Choking back tears and clenching her fists, she said, “Then you deserve a dull wife like Agnes who will bore you to death.”
“Lady Agnes is exactly the sort of wife I want,” he shouted back at her. “A woman who is predictable and faithful. A woman who will be a steady influence on our children.”
“For all her virtues,” she said, her anger rising, “I’ll wager she’ll not go cheerfully to your bed.”
From the way his face went scarlet with rage, she had hit a sore spot. Fine, she meant to.
“I am certain Lady Agnes will be a good wife ineveryway,” he said. “And I will not open doors to find her in the arms of another man.”
She wanted to beat her fists against him, to shout at him, to hurt him as he was hurting her.
“Will it make you proud to have a wife who is only faithful because she finds bedding men distasteful?”
Anger made her reckless. She squeezed her eyes shut, scrunched up her face, and said in a high, false voice, “Not again, m’lord husband! Did we not do it just last month? I beg you, be quick about it!”
When she opened her eyes, his fists were clenched and the vein in his neck was pulsing.
“That is enough,” he said in a low growl. “Stay out of my sight.”
He turned and started again for the castle with a determined stride. But almost at once, he halted and uttered a long string of curses beneath his breath.
Linnet dragged her gaze from Jamie to look up the path. When she saw the couple standing but a few yards away, her mouth fell open. Of all the times for Jamie’s parents to appear, it had to be just as she was screaming the most vile things to him. Jamie’s mother’s eyebrows were so high they almost touched her headdress. Lord FitzAlan’s expression was stern.
“Mother, Father,” Jamie said as he went to meet them. Linnet closed her eyes and prayed God would remove her to somewhere else. How long had the two been listening? Recalling her imitation of Agnes in bed, she felt hot and nauseous.
Her embarrassment, though, was nothing compared to the desolation and despair that took hold of her.
Somehow, everything had gone wrong. She had been intent on making Jamie understand her for once. And she had been certain that when he saw how much she loved him, he would forgive her. Because he had to. Because she needed him. Because she could not lose him again.
She knew with utter certainty that something irrevocable had just happened between her and Jamie. A sob caught in her throat at the thought that Jamie never wanted to lay eyes on her again.
I have ruined it all. Neither of us shall ever be happy again.
Chapter Twenty-eight
Jamie and his brother Nicholas exchanged amused glances across the table.
Their sisters were mercilessly teasing Martin, something they never seemed to tire of. Martin, an only child, had been so stiffly polite at first that he had sent the girls into gales of laughter. By now, he was accustomed to their lively banter. Worse for him, if he wanted any peace, the girls had adopted him as a favorite.
Three-year-old Bridget, the youngest, ran into the hall with her nursemaid chasing behind her.
“I am sorry, m’lady,” the maid said.
“ ’Tis not your fault,” Lady Catherine said, waving her off. “Bridget, sit down. Quietly.”
“It’s my turn to sit by Martin!” Bridget said, pulling at Elisabeth’s arm.
“You are late, so you lost your place,” Elisabeth said, grasping the edge of the table.
Martin looked a little wild-eyed at being the subject of such violent devotion. Jamie and his brother Nick, shared another amused glance across the table. It was lucky for Martin that the two eldest girls were wed and gone.
The other girls took sides and joined the argument between Elisabeth and Bridget, then Bridget gave a loud shriek.
His father banged his fist on the table. “Enough!”
Silence fell on the FitzAlan hall.
“Am I raising wild heathens or young ladies?” All five girls lowered their eyes, for every one of them hated to disappoint their father.
