Page 63 of Ondine

“Gambling! And that, Uncle, is partially what sent me home! I hated filth and poverty! I took my earnings from the North and came back to London, and there fell into a game of dice. Luck was with me, and I had coin once again to buy these things! Oh, I was heartily sick of having naught. I realized then that Raoul’s offer could give me that life to which I was accustomed, and that to keep running, I must do so in poverty and filth!

” She lowered her eyes, praying that they could not see the lies within them.

“I thought . . . I thought that if I could have the time . . . if I could just come to know him again, I could accept it all to regain my position. I—I just need time.”

“The time is yours! We will come to know one another again!”

Raoul was on a knee at her feet, holding her hands in passionate promise. She stared at his long, slender fingers, untouched, uncallused by work, and thought of Warwick’s. Lean and hard they were, roughened by his labor, browned by the sun . . .

She wanted to cry. She could not endure this smooth touch and all it stood for, and not when she compared it to one she had come to love so dearly.

Her head spun dizzily as she thought of the times she had twisted and writhed in bed in sweet passion with Warwick.

Even that night when he had been all but brutal, his touch had not failed to reach into her heart.

And Raoul . . . Raoul thought to share such intimacies with her!

The very thought of it was so totally repugnant that it threatened to overwhelm her and send her, fainting, to the floor.

She wanted to snatch her hands away, as if he scalded them with something impure.

She could not; this was not the time to spurn him. That blessed time was to come, yet never would it come if she did not play this game, this new role, and play it brilliantly.

“No deal is yet struck!” William said, returning to his desk and sitting behind it to view the two of them.

Raoul stood, facing his father.

“I want her! She is ever more beautiful—”

“And still, I wonder, where has that beauty been?” William said laconically. “I’m truly interested to discover if our duchess has not become a whore.”

“Father!”

William shrugged aside his son’s reproach.

“It’s no matter of great mystery. We need but call in a physician to attest to your betrothed’s chastity before the nuptials.

You will be interested, I do assume. You are so eager for her, yet there are things you must remember.

If she carries another man’s brat, that child will stand to inherit.

And I shall be damned if, at this point, I have come so far as to leave this estate to a wench’s bastard and not my own blood! ”

Ondine could feel the blood draining from her face, yet she knew she dared not display distress.

One month . . . she had so little time! And if they were to call in a physician, it would be before the wedding Mass was celebrated.

She never intended to go through any ceremony, but now she would have to move all the more quickly.

“Whatever you wish will be done when the time is right!” Raoul announced coldly.

“Now, Father, shall we consider this done, then? I’ll ride to the bishop for the banns to be cried, for arrangements to be made.

Ondine receives her time for her silence.

I will unquestionably take on the title.

And you, Father, will unquestionably retain the rights to the money!

It seems to me that we have accrued all that we originally intended. ”

William stared hard at Ondine.

“I don’t trust her,” he told his son, not shifting his gaze.

“What is there not to trust? She will be my wife. I will keep her sharply in line, Father. That you needn’t fear.”

“Whatever it takes?” William inquired, a sneer for Ondine curling pleasantly into his lip.

“Whatever it takes; that you know.”

William shifted. “The deal is made.” He stood and walked over to Ondine, careful not to brush her in any way.

“Aye, the deal is made,” he repeated softly, challenging her eyes.

“Duchess, your things will be brought to your old suite. Don’t forget, though, dearest Niece, that I will be watching you.

And I am not in—lust with you, as is Raoul.

One month from this date, you will say your vows with Raoul.

You will not think to usurp my position here.

And you will tread a tender line, my dear.

Oh, and one more thing! I think that you are a liar; I am hoping dearly that you are not a whore.

You may say what you will; I have ways and means.

And I do intend to discover, Ondine, just where you have been since you ran. And with whom.”

He straightened, eyeing his son. “Raoul—go. See that the banns are cried immediately. This will be a most public wedding.”

Raoul nodded and departed the room swiftly.

William turned to smile once more at Ondine, sweeping her a sardonic bow.

“Welcome home, Duchess.”