Guy was lucid again, watching his wife with narrowed eyes. He stared at her for several moments. “You should control your trained dog better than that, Remi. You will most certainly not gain what you want if you do not! Now, darling, let us return to the subject. How have you been? How is my son?”
She fought to keep her breathing normal as she spoke. “Dane is well. He is fostering now.”
A ripple of rage brushed Guy’s face. “Fostering? Where? And by whose order?”
“Sir Gaston’s,” she replied. “He is eight years old now and it was time to begin his training.”
“Where is he?” Stoneley repeated.
“At Mt. Holyoak with a dozen other pages under Sir Gaston’s ward,” she replied; it was becoming easier as she went.
Guy did not answer for a moment. The swelling on his face was already darkening. “How are your sisters?”
Remington lowered her gaze. “Rory is dead, but Jasmine and Skye are well.”
“What happened to Rory?” Guy asked, puzzled more than concerned.
“An accident,” Remington replied vaguely.
The group sat in silence for several minutes while Guy studied his wife from across the room. He could feel Gaston’s glare on him but refused to look at the man. “So, darling, I understand you have a request of me. I would hear it now.”
Her eyes flew up to meet the hated ice blue orbs. Next to her, Gaston shifted his massive weight on the stool but she did not look at him. If there were a chance Guy would listen to her, then she would have to take it. She prayed swiftly to whatever god was listening for much-needed courage.
“I wish to annul our marriage,” she said after a moment. “I would ask for your cooperation in the matter.”
He studied her. “Say ‘please’.”
Her rapid breathing returned, knowing he had the upper hand in this game as he always had. Lord, did he plan to humiliate her in front of everyone? What was going on in his sinister mind?
“Please, Guy,” she stammered. “Surely you have tired of me by now.”
He snorted a chuckle. “Tire of your sweet body? I should say not. I understand you have been giving the Dark One samples of your delicacies. He knows what I mean when I say sweet.”
Remington flushed a dull, deep red and looked at the ground. The more uncomfortable she became, the more Guy liked it. His mood perked.
“I see it is true, then. Did you enjoy bedding with another man, darling? Did you find yourself comparing him to me? I like comparisons, in truth, but your sisters could not compete with you, only Skye, mayhap, because she was so tiny. ’Twas like taking a virgin every time with her.”
Remington let out a sickened choke and Gaston shot to his feet again, only to be corralled by de Vere and Matts.
“You are a sick man, Stoneley,” Gaston growled, his huge body rigid. “And we are not here to speak of conquests, but of an annulment. She has asked you politely and you will do her the courtesy of answering.”
Guy looked smug. Overly so. Gaston refused to sit back down, but he took Remington’s hand in his and held it tightly. Guy seemed not to care or take notice.
“An annulment,” he mulled over the word as if thinking on it. “Well, ’tis true, I have no real use for a woman who cannot bear me any more sons. I do not understand your need for a barren wife, de Russe, but that is your privilege. Yet, in good faith, I cannot condone an annulment. I believe in the sanctity of marriage.”
“If you did, then you would not have bedded her sisters!” Gaston shot back in a low voice. “Your actions refute your words.”
Guy shrugged. “They were mine to do with as I pleased, and since when do you have the right to act so pious? You bedded another man’s wife.”
Remington was shaking with fury and terror. “He did not.Ibedded him!”
Gaston hated hearing such personal details coming from her mouth, but he knew Guy was driving her to it. He turned the focus of the conversation back to the subject at hand.
“I told you that I would return to hear your price for an agreement,” he said. “I would hear your terms now.”
Guy stood from the chair. “I told you, de Russe, I have no terms. There will be no annulment.”
Remington was quickly becoming a quivering wreck. She leapt from the chair, tearing her hand from Gaston’s. With quick strides, she crossed the room and stood face-to-face with her husband.
