Lynne Connolly by Maiden Lane Read Free Book Online Page B

him. Have I told you recently that I love you?”
    I adored his newfound confidence, his ability to discuss our love in front of trusted friends. He rarely went this far, however. “Yes, but never stop,” I answered, and I felt a hot blush suffuse my cheeks despite my brave words. Or maybe because of them, as he was looking at me in the way he did when he wanted to strip me naked. Warm, intimate and passionate, something his society friends wouldn’t have believed of him. But I did.
    Timothy cleared his throat in a particularly lawyer-like fashion. “Yes, good, that should help. But John Kneller will be ready. He’ll have a document and paid witnesses.”
    Richard leaned back in his chair. “Could such a document ever be considered legal, considering I was only fourteen at the time?” Richard wondered.
    Timothy’s lips pursed further, as if he’d sucked on a lemon. “Unfortunately, yes. At worst, it’s a contract of marriage. But it could also be considered a precontract.”
    Richard pulled in a sharp breath. “Thus invalidating any subsequent marriage.”
    A chill spread from my toes to the tips of my fingers, via my spine. “That would make Helen illegitimate.” I couldn’t say the word bastard . Not in regard to my beautiful daughter. “And the baby in my womb.”
    Richard reached for my hand again, but this time I needed comfort. His grip was firm, warm and I wanted him to hold me, but he wouldn’t do that here. He hadn’t progressed that far. “It won’t come to that. I swear.”
    He couldn’t promise me that. I shouldn’t let him, but I felt too weak with a new revelation that had hit me with the power of truth. I would kill John myself before I’d allow him to hurt my children. For myself, I’d survive, but not them. And I was sure that Richard felt the same, except he’d probably add me to his burden of responsibility.
    “You could fight it,” Timothy said, “and you would probably win, but it could be a Pyrrhic victory. A case like that in open court would make you all notorious. You have more to lose than he does. Except in monetary terms.”
    Richard nodded. “I agree. It’s the last resort. The gossip would spread, and we’d be the target of public cynosure. The public, en masse, doesn’t much care who tells the truth. They would choose John’s side, the poor, abandoned waif.”
    I snorted. “The evil, conniving one. How can anyone see him as that?”
    Richard smiled as if I’d made a joke. “He’s a very convincing liar, my love. He knows how to manipulate.”
    “So do you.”
    “I won’t stoop to that. In the long run, it wouldn’t prove good for me or for the family.” Only now, when he had a family of his own, did Richard consider the Kerres worth saving, worth defending. A pang of sadness suffused me, but I shook it off. No time for that now. This was a strategy meeting. Emotions could come later, I told myself stoutly.
    “His prominence in society is his defence,” I said. “He knows what you’re capable of, Richard.”
    Richard gave a harsh laugh. “I know that. Otherwise I’d have dealt with him on his arrival.” He glanced at me and I knew he was holding something back. The ultimate solution, something he’d done before. I hoped his innate sense of natural justice would keep him from taking that path. He didn’t have the same respect for the authorities as I did, but he was a member of the part of society that made the laws. My kind upheld it. The arrogance I often witnessed stemmed from that. The King was merely a figurehead, he rarely cared about British affairs and he was growing older and frailer. His son would be different, the first Hanoverian born and bred in England. Interesting times lay ahead.
    Even more interesting ones were happening now.
    “I will fight him legally, to begin with,” Richard said smoothly. “I have more of society with me, and I will be meticulously polite to the boy in public, however without acknowledging anything. I will