Vice by Jane Feather Read Free Book Online Page B

hell goes with the devil’s own temper, I suppose,” he said, and to Juliana’s astonishment his mouth quirked in a rueful smile, although he still held her wrist tightly. “I must bear that in mind in future.”
    “What do you want of me?” Juliana demanded. An overwhelming sense of helplessness began to eat away at her, challenging bravado; and even as she tried to fight it, she recognized the futility of the struggle.
    “Quite simply, child, I wish you to marry my cousin, Viscount Edgecombe.” He released her wrist as he said this and calmly straightened his coat and the disordered lace ruffles at his cuffs.
    “You want me to do
what?”
    “I believe you heard me.” He strolled away from her to refill his wineglass. “More champagne, perhaps?”
    Juliana shook her head. She’d barely touched what was in her glass. “I don’t understand.”
    The duke turned back to face her. He sipped his wine reflectively. “I need a wife for my cousin, Lucien. A wife who will bear a child, an heir to the Edgecombe estate and tide.
    “The present heir is, to put it kindly, somewhat slow-witted. Oh, he’s a nice enough soul but could no more pullEdgecombe out of the mire into which Lucien has plunged it than he could read a page of Livy. Lucien is dismembering Edgecombe. I intend to put a stop to that. And I intend to ensure that his heir is my ward.”
    He smiled, but it had none of the pleasant quality of his earlier smiles. “I shall thus have twenty-one years to put Edgecombe back together again … to repair the damage Lucien has done—as much as anything, I believe, to spite me.
    “Why can’t your cousin find his own wife?” she asked, staring incredulously.
    “Well, I suspect he might find it difficult,” the duke said, turning his signet ring on his finger with a considering air. “Lucien is not a pleasant man. No ordinary female of the right breeding would choose to wed him.”
    Juliana wondered if she was going mad. At the very least she had clearly stumbled among lunatics. Vicious, twisted lunatics.
    “You … you want a
brood mare!”
she exclaimed. “You would blackmail me into yielding my body as a vehicle for your cousin’s progeny, because no self-respecting woman would take on the job! You’re … you’re treating me like a bitch to be put to a stud.”
    Tarquin frowned. “Your choice of words is a trifle inelegant, my dear. I’m offering a marriage that comes with a tide and what remains of a substantial fortune. My cousin doesn’t have long to live, hence the urgency of the matter. However, I’m certain you’ll be released from his admittedly undesirable company within a twelvemonth. I’ll ensure, of course, that you’re well looked after in your widowhood. And, of course, not a word of your unfortunate history will be passed on.”
    He sipped his wine. When she still gazed at him, dumbstruck, he continued: “Your secret will be buried with me and the Dennisons. No one will ever connect Lady Edgecombe with Juliana … whoever-you-were.” His hand moved through the air in a careless gesture. “You will be safe, prosperous, and set up for life.”
    Juliana drained her champagne glass. Then she threw the glass into the fireplace. Her face was bloodless, her eyes jade stones, her voice low and bitter as aloes. “And to gain such safety … such rewards … I must simply bear the child of an undesirable invalid with one foot in the—”
    “Ah, no, not precisely.” The duke held up one hand, arresting her in midsentence. “You will not bear Lucien’s child, my dear Juliana. You will bear mine.”

Chapter 4

    I cannot imagine how we can help you, Sir George.” Sir Brian Forsett offered his guest a chilly smile. “Juliana ceased to be our responsibility as soon as she passed into the legal control of her husband. Your father’s unfortunate death leaves his widow her own mistress, in the absence of any instructions to the contrary in Sir John’s will.”
    “And it leaves you,