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

for
being offended.”
    “Damned
right. I warned you that my daughter would not take well to our
scheming.”
    “I’ll
make her understand.”
    “Bah!”
Campbell waved his hand in disgust. “If you think this will die
in a day, my lord, you are in for a disappointment. Manda does not
like to be manipulated. And she hates subterfuge. We’ll be
fortunate if she ever forgives either one of us.”
    All
at once the man looked deflated, his face gray with upset. He resumed
his pacing, now silent.
    “I
was never comfortable with the way we began this thing,” James
stated. “Amanda should have been given a choice.”
    “If
we had done it any other way, she would have had nothing to do with
you. I did what I had to do.”
    Feeling
his own anger emerge, James said, “Then it should not have been
done at all, Campbell. We’ve not been fair, you or I. But at
least I have the excuse that I did not know your daughter.”
    “Want
to clarify your meaning?” Archie rapped out.
    “Damnation!”
James plunked himself on the red brocaded sofa, bouncing on the
springs as he did so. “This bickering is getting us nowhere.
Neither of us is without blame. My only concern is mending this
appalling rift with Amanda.”
    “Are
you sorry you married her?”
    James
looked up into the watchful eyes of his father-in-law and was aware
that the wrong words spoken now would seal his doom.
    His
mind drifted back a few hours to that scene on Amanda’s bed,
and he found himself unable to meet Archie’s probing gaze. It
was all too complicated and fraught with sexual overtones to explain
honestly. Sorry? The only thing he was regretting right now was that
he was having a mighty uncomfortable talk with the bride’s
father instead of being secluded upstairs with the bride.
    “I
married Amanda because I wanted to. If I had found her
unsatisfactory, all the ‘enticement’ in the world would
not have brought me to the altar.”
    Archie
beamed at him. “If you are sincere, my lord, then I have hope.”
    “Right,”
James muttered. “Want to tell me how I should go about
persuading Amanda that I’m sincere?”
    “You’ve
your work cut out for you, that’s for certain.” The old
man sounded almost cheerful now. “I’m on my way. If
there’s any fighting to be done, don’t let that
temperamental gel of mine break the good china.”
    James
stood abruptly. “Wait a minute. Aren’t you going to tell
me what to do?”
    “A
bleedin’ gentleman man-of-the-world asking a toad like me how
to woo a woman?” Archie laughed, shaking his head. “Love
her, my lord. She’ll forgive you anything if you can convince
her of that.”
    Ten
minutes later, a large brandy burning a pleasant hole in his belly,
James tapped on Amanda’s bedchamber door. Silence echoed from
within, and he wondered if he had misjudged where he would find her.
He waited for several moments, deciding finally to leave, when the
door eased open.
    His
lungs turned to stone, breathing impossible.
    Amanda
stood on the threshold, face ghostly white against her black hair,
hair that hung loose in a cascade of satin down her back. Her dark
eyes glittered in the half-light cast by a candle from inside the
room, and her full lips were parted ever so slightly. She wore a
white cambric nightdress, buttoned to the throat. She was beautiful,
so beautiful, words failed him.
    Unfortunately,
she chose not to speak as well. They stared at one another until the
silence became a tangible thing between them. He licked his lips at
last, calling on the brandy for courage.
    “Amanda—”
    “Not
tonight, James,” she whispered in a tight voice. “I need
to think before we…talk.”
    Only
then did he notice that her chin trembled, that the brightness in her
eyes came from unshed tears. She was hurt, devastated, and in the
face of her anguish, he was as devastated as she.
    “Manda,
please let me explain,” he said gently. “It’s not
the way it appears.”
    When
she did not reply, he