She pressed her palms together and spoke as if she were addressing a small child. “No, you see. That is where you are wrong. I understand why you may havethoughtI tricked you into marriage, but you never even gave me a chance to explain.If you had, you would know I was trying tohelp my friendsthat night by convincing Lady Mary to leave them alone. Contrary to your arrogance, the entire world does not revolve aroundyou.”
He shook his head. “That story makes no sense. How would you finding me in the study affect Mary and the wallflowers?”
Gemma folded her arms over her chest. “Oh, now you want to know what happened that night?”
“As I said…humor me,” he ground out.
“Fine. Mary dared me to ask you to dance. I went searching for you. It was impetuous of me and ill-advised—believe me when I say I know that now—but it was not ill-intended, and I certainly wasn’t trying toforce you to marry me. In fact, after Mama told me that we would have to marry, I cast up my accounts if you want to know the truth.”
He frowned at her, scowling. Clearly, he didn’t believe that either.
“I did,” she continued, completely indignant now. “Right there in the bowl in my bedchamber. What reason would I have to lie aboutthat?”
His only answer was more skeptical staring.
“But, of course, you’re not going to believe me because you’re so supercilious you honestly believe that I was scheming to get you to marry me. Did you ever stop to consider that I didn’t want to marry you either? And while I won’t say there aren’t ladies out there capable of such trickery,Idon’t happen to be one of them. Lady Mary is, by the by. No doubt you’d be happier with her right now, ordering her about and acting put upon. But I have no use for it. And I have no intention of staying with you.” By the time she finished, Gemma’s chest was heaving and her cheeks were hot. Her forehead had even begun to sweat. But she’d said it. Everything she’d been waiting to say to him and then some. And it felt good. Quite good.
Grovemont took a maddeningly slow sip from his glass. “A divorce is out of the question.”
Gemma reached around her neck to remove her diamond necklace. She’d been prepared for his refusals. And she was prepared with her own strategy. Ignoring them. “I’ve thought about it a lot, and we can do this one of two ways. You can say the marriage was never consummated, or?—”
“That’s not true,” he ground out.
She gave him a long-suffering look before taking a deep breath. “You know that and I know that, but no one else does.”
“A divorce is out of the question,” he repeated.
“As I was saying…you can either say the marriage was never consummated, or I am willing to admit to criminal conversation.”
He surged to his feet and slammed his glass to the tabletop beside him. “You cuckolded me?”
She plunked her hands to her hips. “No. I have not, you pompous ass. Contrary to what you think of me, I am not the sort who would cuckold my husband; however, Iamthe sort who would allow everyone tothinkI did if it gets me what I want.”
His eyes narrowed on her. “And that is?”
“To never see you again.”
Blue fire leaped in his eyes as he stared at her and a muscle ticked in his jaw.Not so indifferent now, Your Grace?
She moved toward the bed and pulled the bell to summon Anna. “I’ll give you a day or two to think about it. Now, I’m certain you know how to see yourself out.”
With that, she flounced back into the dressing room and shut the door.
A sly smile popped to her lips. Oh, how she’d enjoyed seeing his face when she told him he had two choices. How didhelike being ordered about?
O
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Lucian wanted to stab the bloody ledger with his quill. He’d been trying to concentrate on his letter writing this morning, but all he could think about was Gemma’s curt speech in her bedchamber last night.
She wanted adivorce?
That was ludicrous. Outlandish. Was she truly so naïve she thought she could threaten him with something so utterly insane?
Shehadmanaged to surprise him. He’d give her that. Of all the things he’d thought she would say to him when he returned, asking for a divorce hadnotbeen one of them.
Seemed that in addition to her beauty, the last year had also given his wife fangs. She was clearly not intimidated by him. Of course, she hadn’t been particularly meek when they’d married, but now she was theoppositeof meek. She was combative.
