Tempest by Cynthia Wright

Author:Cynthia Wright
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: 0
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 22

“Wait!” shouted Adam.

Furiously wiping away tears, Cathy urged her companions to make haste loading the buggy while she quickly changed her clothes behind a clump of bushes. “I can’t bear to spend another moment with that arrogant libertine!”

“I tried to warn you,” said Hermione as she assisted with the buttons up the back of her daughter’s shirtwaist.

Before Cathy could reply, her husband was standing in front of them. “Do me the courtesy of hearing what I have to say.”

“It’s too late.”

“It certainly is not too late!” He reached for her arm, and she pulled back as if he’d struck her. “I would have told you the truth long ago if there hadn’t been some happiness between us at Tempest Hall. But then, each time I was about to speak, I was afraid of cutting down our marriage when it was just beginning to blossom—”

“Very poetic,” she cut in angrily, “but insulting to my intelligence. You were afraid, all right, afraid of not having two women at once, afraid of looking foolish by getting divorced immediately after your wedding, and most of all afraid of losing my money!” She made the last thrust with relish and watched him absorb the blow.

“If you would just listen to me,” he said through gritted teeth. “Could we have a moment’s privacy?”

“Certainly not. And you are the one who needs to listen. I now know that my own father kept a mistress, for years I imagine, and he lied to me every day. That is unforgiveable. And, I know that you have also led a double life— and, I suspect, still are!”

“You are wrong—” he protested.

“No more lies!” More tears spilled down her cheeks. “And no more secrets. Your secrets will poison all of us.”

Auggie listened in silence, and Theo looked torn as he loaded the buggy and helped the ladies to board. As Hermione passed Adam, she couldn’t resist delivering a few cuts of her own.

“I always knew you were a fraud, my lord. You’ll never amount to anything, and I hope my daughter has the courage to turn her back on this sham marriage and go back to Newport with me while she has the chance!” Then, holding down her Gainsborough hat in the wind, Hermione let Auggie help her into the buggy and glanced back at her son-in-law with a haughty sniff.

Fury welled inside him as he watched the horses start forward and turn away from the turquoise ocean. Unable to resist, Adam shouted, “I don’t blame Jules! Thirty years of marriage to you would be worse than a prison sentence at hard labor!”

Theo bit his lip trying not to smile, and he sensed that Cathy was not completely out of temper with her husband. Chin trembling, she stole a glance back at his solitary figure, then stared at her own lap.

“He can be difficult to resist,” Theo whispered kindly.

“Maybe, but I’m getting better at it.”

“Are you sure?” He slowed the horses as they came to a fork in the road, then turned north.

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