The Scoundrel in Her Bed by Lorraine Heath

Author:Lorraine Heath
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2019-02-26T05:00:00+00:00

The rage that swept through him robbed him of breath, of words. He was barely aware of the tankard he’d been holding tumbling to the ground as he enfolded her in his arms, held her close as though he could protect her when it was far too late for that. “My God, Vivi.”

He rubbed his cheek along hers, aware of the slightest trembling in her body as she clutched the sides of his coat.

“It’s all right, Finn,” she whispered softly. “Like your time in prison, it was long ago.”

“But it never leaves you, not completely. Jesus, Vivi.” It seemed taking the Lord’s name in vain was all he was capable of at the moment. Then something occurred to him and he leaned back, studying her features. “What about Thornley? What the devil was he doing during all this? Why didn’t he stop it?” He was going to have a quiet word with his brother-by-marriage. A quiet word and a hard punch.

“He didn’t know. No one knew. Not even my brother. Mother told them I was traveling the continent with an old aunt. It wouldn’t do at all for it to be known their daughter had gone mad. Thorne wasn’t responsible for me yet, Finn. You can’t blame him.”

“How long?”

“Three years.”

Three years. Dear God. He knew exactly how long three years were when they were lived with no freedom. If her father weren’t already dead, he’d meet with him tonight and put him in the ground. “Thornley didn’t find it odd that you were away for three years?”

“He was in no hurry to marry, was sowing his oats. I think he rather found it a relief that no serious courtship was yet called for.”

“If I’d known—”

“What could you have done, Finn? From prison?”

He’d have found a way to escape, to save her. Having never felt so impotent in his entire life, he skimmed his knuckles along her soft cheek, searching for solace for them both. “How did you even survive something like that?”

“It wasn’t quite as bad as it could have been. Oh, there were the occasional ice baths and restraints. But as long as I was quiet and calm, I seemed merely to baffle the alienists. They couldn’t quite determine what was wrong with me. And I learned to fight, because while I might have tried to remain docile, not everyone did.”

He couldn’t imagine it, the terror she must have felt, the horrors she must have experienced.

“It’s an odd world, Finn. There was one girl in particular who took an immediate dislike to me. She would attack for no reason. Yank on my hair or punch me in the stomach. Yell that I was a beast. I don’t know. Maybe in her mind she saw monsters.

“Then there was this man, called himself d’Artagnan—I never learned his real name. Anyway, he started my lessons on using the rapier. Only we used broom handles. And he taught me how to use my fists, how to fight dirty. Other than believing himself to be captain of the musketeers I never saw any madness in him.

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