improvement over the previous lord.
He would never forget the desperation in his guts, the desperation that came of having so many people looking at him, being so dependent upon him, when he could see no way to provide for them.
No way but one.
The sound of footsteps approaching caused him to turn away from the window, and he watched as Viola paused in the doorway of the drawing room. The sunlight from the windows shimmered across her upswept hair and her face, crystallizing in his mind more memories of that spring so long ago.
Nine years, yet it might have been yesterday when he had last come calling here. The queer feeling of having stepped back in time grew stronger, for Viola looked as golden and lovely standing in that doorway now as she had then. No wonder she'd had suitors lined up outside her door that season. Time had left only one perceivable difference in her countenance. The face of the girl in the doorway had always lit up like a candle at the sight of him. The face of the woman never did. His fault and hers, he thought.
She entered the room and turned to her brother. "Anthony, I would like to speak with Hammond alone if I may."
"Certainly." Without a glance at John , the duke strode out of the drawing room, and Viola closed the doors behind him.
She did not waste time on preliminaries or polite conversation. "I am not going with you."
The fight, it seemed, was on. "Good thing for me I outweigh you by at least seven stone, then," he answered pleasantly.
"Is it your intent to carry me out of here?" Scorn came into her face, not surprising since scorn and contempt were the only things she felt about him these days. "Would you really do something so barbaric?"
"In a heartbeat."
"How like a man to use brute force when all other methods fail."
"It does come in handy from time to time," he agreed.
"Anthony would never let you take me against my will."
"Possibly, but if he opposes me, I will petition the House of Lords for your return to my household, and Tremore will have no choice but to hand you over to me. No doubt he has already told you this."
She did not confirm or deny his conclusion. "I could petition the House myself. For a divorce."
"You have no grounds, and after a horrible scandal that would forever ruin you in society, and cast shame on your brother's family as well, you would lose. The only grounds for divorce a woman has are consanguinity and impotence, neither of which are relevant here. We are not related in any way, and as for the other, no one would believe it."
"Not given your reputation!" She made a sound of disgust. "How unfair that if I had lovers, you could claim adultery to divorce me, yet your adultery is well-known and I can use no such grounds."
"You know as well as I the reason why that is so. A man has to know his heir is his own. Women do not have that particular uncertainty."
"Then perhaps I should be like you and have affairs." She lifted her chin, her pose coldly defiant, the queen being led to the Tower. "Would you divorce me if I took a lover?"
That, he could not even pretend to find amusing. His eyes narrowed and he moved toward her. "Don't try it, Viola."
One elegant eyebrow lifted. "Worried, Hammond ?"
"The censure heaped on you for taking a lover without having first produced an heir would be unbearable for you."
"I am already criticized for not producing an heir. I might find it worthwhile to endure a bit more of it."
" 'Hell hath no fury,' " he shot back, stung. "Is that it?"
"'Like a woman scorned,'" she finished the quote. "At least you admit that much culpability." She stepped around him and walked away as if she could no longer bear having him so close to her.
"And a man scorned?" He turned. "What of that, Viola?"
She stopped halfway across the drawing room, and he watched her square her shoulders. She turned her head, and in her profile was all the con- siderable feminine pride she possessed. He could see it in the tilt of her chin and the
He would never forget the desperation in his guts, the desperation that came of having so many people looking at him, being so dependent upon him, when he could see no way to provide for them.
No way but one.
The sound of footsteps approaching caused him to turn away from the window, and he watched as Viola paused in the doorway of the drawing room. The sunlight from the windows shimmered across her upswept hair and her face, crystallizing in his mind more memories of that spring so long ago.
Nine years, yet it might have been yesterday when he had last come calling here. The queer feeling of having stepped back in time grew stronger, for Viola looked as golden and lovely standing in that doorway now as she had then. No wonder she'd had suitors lined up outside her door that season. Time had left only one perceivable difference in her countenance. The face of the girl in the doorway had always lit up like a candle at the sight of him. The face of the woman never did. His fault and hers, he thought.
She entered the room and turned to her brother. "Anthony, I would like to speak with Hammond alone if I may."
"Certainly." Without a glance at John , the duke strode out of the drawing room, and Viola closed the doors behind him.
She did not waste time on preliminaries or polite conversation. "I am not going with you."
The fight, it seemed, was on. "Good thing for me I outweigh you by at least seven stone, then," he answered pleasantly.
"Is it your intent to carry me out of here?" Scorn came into her face, not surprising since scorn and contempt were the only things she felt about him these days. "Would you really do something so barbaric?"
"In a heartbeat."
"How like a man to use brute force when all other methods fail."
"It does come in handy from time to time," he agreed.
"Anthony would never let you take me against my will."
"Possibly, but if he opposes me, I will petition the House of Lords for your return to my household, and Tremore will have no choice but to hand you over to me. No doubt he has already told you this."
She did not confirm or deny his conclusion. "I could petition the House myself. For a divorce."
"You have no grounds, and after a horrible scandal that would forever ruin you in society, and cast shame on your brother's family as well, you would lose. The only grounds for divorce a woman has are consanguinity and impotence, neither of which are relevant here. We are not related in any way, and as for the other, no one would believe it."
"Not given your reputation!" She made a sound of disgust. "How unfair that if I had lovers, you could claim adultery to divorce me, yet your adultery is well-known and I can use no such grounds."
"You know as well as I the reason why that is so. A man has to know his heir is his own. Women do not have that particular uncertainty."
"Then perhaps I should be like you and have affairs." She lifted her chin, her pose coldly defiant, the queen being led to the Tower. "Would you divorce me if I took a lover?"
That, he could not even pretend to find amusing. His eyes narrowed and he moved toward her. "Don't try it, Viola."
One elegant eyebrow lifted. "Worried, Hammond ?"
"The censure heaped on you for taking a lover without having first produced an heir would be unbearable for you."
"I am already criticized for not producing an heir. I might find it worthwhile to endure a bit more of it."
" 'Hell hath no fury,' " he shot back, stung. "Is that it?"
"'Like a woman scorned,'" she finished the quote. "At least you admit that much culpability." She stepped around him and walked away as if she could no longer bear having him so close to her.
"And a man scorned?" He turned. "What of that, Viola?"
She stopped halfway across the drawing room, and he watched her square her shoulders. She turned her head, and in her profile was all the con- siderable feminine pride she possessed. He could see it in the tilt of her chin and the
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