“Oh, thank you for clearing that up. You wereout. That explains everything,” she said tartly.
“Well, and what business is it of yours where I was?”
“If I have to look at you just because you’re my husband, I think it’s fair to say you ought to tell me where you were last night just because I’m your wife,” she said.
“That’s mighty demanding of you.”
“Did you threaten to dismiss Bethany if I didn’t come to the table?”
“That’s my business.”
“She’s my lady’s maid. And you were threatening her based on my actions. It’s my business,” she told him. “Is that the kind of man you are? Were you going to punish her for something I had done?”
“I wouldn’t have done it,” he said. “I just wanted to get you here.”
“And you thought it was appropriate to threaten poor Bethany in order to accomplish that?”
His expression was unrepentant. “Well, it worked, didn’t it?”
She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. She rose to her feet, leaving the food untouched. “If you try to punish the staff for things I do, I will make you regret it,” she said. “I will make you regret ever marrying me. You can’t ruin other people’s lives as a way of keeping me under your thumb. If you have a problem with me, address itwith me.”
She turned and walked out of the room.
“Caroline!” he called. “Come back here! We’re not finished with this meal!”
But she wasn’t going back. He was insufferable, and she wouldn’t put up with another minute of it. If he could find a way to treat her with decency, then things might change between the two of them. But until then, he could eat his dinner by himself for all she cared.
He caught up with her in the hall, his hand closing around her wrist. She gasped in indignation and pulled away from him. “What are you doing?” she demanded. “Let go of me.”
“You should know better than this,” he growled. “To go against your own husband this way—you make a mockery of me, and of our marriage.”
“Our marriage makes a mockery of itself. You never wanted me. You wanted Prudence—or did you even want her? No, you just want to be able to say you’ve got a wife. Well, if you want someone to obey your every whim, I wouldn’t go around firing my servants. They might be afraid of you, but I’m not.”
He moved closer to her, raised his eyebrows, and said nothing.
Her breath caught.
She wanted to face him with confidence. She wanted him to know that he couldn’t treat her the way he had and needed to respect her.
But she couldn’t fight the tremor of uncertainty that crawled its way up her spine.
She had meant what she’d said. She wasn’t frightened of him. Though she didn’t know him well, she was confident he wouldn’t harm her, no matter how angry he might be in the moment. He simply wasn’t that sort of man. If there was anything she could say with certainty about Levi, it was that he valued control—not just of those around him, but of himself. He wouldn’t lose his grip on that control and lash at her.
But there was something about the way he was looking at her. The way his gaze had dipped from her eyes to her lips. The way she now found herself biting her lower lip in response to the knowledge that he was looking—what had compelled her to do that? She felt in the grip of a power beyond her understanding.
And she didn’t know whether Levi was the source of that power—or whether he was held captive by it every bit as much as she was.
For a moment, his eyes searched her face. She felt her breath come faster, her heart pound. What was he looking for? What would he find?
“I was out with a friend,” he said at last. “We had some drinks at the tavern, and I stayed the night at his home.”
He hadn’t had to tell her that. In spite of how much she had insisted otherwise, she knew he hadn’t had to. She wasn’t owed an explanation. He had given her one anyway.
And there was no proof it was true, of course. But there was no reason for him to lie.
She believed him.
“I’ll come to dinner tomorrow,” she said softly.
