Anna Jacobs by The Northern Lady

Author:The Northern Lady [Lady, The Northern]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

That night at Stovely, Cassie wasn’t the only one to lie awake worrying. In another bedroom an equally wakeful Simeon was lying scowling in the darkness that seemed as black as his future. He’d seen the expression on Susannah’s face when he kissed her. It was more than a young girl’s timidity. It was revulsion! Why on earth, then, had she accepted his proposal?

Lying there alone, he let out a bitter laugh. The answer was obvious. Her mother. He’d been a fool to be taken in by Lady Berrinden, a fool to have heeded his own mother, too. He should have followed his instincts and not let anyone persuade him to propose marriage to someone he didn’t care about - even for the sake of Stovely. Shy young girl, indeed! Susannah wasn’t shy of him; she couldn’t bear him to touch her!

He remembered her cousin, lying in his arms and staring at him with those large brown eyes. She hadn’t found him repulsive. That moment between them had underlined the difference between a woman who found you attractive and a woman who did not. Oh, yes! And the difference was enormous.

He thumped the pillow, then thumped it again for good measure. Damn all women! And damn you too, Cassie Trent, with your scornful brown eyes. Who are you to judge anyone?

He was trapped now, with no escape possible, for Lady Berrinden had wasted no time in having an announcement of the engagement placed in the newspapers. In a mood of deep depression, he got up, poured himself a large brandy and sat scowling into the empty grate by the light of one badly-trimmed candle.

What sort of a life would it be with a wife who couldn’t bear him to touch her? He should break off the betrothal now, before both their lives were ruined. But a gentleman could not, in honour, draw back from an engagement. It was the grossest of insults to offer a lady.

And besides, a Giffard never broke his word. That had been drummed into him since birth. The brandy sank deeper in the decanter. He would have to go through with it now, but once he had set up his nursery, he wouldn’t bother his wife with his attentions again, that was sure. There were enough willing women around to take care of a man’s needs. He would be discreet, of course.

But somehow the thought of taking a mistress didn’t comfort him in the slightest. He didn’t want to be discreet about anything. If a man had a wife, he shouldn’t need to find other women.

Several brandies later, he stumbled over to the bed, flung himself upon the tangle of fine damask counterpane and fell into an uneasy sleep. But even this was haunted by a pale phantom, which said, “Yes, Simeon”, “Yes, Simeon”, until he wanted to strangle it, while a pair of brown eyes hung in the air above looking down at him scornfully.

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