Read The Secret Diary of Lady Catherine Bexley for Free Online Page B

thing to say —especially after my husband’s previous reprimand.
    ‘Albert.’ The word was a warning, and the recalcitrant cousin ceased his banter immediately. Joseph turned to me, his eyes dark with some unfathomable emotion. ‘Catherine, my love. ’ His use of the endearment made me swoon. ‘I think my cousin has partaken in too much whisky, and his conversation is not fit for your ears. If you would be so kind as to retire ...’
    I took my husband’s meaning immediately, and stood.
    ‘Indeed,’ I agreed, albeit weakly. ‘Good evening to you both.’ I bobbed my head and swept from the room.
    It is here, dear diary that my true colours yet again become apparent. I did not retire immediately but hid and eavesdropped. Shameful, but I am unrepentant — for what I heard has heartened me.
    I heard another whisky being poured.
    ‘You will do yourself no favours speaking of my wife as if she is naught but a comely governess,’ my husband barked.
    Albert laughed then. ‘And you’ll be doing yourself no favours with your wife, treating her like a precious china doll,’ he said. ‘In my experience, and I confess I have much of it, women like to be treated with passion and excitement. Miss Carroll certainly did.’
    ‘Have you no shame, Albert? You are here to regain your decorum and composure — with my guidance and support — away from the gossip mill of London. I will not tolerate such vulgarities under my roof.’
    I’d never heard my husband sound so aggrieved.
    Albert merely laughed again, as if not a care weighted his shoulders.
    ‘You must forgive my lax manners, cousin — but your wife looks like a woman who would rather like to be treated like a comely governess. Did you not observe her this evening? Heaving bosom, glittering eyes, flushed cheeks. She’s a woman ripe for the picking, make no mistake.’
    I cannot believe a gentleman would speak like this of his cousin’s wife. Yet his words brought me no shame, in fact the truth he spoke resounded within me, and resounded deeply.
    Yet my husband’s tone was pure fury. ‘In the morning, Albert you will seek out Rigby in the stables and spend the day mucking — perhaps a day filled with horse filth may make you reconsider the filth coming from your mouth,’ he finished with a snarl.
    I heard Albert give a startled cough. ‘You cannot order me to do such a thing, cousin.’
    ‘I can indeed,’ my husband growled. ‘I have a letter here from your father, stating quite clearly that I should do what I see fit to discipline and guide his son.’
    ‘No. I will not do it.’
    I could hear my husband’s boots tap on the floorboards, and I shrank back into the darkness surrounding the door.
    ‘If you do not do as I state, cousin ...’ the word slid from my husband’s mouth like something unsavoury, ‘your father will have you disinherited.’ His tone began to soften. ‘I tell you this, not wanting to frighten you, Albert, but to warn you. Your father has had enough of your scandals. Here you have been given an opportunity to redeem yourself in his eyes, if not in the eyes of society. You will muck out those stables on the morrow, and you will not ever speak of Lady Bexley in that tone again. Now, I bid you goodnight.’
    Without waiting, I scurried away from the doorway and flew upstairs to my rooms. I am certain, however, that my husband caught sight of my skirts disappearing around the door. Soon there was knock on my door.
    ‘Come in,’ I called, trying to neaten my hair that had fallen loose in my flight from being discovered.
    Without a further word, my husband entered my rooms. He stood tall and broad in the doorway. I felt something in my womb tighten at the sight of him.
    ‘You seem breathless,’ he remarked, and closed the door behind him.
    I became aware then that my bosom was heaving, the twin mounds of my breasts rose and fell with dramatic motion, entrancing my husband. I felt his eyes burn on my bust and his gaze