Libertine's Wife

Smashwords Edition

Copyright by Karolyn Cairns 2012

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Acknowledgements

I would like to thank the staff at Smashwords
for their tireless efforts to promote authors. I would also like to
thank my fellow authors for raising the bar so high. You’re an
inspiration to us all.

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Dedications

This book is dedicated to my biggest fans, my
family, who without their support, I wouldn’t even hit the power
button. Thanks for all your understanding and encouragement every
day.

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Midnight England
1813

The night was bathed in inky darkness;
fine mists shrouding the shadowed grounds. An owl hooted eerily in
the distance, marking the quiet passage. The cloud-obscured moon
overhead shared the progress of the figure that shimmied up the
tall, gnarled oak.

He dangled precariously from
the highest limb, fumbling before righting his purchase. The man
looked down and chuckled.
The things one
does for love
, he thought with elation and
adrenaline soaring.

Thwack!
Thwack
! Soft curses flowed from outside the
second story window. A scraping of branches, another muffled
expletive, and a continuous thumping ensued against the side of the
house. A tentative knock at the glass pane followed.

The young woman pulled up the window
and leaned outside. She stared down at the man hanging there in
amusement. She glanced over the ledge to look down beyond his
dizzying position. He scaled the twenty-foot tree without falling,
breaking his neck, or waking the sleeping household.

Dark eyes glowed up at her in triumph
as he continued his climb. With her help, he swung his long legs
over the window’s ledge. She helped pull him inside the bedchamber.
He bowed to her with an amused chuckle before he shut the window
behind him.

He was handsome, her late-night
visitor. Even with his ill-fitting, threadbare clothing and
over-long dark hair, he appeared a prince to her. His features
seemed too perfect by far, as if sculpted by the adoring hands of
the Gods.

Lady Arianne Dunne never
grew tired of looking at him, having sketched his face a thousand
times by the pond behind Vale House, his neighboring estate. If
only she had left it at merely looking—but no—that was never enough
for them. All that touching led to more, which led to—she sighed
sadly as she prepared the speech she composed that afternoon in her
mind.
It was a good
speech
, she thought, worrying her lower lip
to think of his reaction to it.

Her humble prince came forward with the
intention of embracing her. She held him off with a trembling hand
up, making him frown at her odd behavior. Low firelight lit the
small, elegantly shabby bedchamber within. The muted glow played
upon the tense expression on the young woman’s taut features. It
wasn’t a lover’s tryst she intended at all, he realized at
once.

They must talk, her brief note read,
delivered to him by one of the few servants they had left at Dunne
Manor. The matter was grave, it implied, in undertones he could
read between the lines of her fine script. He could see by the
tight set of her lovely features that he would not like what she
had to say.

Julian St. Ives stared at the object of
his heart’s desire with confusion growing within his dark eyes.
They took much for granted these last few weeks; one of those being
their intent to marry. They became lovers recently; sure they would
be together forever.

The new Earl of Vale found sad
circumstances when he took on his brother’s title. Julian’s
brother, Edmund St. Ives, committed suicide six months prior. He
was soon besieged with creditors demanding payment from his
brother’s excesses.

On the eve of them to announce their
intentions to wed, the dowager Countess of Vale demanded an
audience with her only living child. An heiress was found. The
textile heiress’s fortune was considerable; enough to shoulder the
burdens of St. Ives debts. Julian refused immediately and wouldn’t
relent. The woman in front of him held his heart. He would have no
other, he told his mother in anger. That was three weeks
before.

Lady Arianne’s older brother, Sir
Eustace Dunne, took her away to London for a fortnight to separate
the lovers until they saw sense in their determination to marry.
They had been home only a day when she sent word to him. He
believed she missed him while she was gone. He saw her pale
features composed in dread and tensed.

“
I came as soon as I got
your note,” Julian whispered huskily, his full lips curving into a
soft smile that normally undermined her wits in its appeal. Her
wits held fast, reminding her of all that was at stake. “What is it
that has you so upset, my love?”

“
We must talk, Julian,”
Arianne whispered, her face at last composed. “Eustace received an
offer for me while we were in London.”

Julian took a step back, his hands
clenching at his sides. His face grew tight with anger. “Received
or accepted? Which is it?”

“
What is the difference?”
Arianne trembled from the anger she sensed in him. She hugged
herself about the middle as she paced before the small fireplace.
“You knew his mind in this when he took me to London. He sought to
find me a husband, and he has.”

“
And did you tell him your
thoughts, Arianne? Mine have not changed.”

Pain and disillusionment filled his
handsome features. She looked away, unable to bear the helplessness
reflected there. It only mirrored hers. Her heart ached to know
they couldn’t be together as they planned. Much changed these last
few weeks they were apart, and none of it for the good.

“
Julian, he’s refused your
suit this whole last year.” Arianne faced him with little courage.
“He will not relent and allow us to marry. You must see that
now.”

Julian looked enraged, pacing before
her, dark eyes growing narrow. “We will elope then! We leave
tonight. He will have nothing to say of it then.” Julian glared
defiantly at her as if daring her to refuse. “We go to Scotland.
The scandal will force him to allow the marriage.”

“
No, he will just bring me
back and force me to do as he wishes. Don’t you see that?” Arianne
shook her head, tears brightening her azure blue gaze. “He will
have his way in this, Julian. We can’t fight it
anymore.”

“
So I’m to stand back and
allow you to marry another?” Julian raked a trembling hand through
his dark hair in frustrated rage. “How can you expect me to do
that, Arianne? I love you! The thought of you with another will
surely kill me.”

She slid onto the padded,
upholstered chair at her dressing table. She clasped her shaking
hands in her lap.
Dear God, this was
torment!
“Neither of us has a choice in
this anymore, Julian. Your brother's foolishness has made your
situation dire. I just learned Eustace is indebted to money
lenders. We must both marry for wealth, it appears. Don’t you see
that?”

“
Leave my situation out of
this!” Julian’s eyes filled with renewed urgency. “I don’t care
about any of that, Arianne. I told you we will make due. I will not
lose you!” He grabbed her hand in his. She snatched it back,
staring at him with sad resignation.

“
Make due, will we? Your
estate goes up for auction, Julian. What of your mother? Have you
thought of her? You can do nothing but accept Penworthy’s offer, as
I must agree to wed Lord Ravensford. There is no choice for us
anymore. Don’t you see that?”

Julian’s lips twisted bitterly to learn
the name of her intended. “Lord Ravensford, no less? Since when has
that damned libertine ever shown the slightest interest in marrying
anyone? This is most interesting. Eustace seeks very high for you,
doesn’t he? Not happy to gain an impoverished earl for you? Oh no,
he finds you a well-moneyed marquis instead!”

“
I have no say in it,
Julian.”

Julian came forward, a bitter gleam in
his dark eyes. He reached out and took her hand. He placed the ring
on her third finger. She looked down at the large emerald and
diamond ring glittering up at her. It was the last of his worldly
wealth. The only reason it wasn’t sold along with everything else
was that he intended to give it to her. She withdrew it. She
offered it back to him with a trembling hand.

She’d been gone a fortnight. Her
resolve to wed no other but him buckled under her brother’s
constant browbeating. She would accept Lord Ravensford as her
husband. She had no choice in it now. Pain seared her insides to
see the anguish in his face. Tears scored the backs of her eyelids.
Another matter came to mind. She was encouraged to stay resolute
for that reason. That sad fact reminded her she needed to see this
done. Her resolve struggled in the face of the man she
adored.

“
Your fight of this travesty
is admirable to witness, Arianne.” Julian held his mother’s ring
clenched in his palm before he put it back in his pocket. “What
happened to your determination to be with me always, my love? How
did a fortnight change what’s in your heart so easily?”

“
Stop it! Don’t do this to
me, Julian. It is done,” Arianne replied in a stronger voice, tears
glistening in her eyes. “I wish it weren’t so, but this is what
must happen.”

“
He sells you outright,
Arianne, and you allow it!”

“
The money lenders need to
be paid somehow, Julian. There is no other way,” she confided,
worrying her lower lip. The desire to tell him everything at that
moment burned within her. Her inner voices warned her.
Don’t tell him! Don’t do it!
There’s no point to it now. It’s too
late for all that
. She sighed, looking
up at him with fear etched in her expression. “They came here not
long before we left for London. They made threats to him if he
doesn’t pay his debts. The threats are very real.”

“
A good thrashing would do
the man some good! It only serves him right for gambling away his
fortune as he has. He thought nothing of you on his way to ruin,
‘tis obvious. You would sacrifice all to save his miserable
hide?”

“
They will kill him this
time,” Arianne added in her own defense, her chin going up at his
chiding tone. “He is my only brother! What would you have me do? I
can no more ignore his plight, than yours, my love!”

He shrugged his broad shoulders
dismissively, unconcerned for her brother’s welfare. It was obvious
he bore Sir Eustace Dunne little affection, despite having grown up
with him. They were of the same age. That was where the
similarities ended.

At twenty and three, Julian took his
newfound responsibilities very serious as the Earl of Vale. He had
no love for Eustace, who was older by five years, and ran his
modest holdings into the dust this last year.

Arianne’s brother had been a close
friend of his older brother, Edmund. One could argue it was Edmund
who led the once-responsible young baronet astray. He lured him to
London and started his downward spiral at the gaming
establishments. Julian never cared for Eustace, finding him
arrogant and weak-minded.

One constant Julian believed he’d never
see falter was the man’s devotion to his younger sister. Eustace
adored Arianne since her birth, spoiling her shamelessly after
their parents died. That too, went to the wayside, as Eustace
gambled away his modest fortune, even his sister’s modest dowry.
Now he would sell his sister to continue with his reckless
pursuits.

“
They won’t kill him! He
exaggerates! Where would they get their money then? No, he lies to
get you to agree with this. You stand fast and he will have no
recourse.”