Tempt the devil by Campbell Anna

Author:Campbell, Anna [Campbell, Anna]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 16

Erith reined his horse in near a stand of oaks in Hyde Park and waited for Roma to catch up. She was several hundred yards back and bouncing about like an ungainly sack of potatoes on her long-suffering mount. Beside her, a groom jogged along with a stoic expression that indicated he’d seen it all before.

His daughter certainly hadn’t inherited either of her parents’ facility in the saddle. Odd he’d never known that about her. But then she was basically a stranger. The magnitude of the task he’d set himself before he left Vienna struck him yet again.

This visit to London proved a salutary lesson for his conceit. He’d imagined his children would fall upon him in tearful gratitude the moment he showed a spark of interest. He’d imagined any mistress he selected would be the easy conquest women always were.

Laughable how divided his imaginings proved from hard reality.

He’d left Olivia toward dawn. He hadn’t made love to her again. Even though he’d been hard and ready, he couldn’t bear another unfulfilling encounter.

Or unfulfilling on any level but the basest.

At sunrise he’d walked out, purged of sixteen years of poison. He had so much to thank Olivia for. When they first met, he’d thought she was extraordinary. Little had he known how extraordinary she truly was. Yes, he still missed Joanna. He’d always miss her and mourn the tragic waste of her death. He’d always regret that their last words had been spoken in temper and that he’d failed to save her life.

But over time, that harrowing afternoon had become the sum total of his memory of his wife. Since leaving the house in York Street this morning, a flood of recollections had washed away much of the old rancor.

He remembered the golden weeks of courtship, the sweetness of the first time they made love, their joy at the birth of the children. Afternoons of laughter. Evenings of dancing. Nights of almost innocent pleasure.

He recalled other things too that until now he’d forgotten or had felt too racked with guilt to dwell on. That Joanna had been obstinate and a little too fond of her own way. That at times he’d wished she would catch onto a joke more quickly or read a situation’s undercurrents.

Ever since that moment of ineffable sweetness when Olivia took him in her arms, Erith had felt Joanna’s dear presence. Her ghost hadn’t been vengeful or accusing. Instead, he’d felt bathed in love and forgiveness.

His lighter heart had prompted him to ask Roma, who usually ate breakfast with him in sullen silence, to come riding. She hadn’t responded with great enthusiasm. But then she never responded to anything he said with great enthusiasm. She’d greeted him with surly dislike when he arrived from Vienna, and her attitude hadn’t warmed since. He’d allowed her to get away with her open resentment because he felt guilty.

He wasn’t letting her go unchallenged any longer.

He’d returned to London on a quest to reconcile with his family. A quest he now intended to pursue with his full powers.

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