Royal Regard

Chapter Twenty-Four, Part 2

"You will sell a countess under the protection of the King of England?"

"I do hope, my dear, you will prove more valuable than the ten thousand pounds you are worth to a slaver. Our marriage will be much more credible when presented by a happy wife."

"You believe you can keep me from telling everyone I know at Court in Paris, including the king? You believe you can force me to be happy?"

He laughed in a way that froze the cooling air around her, leaving her trembling, her stomach locked in a way she hadn't felt since the Russian tundra. "I believe I can force you to act happy. Whether you are or not is irrelevant. Until you can present yourself properly, you will see no one you might tell. Even were you given leave to plead your case, your king will never enter into a war with mine to break a legal contract over a woman."

When explained that way, Bella understood she could not rely on the friendship or loyalty of either king.

"I am sure you will find reason to demonstrate to Louis how pleased you are with our arrangement, should I choose to present you at Court."

"That would be more forgery than your contract. No one will ever believe you negotiated anything with Myron when he wouldn't even talk to you." Especially since Wellbridge's contract had already been certified before the House of Lords. Fortunately, a split second before she threw that information at him in a fit of temper, she rethought herself. If Malbourne's false contract was worthless, so was she.

"You think me low enough to negotiate with a shopkeeper to relieve him of his homely wife? But as forgeries go, my dear, a very convincing one, written in your husband's own hand, signed with his own seal."

The muffled noises from outside the closed window shade ran together like the mumbling, stumbling of her thoughts, trying to put one idea together with the next to find a way out of this unbelievable predicament.

She gathered up as much detachment as she could muster. "I would have to be mutton-headed not to see whom I have to thank for this betrayal. I suppose Michelle has been poking her nose into my husband's papers."

"As she has all our lives, Michelle pokes her nose into anything I say. Unlike you, she understands what she will gain by encouraging my esteem."

More puzzle pieces fell into place, including the irrelevant fact that she might never be able to confront Charlotte with her inability to choose proper servants. If Bella survived, she would never let anyone wait on her again.

"So, Michelle is your lover."

"Ah, ah, my duchesse," he kissed Bella's fingertips before she could stop him, "you will not make so bold as to discuss my lovers, lest you find yourself replaced by one."

A sharp glitter in his eyes cut into her, shattered glass blades honed to diamond-like precision. Her whole body trembled at the ruthlessness living in the space between the shards, and an acerbic response died in her throat. Being 'replaced' might not merely end in her sale to foreign marauders. And he might yet prove worse than a hundred marauders.

His fingers continued caressing her palm and wrist, increasing the involuntary shaking, which he must have taken as desire, given his smug smile.

"Your impertinent questions I can forgive today, ma chère. As a commoner, you will naturally have questions about your role in my household, but do not be tempted to insolence. Insolence is unbecoming of any wife, least of all a royal duchess."

If Wellbridge had said that to her, Bella would have given him a loud, lengthy lesson on insolence that he would remember into the afterlife. She had never before valued a man who would allow her to yell with impunity, but it was too late to value him now.