In the Garden of Deceit (Book 4) by Cynthia Wicklund Read Free Book Online

that the earl was no longer in his face, Derrick’s
uncertain courage resurfaced. “I think you’ve grown soft
over a woman who is only one generation away from the gutter. How the
mighty have fallen.”
    James
no longer felt the need to control the demon anger that fought to
take him. He let the rage, hot and all-consuming, roll over him. He
took one step forward, reared back and with all his force punched his
cousin’s smug mouth. Derrick crumpled like a cloth doll.
    For
several moments he stood over the fallen viscount, fists clenched.
His voice when he finally spoke was harsh with constrained violence.
“What you think, what you say about me, is of no import. Amanda
is another matter. She is my wife, will be the mother of my
children—” He hoped. James gulped on the bitter memory of
betrayal on her face. “Bloody ingrate, I spare you the beating
you deserve for your mother’s sake.”
    “James,
I—”
    The
earl cut him off. “I expect your things to be gone from
Lonsdale before Amanda and I arrive.”
    Derrick
stared up at him, eyes shiny with panic in the darkened garden. “I
have nowhere to go.”
    “Should
have thought of that before you took it upon yourself to ruin my
wedding day.”
    James
strode away without looking back.

    ***

    CHAPTER
4

    “Papa!
I can’t believe you are saying this to me.”
    Amanda
watched her father’s implacable features with growing alarm. He
was seated behind his desk in the library, fat fingers laced across
his middle, seemingly unperturbed by her distress.
    “What
you ask is impossible, Amanda.” He wheezed, coughing. “There
will be no annulment.”
    “But
I was deceived.” She crossed the room to stand over him.
“Surely, you can’t want me to stay with a man who has
lied to me.”
    “What
was his lie, Manda?”
    “I
told you! He married me for your money.” Even as she
spoke, her voice broke with a new rush of pain.
    “I
see. You disapprove of a marriage that considers the financial
arrangements?”
    Momentarily,
she was too startled to speak. “Not…necessarily. But I
thought James—” She could not finish saying what she
thought. Her throat had closed over the words.
    For
the first time since they had entered the room, her father’s
expression softened. “Sweetheart, be reasonable. There is
always the business side of any contract. I want to know that my
son-in-law can support you in the manner to which you have become
accustomed.”
    Disbelief
made her squeak, “You are going to give him money?”
    “A
dowry, Manda. What’s wrong with that?”
    Nothing,
actually, when put that way, done all the time. But there was
something odd about the transaction that left her feeling used and
uninformed.
    “It’s
more than the formality of receiving a dowry, Papa. I understand that
James is in serious financial trouble. He had to make a wealthy match
or lose everything. It is one thing to accept a dowry as a customary
gesture and another to need it.”
    “Well,
then,” he said slyly, “aren’t you pleased that you
can help him?”
    Amanda
blinked at her father, dumbstruck. How could he be so obtuse?
Pleased? Her heart was breaking and he wanted to know if she was
pleased? To her horror, she began to cry.
    “Oh,
Papa.” Her fingers shook when she raised a gloved hand to dab
at her eyes. “This is not what I expected, not what I wanted.”
    He
lifted his shoulders irritably, shifting in his seat. He had never
been comfortable with tears.
    “There’s
no need for that, Manda. Take hold of yourself. You behave as though
we’ve had a disaster.” He stood from his chair, barreling
out from behind the desk. “You have a life to get on with. I’m
going to leave you to it.”
    Just
like that he was dismissing her, abandoning her to sort out a muddle
that was not of her making. She swung around as he passed her on his
way to the door.
    “What
are you saying?” she asked.
    “I’m
saying, you have a new husband who is waiting for