Some of Sophy's natural spirit revived. "Well, you did say you were going to seduce me even though I had distinctly told you I did not wish you to do so and you did come to my room over my objections and I truly did feel menaced, my lord. So it is not as if nothing would have happened, if you see what I mean. It is just that nothing did happen because I took certain steps to prevent it. You are not the only one with a temper, my lord."
"You drugged me." There was something between disbelief and rage in his voice.
"It was just a simple sleeping tonic, my lord."
The riding crop at Julian's side slashed against the leather top of his boot, cutting off her explanation. Julian's eyes burned brilliantly green. "You drugged me with one of those damn potions of yours and then you set the stage to make me think I had raped you.
There was really nothing to say in the face of that blunt statement of facts. Sophy hung her head. The plume waved in front of her eyes as she looked down at the ground. "I suppose you could view it that way, my lord. But I never meant for you to think you had… had hurt me. I only wanted you to think you had done what you seemed to feel was your duty. You seemed so anxious to claim your rights as a husband."
"And you assumed that if I thought I had claimed those rights, I might then leave you alone for the next few months?"
"It occurred to me that you might be satisfied for a while, my lord. I thought you might then be willing to honor the terms of our agreement.
"Sophy, if you mention that damned agreement one more time, I shall undoubtedly throttle you. At the very least, I will use my riding crop on your backside."
She drew herself up bravely. "I am prepared for violence, my lord. It is well known that you have the devil's own temper."
"Is it, indeed? Then I am surprised you would bring me out here alone to make your grand confession. There is no one around to hear your cries for help should I decide to punish you now."
"I did not think it fair to involve the servants," she whispered.
"How very noble of you, my dear. You will forgive me if I have trouble believing that any woman capable of drugging her husband is a woman who is going to waste time worrying about what the servants might think." His eyes narrowed. "By God, what did they think when they changed your bedding the next morning?"
"I explained to Mary that I had spilled some tea in bed."
"In other words, I was the only one in the entire household who believed myself to be a brutal rapist? Well, that's something, at least."
"I am sorry, Julian. Truly, I am. In my own defense, I can only point out again that I really was frightened and angry. I had thought we were getting along so well, you see, getting to know one another and then there you were threatening me."
"The thought of my lovemaking scares you so much you would go to such lengths to avoid it? Damn it, Sophy, you are no green chit of a girl. You are a full-grown woman, and you know well why I married you."
"I have explained before, my lord, I am not frightened of the act itself," she said fiercely. "It is just that I want time to get to know you. I wanted time for us to learn to deal together as husband and wife. I do not wish to be turned into a brood mare for your convenience and then turned out to pasture in the country. You must admit that is all you had in mind when you married me."
"I admit nothing." He slashed the crop against his boot one more time. "As far as I am concerned, you are the one who violated the basic understandings of our marriage. My requirements were simple and few. One of them, if you will recall, was that you never lie to me."
"Julian, I did not lie to you. Perhaps I misled you, but surely you can see that I—"
"You lied to me," he cut in brutally. "And if I had not been wallowing in my own guilt these past two days I would have realized it immediately. The signs were all present. You haven't even been able to look me in the eye. If I hadn't assumed that was because you couldn't bear the sight of me, I would have understood at once that you were deceiving me."
"I am sorry, Julian."
"You are going to be a great deal sorrier, madam, before we are finished. I am not anything like your foolishly indulgent grandfather and its time you learned that fact. I thought you were intelligent enough to have realized that from the start, but apparently the lesson must be made plain."
"Julian."
"Get on your horse."
Sophy hesitated. "What are you going to do, my lord?"
"When I have decided, I will tell you. In the meantime I will give you a taste of the exceedingly unpleasant experience of worrying about it."
Sophy moved slowly toward her gelding. "I know you are in a rage, Julian. And perhaps I deserve it. But I do wish you would tell me how you intend to punish me. Truthfully, I do not think I can stand the suspense."
His hands came around her waist from behind so swiftly that she started. Julian lifted her into the saddle with a barely suppressed violence. Then he stood for a moment looking up at her with cold fury in his eyes. "If you are going to play tricks on your husband, Madam Wife, you had better learn how to handle the suspense of worrying about his revenge. And I will have my revenge, Sophy. Never doubt it. I have no intention of allowing you to become the same kind of uncontrollable bitch my first wife was."
Before she could respond he had turned away and mounted his stallion. Without another word he set out at a gallop for home, leaving Sophy to follow.
She arrived a half hour behind him and discovered to her dismay that the cheerful, bustling household that had emerged during the past few days had been magically altered. Eslington Park had become a somber, forbidding place.
The butler looked at her with sad eyes as she stepped forlornly into the hall. "We were worried about you, my lady," he said gently.
"Thank you, Tyson. As you can see, I am quite all right. Where is Lord Ravenwood?"
"In the library, my lady. He has given orders he is not to be disturbed."
"I see." Sophy walked slowly toward the stairs, glancing nervously at the ominously closed library doors. She hesitated a moment. Then she picked up the skirts of her riding habit and ran up the stairs, heedless of the concerned eyes of the servants.
Julian emerged at dinner to announce his vengeance. When he sat down to the table with an implacable hardness in his eyes Sophy knew he had plotted his revenge over a bottle of claret.
A forbidding silence descended on the dining room. It seemed to Sophy that all the figures in the painted medallions set into the ceiling were staring down at her with accusing eyes.
She was trying her best to eat her fish when Julian sent the butler and the footman out of the room with a curt nod of his head. Sophy held her breath.
"I will be leaving for London in the morning," Julian said, speaking to her for the first time.
Sophy looked up, hope springing to life within her. "We're going to London, my lord?"
"No, Sophy. You are not going to London. I am. You, my dear, scheming wife, will remain here at Eslington Park. I am going to grant you your fondest wish. You may spend the remainder of your precious three months in absolute peace. I give you my solemn word I will not bother you."
It dawned on her that he was going to abandon her here in the wilds of Norfolk. Sophy swallowed in shock. "I will be all alone, my lord?"
He smiled with savage civility. "Quite alone as far as having any companions or a guilt-stricken husband to dance attendance on you. However, you will have an excellently trained staff at your disposal. Perhaps you can amuse yourself tending to their sore throats and bilious livers."
"Julian, please, I would rather you just beat me and be done with it."