Quick, Amanda]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Mystery, Regency, Fantasy, Paranormal, Romance, Adult, Historical
ISBN: 9780749939113
Publisher: Bantam
Published: 1998-03-31T23:00:00+00:00

“I see.” Leo, steeled for her withering outrage, stared at, her blankly for a moment. Then the full import of her words struck him. Out of nowhere, he felt laughter well up inside him.

“Leo?” She gave him a small shake. “What is it? I do not see anything particularly amusing in this situation.”

“Your husband must have been a bloody idiot, Mrs. Poole.”

“You do not understand. Justin was a man who experienced passion and desire in a way that few can. He had the soul of a poet. His only crime was that he loved too deeply.” “But it was not you he loved?”

“No. He gave his heart to another woman before he met me. But she was forced to marry a man who was old enough to be her grandfather. Justin could not bear it. On our wedding night he called out her name. And then he wept. I was obliged to comfort him until dawn.” Beatrice paused. “Things never improved in the course of our marriage.’

“I was right,” Leo said dryly. “He was a dolt.”

“I tried to save him from his obsession. But in the end I failed.”

“What do you mean, you failed?”

She sighed. “I told you that Justin was shot dead by a highwayman, but that was not true.”

“How did he die?”

“At the hands of a jealous husband. Her husband.” “The elderly man who was married to the woman he wanted?”

Beatrice nodded. “The husband collapsed immediately after he pulled the trigger. The doctor said the cause was a surfeit of unhealthy excitement. It affected his heart. The whole thing was hushed up, of course. The widow, who inherited a vast estate, had no more interest in having the truth come out than anyone else.”

“Who invented the highwayman tale?” “I did.”

T’_

Leo could not help himself. He started to laugh again. “It is not amusing,” Beatrice said reproachfully.

“I know it is not.” He laughed harder. “Really, Leo.”

“I shall tell you something even more entertaining,” he said when he finally got control of his laughter.

“What is that?”

“I also have a confession to make.” He paused to kiss the tip of her nose. “I, too, lied about the state of my marriage. It was not a model of connubial bliss.”

She searched his face in the shadows. “You said she was perfect in every way. An angel.”

“She was.” He smiled briefly, ruefully. “Absolutely perfect.”

“I do not understand.’

“Do you have any notion of how bloody difficult it is to live with a paragon? She was as fragile and delicate as fine porcelain. I was obliged to watch every word I said for fear of sending her into a spate of tears.”

“I see.”

“My physical passion shocked her to the core. She found that side of marriage dirty, unpleasant, and unsatisfying. The more I tried to please her, the more repulsed she was. But she did her duty.”

“Your sons?”

“Yes. She gave them to me and I shall always be grateful to her memory. But I was consumed with guilt and anger every time I went to her bed, and I shall never forget that either.

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