Wild Is the Night by Colleen Quinn

Author:Colleen Quinn [Quinn, Colleen]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Romance, Historical
ISBN: 9781557735218
Google: jit9cEGNSBoC
Amazon: 1557735212
Barnesnoble: 1557735212
Goodreads: 4734610
Publisher: Diamond
Published: 1991-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter

16

The words seemed to settle around them like the earth around a tomb. Amanda glanced at Luke and saw the gleam of fury flash in his eyes, then a cold, stark anger set in. She swallowed hard, inadvertently thinking of that day when he tossed her into the river. The expression on his face was very similar now and she shuddered, imagining what it would be like to see that expression harden into permanence.

He didn’t want her. The hypocrisy of the whole situation made her want to scream. They were now wed, husband and wife, living in a state that was supposed to be sanctioned by God and man, and was condemned by both. Amanda glanced down at her dress, her plain blue cotton muslin that was ruined by rain and mud. Somehow, she never pictured herself married, but even when she entertained an occasional daydream of the sort, usually for the purpose of writing a wedding scene, the bride wore a white dress and carried flowers. She looked at her ringless finger, suddenly noticing the ink-stained sleeves of her gown and her broken fingernails.

She wasn’t the same as other women, and she knew it. No wonder Luke fought so hard when they forced him to marry her. She thought of all the times she was an embarrassment to him and she cringed. No man had ever loved her. And now Luke, who was obviously the kind of man that every woman would want, was shackled to her by a lynch mob wedding.

“I’ll get you a ring.”

She glanced up, startled by his cold voice and the way he seemed to break into her thoughts. She released the fold of her dress which she’d been grasping, and shook her head.

“It isn’t necessary.”

Luke gritted his teeth, took her arm and led her past the preacher and the religious men who stared at him in a mixture of triumph and pity. The women were silent, exchanging frightened glances, obviously identifying themselves with both the strange young woman and the furious man who was now her husband. Amanda scarcely noticed, but Luke saw it all and slowed his pace, trying not to betray his justified rage. When they reached the wagon, he ignored Amanda’s attempts to climb inside herself and he helped her up, earning a glare for his efforts.

“Amanda, we need to talk.” Luke entered the wagon, his voice as stern as her physics teacher on a Monday morning.

“There is nothing else to say,” she tried to say evenly.

“Amanda.” Luke placed both hands on her shoulders, holding her firmly without hurting her, yet forcing her to stay within his reach. “If you have half the brain you were born with, you’ll listen to me and listen closely. If you think I intend to abide by this farce of a wedding, you are wrong. As soon as we get to town, I plan to seek out a solicitor. In the meantime, if you wish to survive, don’t keep testing me. You stay out of my way and I’ll stay out of yours.

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