“You should. I want to know.”
“And you will not be angry with me?”
“I shall bite my tongue if so. I would not ask you something if I could not stomach the answer.”
“Very well. When I read these books, I think about another husband, and I imagine that I am the lady in the story being completely adored. There is a certain delight to it, one that I am yet to find anywhere else.”
She turned to him then, her lips parted slightly, and he could not bear the distance between them. He forced himself to hold back,knowing that he could not allow himself to go too far with her if he planned to leave once again, but it was agony.
“I heard that you were out at all hours,” he whispered. “I thought that you were out seeking… happiness elsewhere.”
“I would never do that. I would never break the vows I made, whether you ever cared to uphold them or not. Our marriage might be in name only, but I would never diminish myself in such a manner.”
“Nor would I, as I have already told you.”
“I want to believe you. But how can I when you disappear without a word?”
She turned away, sitting upright and folding her hands in her lap. There was a tension in her that was not there before, and he wondered if it was because she wished to tell him something truly wicked. When she began to tremble, however, he was forced to think again.
“If I tell you something,” she said shakily, “do you promise not to blame me for it?”
“That depends on whether or not it was your fault,” he replied, “but I shall not be angry with you. I will simply appreciate your honesty, if that is what you need.”
“Very well,” she said, trying to steady herself. “Is it true that you have a cousin named Sir Walter Gale?”
“Indeed. He is a good man, one whom I tend to trust. Why do you ask?”
He saw the way she stiffened, her eyes widening slightly, but he did not mention it. He did not want to make her feel as though she had to hide anything, and pushing her was an easy way to do that.
“Well, I do not mean to wound your pride,” she said, laughing emptily, “but I did not go through that scheme of mine just to make you come home as I was lonely. Truly, I had begun to consider that you would never come home, and I had made my peace with it as much as I could. I would have let you remain where you were if it were not for–”
She paused, shaking her head slightly before continuing.
“If it were not for a visit from your cousin. He notified me of a stipulation in your title deeds.”
Spencer leaned forward, and at last she looked him in the eye. From what he knew, there were no conditions other than the usual ones, and though absent, he had not done anything deserving of having his title stripped from him. He would not risk his family like that.
“Do continue,” he pressed at last.
“He claims that, with you being absent from your duties for a year, our estates will be decided among trustees.”
“Of which he is one,” Spencer nodded. “I shall thank him for bringing it to our attention. It is as I told you, he is a good man.”
She remained ill at ease, but he decided it was simply because it was a difficult thing to tell him. It was a difficult thing to hear, too; he never would have assumed that his absence could have been so detrimental to his wife, not to mention his estate altogether.
“I apologize, for what it is worth,” she said softly. “I know that I was inappropriate with my actions, but I was desperate. I needed you to come home, not because I am a selfish wife that wants your attention, but because you are needed here.”
“And I will handle all of this. I am pleased that you have told me, and now I can do something to fix it.”
“What will you do?”
“I do not know yet,” he replied, standing. “In any case, it is not your concern. It is a man’s duty, and so I will do what I must to ensure it is settled. He said it came into effect after a year, yes?”
“Indeed. It would also seem that you were aware of it.”
“I may have been. Even if I was, it was not as though I could help matters. There was an emergency, Anna.”
“This is an emergency, in case you have forgotten. What could be more important than protecting your family?”
