Thetap-tapof the dog’s claws against the ceramic tile floor sounded loud in the quiet kitchen.The dog sniffed at the bowl on the floor and then gobbled up the food in a few huge gulps, licking the bowl clean.Rhys chuckled.“Looks like you have as much manners as me.”He reached for the pitcher of water in the center of the table and poured himself a glass before filling the empty dog bowl as well.Man and beast drank deeply.
Rhys rose from his seat, and the dog backed away with a growl.Again, he froze; he had no interest in seeing firsthand how powerful the dog’s jaws were.It continued to back away, then turned and zipped out the back door, disappearing into the garden.Rhys shrugged.“Good luck to you, then.”He shut and locked the door and headed upstairs to bed.
Chapter Three
Violet Sommerset puta hand on the edge of her bed and struggled to her feet from the floor, where she had just finished casting up her accounts into the chamber pot.She crossed the room and sat heavily on the padded bench seat in front of her dressing table.Reaching for a washcloth from the neat stack at one corner, she wiped her mouth and then the sweat that beaded on her brow.Her gaze caught on the woman reflected in the mirror.She was pale, the skin under her eyes bruised with exhaustion.Her hair hung limply around her face.Violet ran her fingers back through it to push it off her forehead.She had been ill every morning for the past two weeks, and with this the beginning of the fourth month of missed courses, she felt fairly certain that she was pregnant.
She laid a shaky hand on her midsection.Dear Lord, how could she bring a child into this house?Into this marriage with a man who had no control over his emotions?Oh, her family and her father-in-law would be ecstatic, a possible heir, another in the long line of the Dukes of Lavensham.Violet had accomplished her one job.She had gotten with child.She sucked in a shuddering breath.At what cost, though?Pushing aside the loose collar of her nightdress, she studied the fresh bruises from last night that marred the pale skin of her shoulder—his favorite place to mark her as he rutted her from behind.
Other marks along her rib cage and arm, from where he’d pushed her roughly against the armoire last week, were fading from purple to a sickly green.That night, she had feared for the fragile life she guessed grew inside her.That fear had made her angry enough to fight back.But that had just led to more blows.She laid her head in her hands.Stupid.Hadn’t she learned not to poke the beast when he was drunk?Her husband could be casually cruel with his words but was only physically abusive when he was drunk.Which was often.
The door to her room opened, and her maid, Ginny, came in with a tea tray.She shut the door behind her with a push of one foot and hurried over to set the tray on the table in front of Violet.“Oh, you poor dear.Sick again this morning?”
Violet nodded.The delicate scent of the chamomile tea wafted up from the small teapot.She sighed.Just what she needed to wash out the terrible taste of vomit.
Ginny poured her a cup of tea and added three sugars just like she liked.“My ma says the more ill you are at the beginning of the pregnancy, the stronger the babe inside will be.”She shrugged.“I don’t rightly know how that works, but my ma is rarely wrong when it comes to these things.Now let’s get this hair brushed and out of your face, and you’ll feel better.”
Violet took a small sip of tea while her maid brushed out her hair and efficiently wrapped it into a low bun.Ginny went to retie the ribbon of her nightdress and paused long enough that Violet knew she saw the fresh bruises.Then Ginny crossed to the dressing room, disappeared inside for a moment, and came out with a jar of salve.She gently smoothed the salve over Violet’s shoulder.“Anywhere else?”Her gaze in the mirror was soft but direct.
Violet learned long ago not to hide the marks from Ginny.The salve that her maid had procured helped soothe the aches and fade the bruises faster.She pushed up her sleeves and let Ginny apply salve to the abraded skin at her wrists.Then Ginny disappeared back to the dressing room and returned with her dressing gown.The soft quilted wool added a layer of warmth that she desperately needed, despite the heat that radiated from the fireplace across the room.
A knock sounded at the door.Ginny hurried over to open it.She curtsied.“Good morning, my lord.”
Stuart’s voice rasped from the hall.“Is my lady awake?”
“Yes, my lord.”Ginny stepped back.
Stuart strode into her room, not stopping until he was directly in front of Violet.
She straightened her shoulders, bracing for a blow.
But Stuart grabbed her hands and pulled them up to his lips.“I have just heard.Darling, a baby!I am ecstatic.”
Violet’s mouth dropped open.“Where did you hear that?”
“From Hodgins.Is he wrong?”
She shook her head and mustered a weak smile.“No, he is correct.It’s just that I barely figured it out myself.I am surprised the staff already knows.I wanted to tell you first.”Or never.She glanced over to her maid.Ginny visibly cringed.Of course she had told Hodgins, their butler.He probably had been under strict orders from Stuart’s father to find out immediately when there was a possible heir on the way.Ginny disappeared into the dressing room and quietly shut the door.
Stuart beamed.He kissed her swift and hard.“My father will be so pleased.He has been badgering me for months about getting you pregnant.”
Violet winced when his hands squeezed too hard, his thumbs digging into her wrists.
Stuart frowned and then looked down at the bruises.He fell to his knees.“Darling, I’m so sorry.”He brushed his lips across each wrist.“I promise to be more gentle with you now.I swear.Do you forgive me?”His watery blue eyes beseeched her.
She looked away.The sky outside her window was gray, the wind blowing the bare branches of the oak tree.It was always the same.His remorse at hurting her had initially soothed her, but it never changed his behavior.Stuart leaned in and kissed her belly below the belt of her robe.“I swear I’ll be a better husband.”Then he stood and reached for her cheek, turning her gaze back to meet his.“Do you forgive me?”His eyes swirled with remorse.But underneath, the hard flint of control lurked.It wasn’t really a question; it was a command.Forgive me.
Violet felt nothing toward her husband any longer.Not hurt or disappointment or even anger.The man who stood before her had never been a man whom she loved.Their marriage had been arranged by their fathers, the two men longtime friends.She had foolishly thought she would manage Stuart easily.That they would have an easy camaraderie.He would let her decorate and run their home and be largely absent, but kind and respectful.A gentleman.A bitter laugh bubbled up in her chest but she did not let it escape her lips.
She looked him in the eye, and the familiar lie rolled easily off her tongue.“Of course I do.”
“Good girl.An heir on the way.I am going to go buy you a present right now.”He kissed her again, then quickly left the room.
Violet stood rooted to the spot.Her hand drifted to her belly.What was she going to do?She had endured for almost a year now, but she could no longer put herself at risk.Could she run away?Perhaps to her friend Lucy’s estate in Norfolk?But that would only be a temporary solution.Lucy’s husband, the Duke of Hartwick, couldn’t keep her husband away from her indefinitely.She belonged to Stuart; the law said so.
No, she would have to figure out a way to force Stuart to stay away from her.Perhaps she and the babe could go live on one of the many estates his father owned.Somewhere that Stuart would find too remote to come visit.Violet crossed back to the mirror.Pushing her sleeves up, she made herself look at the bruises on her arms, and for the first time in a long time, she didn’t bury the pain, the terrible shame of what she let him do to her.She let it surge into her chest and solidify her resolve.A new life grew inside her, and she would need to protect it.
Chapter Four
