With This Curse: A Novel of Victorian Romantic Suspense by DeWees Amanda

Author:DeWees, Amanda [DeWees, Amanda]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2014-01-31T00:00:00+00:00

“I wouldn’t have had that happen for worlds,” said Atticus. “Clara, I can only say again how sorry I am. Lord Veridian shall not enter this house again.”

I drew off my gloves and sank into a wing chair with a little sigh of gratitude. It was a relief to close the door of my sitting room and be freed from the eyes of both guests and servants—to be offstage, in a sense. Especially after my close brush with social disaster, I was blissfully relieved that now I could finally relax.

If Atticus felt the same way, one would not have known it to look at him. He was pacing before the fire with as much restless energy as if he had just sprung from a cage. His pale blue eyes were bright with fury.

“Lord Veridian is not worth your anger, Atticus,” I told him. “As disgusting as he was, his words can’t hurt Richard now. I’m sure that everyone knows the truth and will dismiss his foul lies accordingly.”

He halted in mid-stride and turned astonished eyes to me. “Clara,” he said in a different voice. “That isn’t what enrages me. I know how much it must have hurt you to have him speak so coarsely about women in that unfortunate situation.”

I wasn’t certain whether to laugh or take his words in earnest. “I have known several of these unfortunates,” I said slowly, “and I do feel compassion for them, but I’m not certain why you should think that the subject is one that I take personally. Certainly it isn’t well suited to drawing-room conversation, but I was not offended on my own behalf.”

To my bewilderment, he actually went on one knee beside my chair and took one of my hands in his. “You’re so brave, Clara, but you mustn’t feel that you have to hide your feelings from me,” he said gently. “I know how wounded you must have been by those coarse references to light women.”

An explanation for his solicitousness was finally dawning on me. “Is this to do with Genevieve?” I asked. At his solemn nod—I cannot deny it—my heart sank. My voice was dull when I asked, “Is she your mistress?”

He stared at me. “My mistress?” he repeated, in a voice of such consternation that I had to believe it sincere. “Good God, Clara, of course not!”

But that left only one other explanation. “Your daughter, then,” I said. Even, it seemed, as honorable and decent a man as Atticus was not a stranger to dalliance. With no wife for so many years, what other course was open to a man of normal passions? So he had taken a lover, who had borne him a daughter. It spoke well of him that he was taking responsibility for her, paying for her education and upkeep, even introducing her into his own circle. It was more than decent; it was generous.

Still, it gave me a little twinge to imagine how happy he must have been with this woman to have embraced her illegitimate child so completely.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.