“And still do?”
“I did not say so, my lord.”
“No, of course not, but I must assume it is so. Why else do you still scorn me? Why else do you refuse to be my wife in truth?”
Something in his tone made her wary. What kind of confession was he looking for? And then it struck her. He wanted to hear her rail at him again about his mistress. How appeased his vanity would be to have her act the jealous wife. She would not give him that satisfaction.
She dropped her eyes. “I do not scorn you, my lord. Whyever would you think so?”
“Do you not?” he said harshly. “You are just cold by nature then?”
“Perhaps,” she agreed glibly.
He turned away from her. “Or perhaps you love another!”
“Another?” she replied incredulously, her temper flaring despite her resolve. “Look who talks of another! I take marriage seriously, my lord, even ifyoudo not!”
“Be damned if you do, or you would have renounced your first love and accepted me. Well I would hear the truth now, madame, and have done with it. No longer will I let these suspicions gnaw at my insides.”
Leonie found it hard to believe what he was saying. How dare he accuse her of infidelity when he…
She drew herself up sharply, eyes a wintry gray. “If you are searching for an excuse to send me away, my lord, you need not go to so much trouble. I will be more than happy to leave.”
His eyes flared before his lips tightened into an ominous line. “No doubt you would like that, wife.”
“Indeed,” she retorted, her anger flaring. He wasgoing to sever their relationship. How easy everything was for men!
He took a step toward her, and she thought for certain he was going to strike her, so black was his expression. He towered over her, body rigid, fists clenched, eyes like hot coals.
“If it has been your hope that you can still have him, you hope in vain,” he rasped furiously. “I may indeed grow tired of your icy demeanor one day and have done with you, but you will never have him. I will kill him first!”
“Who?” she shouted.
“Montigny!”
Leonie was so surprised she might have laughed. It was unfortunate she did not, for Rolfe saw only her surprise and it inflamed him.
“You thought I did not know it was that young ne’er-do-well? I knew it before I wed you!”
Leonie tried to comprehend but couldn’t. She said simply, “You are wrong, my lord.”
“You have always loved him, madame. It is why you set your people against me. It is why you refused to marry me. It is why you hate me still, because I have you, while you yearn for him!”
Leonie did laugh this time, and it was Rolfe’s turn to be bewildered. She couldn’t help herself. He was jealous of poor Alain. How absurd.
She smiled at her husband. “I do not mean to take this matter lightly, for no doubt you have harbored these suspicions for some time. But you see, Alain is only a friend. I did once fancy he might do as a husband, but that was long ago when he was theonlyyoung man I knew and I despaired of ever having a husband, confined as I was to Pershwick. But it was only a fancy, and quickly forgotten. Alain grew to bea man sadly lacking in character, and I no longer yearned for a husband by then anyway. Yet I could not forsake him simply because he had a few weak traits, so we remained friends.”
Rolfe was still scowling. “You expect me to believe you would set your people against me for the sake of—of friendship?”
“Would you not go to war for a friend?”
“You are a woman.”
Leonie kept a rein on her temper. “I will not argue that point with you, my lord. The fact is I did not set my people against you. The day Alain told me what had befallen him, and that you were coming here to take his lands from him, I wished a pox on you. There, I have finally confessed what I did,” she said, relieved. “I thought the worst of you, and my people took this to heart.”
Rolfe did not know what to think. He wanted to believe her, but if she did not love Alain, then why would she not love him?
“If all you have said is true, Leonie, then there is no reason for you to still hate me.”
