Libertine's Wife (2 page)

“
I was here when they came
for him. I listened outside the door,” Arianne told him and
shivered from the memory of the uncouth men who’d threatened him
that day. “I have no choice but to marry Lord Ravensford. He has
agreed to Eustace’s terms.”

“
How much did Ravensford buy
you for, Arianne? I would know your price.” The pain on his
handsome face was more than she could bear.

“
He agreed to pay off
Eustace’s debts and give him a large sum to keep him solvent,” she
admitted, eyes firmly glued to his ragged boot tips.

“
Don’t do this to us,
Arianne.” Julian came to her, taking both her small hands into his
larger ones. His features appeared earnest in the flickering
firelight. “We will make due, my love. I don’t want to marry anyone
else. I wish only to marry you. If I have to take any sort of
employment; I will do what I must.”

Arianne looked up at him. Her eyes
blurred with unshed tears. “It’s done, Julian. The wedding is a
week hence. Ravensford arrives next Saturday.”

Julian looked as if he’d been slapped.
He dropped her hands. He gazed down at her in stunned anger. “You
won’t even try to fight this? Eustace will listen to reason if we
both go to him.”

“
I won’t sit back and watch
you lose Vale House,” Arianne answered him in a choked voice, thick
with emotion. “You’re not thinking straight to make such a rash
decision.”

“
It’s not your right to make
both our decisions in this!” Julian raged in turn, his arms
swinging outward in frustration. “I have some say in this,
Arianne!”

“
One of us must be practical
and decide! You would give all up with no thought of your future!
For love, you say?” She jumped up from the chair, blue eyes
flashing in anger. “You would run away and elope tonight? What of
tomorrow, my love? We would be without a home and destitute. Have
you no thought of your mother in your selfishness? You’re
responsible for more than just yourself now.”

“
Selfishness?” He snorted in
derision, flinging her a look of disgust as he paced before her.
“Forgive me if I thought you would wish to marry the man you claim
to love.”

“
I do love you, with all of
my heart, Julian, but I can’t marry you,” Arianne repeated quietly
and stiffened as shards of pain speared through her heart. “Lord
Ravensford will be my husband.”

Julian saw her look away and avoided
his eyes. In that moment, he knew something was amiss. He already
questioned a man like Ravensford rushing to the altar. What he knew
of the unrepentantly immoral nobleman led him to believe the man
wouldn’t be led anywhere unless forced.

He also knew her well enough to
question the nervousness he observed. She was never good at hiding
deceit. He saw through her efforts to sidestep whatever means
Eustace used to leg-shackle Ravensford.

The Marquis of Ravensford embraced his
free-living. He shocked society with his penchant for doing as he
pleased, with whomever he pleased. He disdained marriage and all it
stood for. He wouldn’t just up and offer for a meager baronet’s
daughter, one with no dowry, and in such a hasty manner.

No, the man certainly didn’t want or
need a wife to interfere with his sordid lifestyle. The thought of
Arianne going to the notorious nobleman tormented him in those
moments, mindful of the lurid gossip surrounding him. The rumors of
illicit orgies came to mind, making him cringe to think of her
going to such a reprehensible man.

No, a man like the Marquis of
Ravensford didn’t just toss aside years of decadence to marry a
young woman like Arianne, with no fortune, title, or background.
The marquis was almost twice her age. The man avoided girls like
Arianne as one would the plague.

Ladies ran in the opposite direction of
the disreputable nobleman. Wealthy though he was, most thought it
not worth their reputations to go anywhere near the man. He was not
above ruining any female who crossed his path, and did, with a
frequency that earned him countless challenges to duels over the
years.

No, Ravensford wasn’t at all the
marrying kind.

Julian smelled a rat in this. He could
be sure Eustace was up to his foul tricks once more. The man was
not above using his own sister to line his pockets. He could be
assured money was at the source of the offer the marquis made for
Arianne.

“
What have you done,
Arianne?” Julian demanded angrily. “Don’t lie of it! I’m no fool!
We both know a man like Ravensford is well out of your
league!”

“
I did what needed to be
done.” A raw sob of agony escaped her clenched lips. She closed her
eyes, trembling under his fierce stare. The voices mocked her
desire to collapse into his arms and confess everything.
Don’t tell him! Don’t do it!

Julian stared at her, taking an
unsteady step backward. Comprehension dawned as his dark eyes
widened. He paled in livid outrage. “You went to the man’s bed,
didn’t you? How… could… you… do… such a thing?”

“
It was the only way,”
Arianne confessed in a devastated whisper, looking away, unable to
see how her words affected him. “I’m so sorry, Julian. Eustace
wanted an agreement from the marquis before we left London. You
know he always gets his way in things.”

“
So he tossed you into
Ravensford’s bed to get it?” Julian looked at her in fury, a sneer
about his lips. “That handles matters rather nicely. It’s very
direct and to the point; cutting through anything close to a
respectable courtship. I went about mine the wrong way, I
see.”

“
It wasn’t like that at all,
Julian,” Arianne whispered in a tortured voice. “Please, don’t look
at me like that. Eustace got Lord Ravensford into his cups. He
drugged his wine. He didn’t touch me; I swear it. He only thinks
he’s compromised me.”

“
How do you expect me to
feel about this, Arianne?” Julian regarded her with incredulity.
“You would go along with forcing the man? And all to extort him for
funds? What were you thinking? Are you completely mad?”

“
How do you propose to
support a wife, Julian? Lady Vale makes her gowns from the old
draperies in the salon. You steal food at every ball you attend to
feed you both. Do you wish to see us die of starvation before you
see the truth of things?”

Julian glared down at her, his pride
rearing up. “Don’t seek to justify what you’re doing! We talk about
you here, not I! It’s wrong what you’re doing!”

“
I’m marrying Lord
Ravensford.” She stepped away, sensing his growing rage. “When you
calm down and see reason; you will see it’s for the
best.”

“
It’s best only for your
brother, Arianne!” Julian looked ready to go find Eustace at that
moment, and drag him from his bed. “Don’t do this
thing!”

“
Lord Ravensford thinks he’s
compromised me,” Arianne repeated softly, her nails digging into
her palms. “Threats of being sued made him agree to Eustace’s
terms. He insisted the marriage take place at once.”

“
You deceived the man! He
had no bloody choice in this from what I can see!”

“
I’m the one with no
choice!” Tears escaped her eyes in a torrent, streaming down her
cheeks in hot rivulets. “I won’t see my brother dead when there is
a means to solve everything. I won’t see you lose your estate.
Don’t make me feel worse than I already do.”

“
What you do here is more
than wrong, Arianne! It’s truly despicable! It’s unlike you at all.
Whatever the problems, we will deal with them. Don’t do this or you
will live to regret all,” Julian told her urgently. “I have a mind
to go to the blasted man and tell him the truth!”

“
You cannot! Please, Julian!
Think of both our families? If you care for me at all, you will say
nothing. Why should they be punished for our mistake?”

“
A mistake, you say?” His
indrawn gasp made her chest clench. “You see our being together as
a mistake? You gave yourself to me! You pledged to love me forever!
Do you deny that now? Did it mean nothing to you?”

Arianne could see she hurt
him. She had to. He must marry the wealthy merchant’s daughter, and
soon. She raised her chin and met his gaze, determined he would
accept her decision
.

Those hated voices pushed at
her, prodding her now.
Don’t tell him! Send
him away before it’s too late!
There was no
other way. If he would hate her, so be it. Pain clenched at her
heart to see his devastated expression.

“
It was a mistake for us to
become lovers with no real promises between us, Julian. We had no
right to act upon our feelings as we did, thinking all would end as
we wished. It will be rectified when I marry Lord
Ravensford.”

“
And you’re determined to do
this?” Julian’s voice was deceptive in its calmness. She could feel
the fury emanating from him. “You will marry this man despite your
feelings for me?”

“
I would encourage you to
accept Penworthy’s offer before he finds another suitor for his
daughter, Julian. You run out of time.”

“
I see you have thought of
everything, Arianne.” He gave her a bitter look. “Have you any idea
how I will feel knowing you marry another man?”

“
Don’t make this harder than
it has to be!” She turned away from his condemning stare. “I won’t
allow us both to be ruined.”

“
You love me!” Julian stared
at her rigid back, wanting to shake her to make her see reason. “I
won’t do it!”

“
Julian, you have to marry
Miss Penworthy. You won’t get another offer.”

“
No, I will get no better
offer, such as it is,” Julian fumed in resentment. “I’m to be sold
as a titled stud to his fat, absurd daughter. Don’t remind me of
it.”

Arianne wanted to cry at his look of
despair as she turned back to face him. “I do this for us, my
love.”

Julian snorted rudely. “You do this for
yourself, Arianne. When have you ever stood up to Eustace? Not
once. You allow him to sell you, and go further to entrap
Ravensford in such a disgraceful way. Be warned, Ravensford hasn’t
earned his blackened reputation for nothing. What will you do when
the man realizes he’s been duped?”

Arianne bristled with unease. Lord
Ravensford was quite ruthless by all accounts. One of the
wealthiest and most eligible peers in society; he was determined to
remain a bachelor. That was, until Eustace came to visit, bringing
his sister in tow.

The manner in which the jaded nobleman
stared at her that morning when they were discovered abed haunted
her. His handsome features were tight with rage. Those piercing
green eyes glowed with the fires of hell to be undermined by a
young woman. The disturbing gleam within them promised she would
pay for her part in the deception. He might have no choice but to
marry her, but his demeanor was far from pleased.

“
When Penworthy pays off the
debts levied against the estate, you will realize this is what must
happen for all of us.” Arianne clasped her shaking hands, disturbed
by the recent memory of the man she deceived.

“
When Ravensford realizes
what you’ve done, and he will, you’ll wish you had never agreed to
this farce.” Julian’s dark eyes snapped in outrage, undermining her
courage.

“
He doesn’t know what we’ve
done,” she whispered in a hollow tone. “Even if he suspects it, he
can do nothing.”

“
Not a good way to start a
life together, you would agree?” Julian regarded her with distaste.
“I will ask you one last time to not do this thing,
Arianne.”

Arianne gazed at him, tears brightening
her gaze, seeing his determination to marry her despite what it
would cost them all. He loved her, she knew, with a feeling of
elation and despair. Even as bad as his circumstances were, he
didn’t care.

His shirts were sewn from whatever
linen his mother could find; bed sheets, no doubt. The frock coat
and breeches he wore were once his father’s, worn and almost
tattered, and attested to his family’s reduced status. The servants
couldn’t be paid. They ran off months before. He and his mother
scratched out a meager existence these days. Even so, he would turn
down Penworthy out of his love for her.

Silas Penworthy was a wealthy textiles
merchant, considered one of the richest men in Europe. He wanted a
title for his only child and daughter. He and the dowager Countess
of Vale were determined Julian wed Drusilla Penworthy. Julian
immediately balked. For her, she knew, and no other
reason.

The girl was rumored to be quite
homely, dubbed ‘the eyesore’ by all, as soon as she entered the
marriage mart. Even with the vast fortune the man dangled over his
daughter’s head, it took Penworthy latching onto the St. Ives’
financial woes to find a willing suitor for her.

“
I’ve made up my mind.” She
took a deep breath and ignored her aching heart. “I won’t allow you
to give up everything for me when the solution is available to us
both.”

Julian’s dark eyes filled with anguish.
“You destroy both our lives.”

“
I save both our lives.”
Arianne refused to meet his gaze, determined he not break down her
determination.