Page 105 of To Pleasure a Prince

“Your promise was to me, not him. I cannot control my idiot brother. But I expect you to hold to your vows.”

“As I expect you to hold to yours. You vowed to love, honor, andobey.So you will return with me and Louisa to Castlemaine now, or I swear that when you do return, I will bar the doors to you.”

Her gasp was echoed by one behind her, but she ignored it. “You willwhat?”

“You will no longer be welcome at Castlemaine,” he said, but stiffly, as if he knew he’d gone too far, yet could not bring himself to take back the words.

She shouldn’t be surprised. This was how he’d punished his mother, too, by thrusting her out of his life. Why should she expect him to behave any differently with his wife?

Because his wife had never imprisoned him in a dungeon or branded him with a poker. Because his wife had only dared to question his authority. Because his wife loved him.

Still reeling from his threat, Regina turned to find Louisa and Cicely standing in the doorway while a footman strode past carrying their bags.

Louisa stared at her brother with an ashen face. “Marcus, don’t be a fool.”

“Go to the carriage, Louisa,” Marcus ordered. “We’ll be along shortly.”

“But Marcus—”

“Now,damn you!”

Louisa turned and hurried off. Cicely watched her go, clearly uneasy.

“Miss Tremaine,” Marcus said, “please remind your cousin where her duty lies.”

Cicely positively shook beneath his frigid gaze. “Regina, dear, perhaps you should just go with your husband for now.”

“Thank you for your advice,” Regina said tightly, “but while you might enjoy living in a prison, it is not something I fancy.”

“It appears, Miss Tremaine,” Marcus bit out, “that you are faced with a choice. You may stay in town with my wife, in which case you will never be welcome at Castlemaine, either. Or you may return with me to act as my sister’s companion. I do hope you’ll make your choice wisely.”

Regina glared at him. “How dare you drag my ailing cousin, after all she’s done for us, intoourargument? What could you possibly hope to accomplish?”

He fixed her with a feverish gaze. “I hope to bring you to your senses. You can hardly function well in society without her around. How will you read calling cards, respond to invitations, write thank-you notes, and all the rest?”

She felt sick. He would use her own defect against her? He wasthatfar gone?

“H-He knows you can’t read?” Cicely squeaked from behind her.

“He knows,” Regina choked out. “Hesaidit didn’t matter to him. Clearly that was a lie.”

His eyes blazed. “It wasn’t a lie, confound it all! And I’ll wager it matters a damned sight more to your society friends. Yet you choose them over me.”

“No, Marcus. I choose life over a prison.” She stared at his stubborn features, so full of anger. So full of fear. If she went with him now, he would never stop this madness. But if she didn’t, would he ever forgive her?

She had to take that chance. She was in a fight for his soul, and she meant to win, no matter what it took. “You’ve spent your life hiding away in your cave to avoid the world at its ugliest. Instead, you’ve missed all its beauties. Well, I shan’t do the same. When you decide to rejoin the world, I will be here waiting. But I love you too much to let you drag me back to die in a cave with you.”

Turning on her heel, she left the room and headed for the stairs, not sure where she was going but sure that she could not stay another minute to have her heart torn out of her chest.

She heard Marcus stalk into the hall behind her. “I order you to come home with me, Regina!”

She kept ascending the stairs.

“Damn you, you’re my wife!”

Yes, and he’d certainly rewarded her well for that, hadn’t he? Tears filled her eyes and she brushed them away ruthlessly.

Silence filled the hall below her. As she reached the top of the stairs and headed for someplace she could release all her tears, she heard him growl, “Fine. If that’s how you want it, you can rot in London, for all I care. But you will damned well rot here alone.”