Libertine's Wife Read Online Free PDF Page B

delay. She wavered from
his condemning look. She was aware of those glowing emerald eyes as
she made her way to the coach.
    Ravensford joined her and assisted her
inside. When he sat before her, he raised an eyebrow at her pale,
drawn features. “I can only assume your rash actions have made you
ill, my dear. You look positively green,” he remarked in a false,
solicitous tone. “A pity, for we have a five hour journey to my
home. We don’t stop to see to your comforts, my lady. If you mean
to hack up those nauseating refreshments, please do so out the
window.”
    Arianne glared at the man, tempted to
do just that on his gleaming boots. “I am fine, my lord. You need
not see to my comforts,” she assured him as the coach pulled away.
She stole one last look at her childhood home in wistful regret,
wishing to jump out of the coach and run back.
    “ Aren’t you the very picture
of a prim new bride?” the marquis noted sarcastically as he eyed
her across from him. “And the bride wore white, too? Saint’s
preserve us all! What a bloody hypocrisy that was?”
    Arianne longed to ignore him. His
persistent needling of her proved her undoing. She gazed at him
with a purposeful look, trying another approach to gain his
understanding if she could. “Does belittling and name-calling make
you feel better of our situation, my lord? I don’t think it
benefits either of us.”
    “ For now, it pleases me,” he
allowed, with a fleeting smile. His lingering green gaze burned
away any illusion he was remotely a gentleman. His eyes began to
strip every layer of the travelling costume from her back, making
her tremble on the seat across from him. “We will see if I find
better methods to chastise you tonight that are far more
pleasurable for us both.”
    “ You have the right to be
upset, my lord—”
    “ Enough!” he snapped,
cutting off what she would have said. “Thank you for allowing me my
own feelings, my dear.” He regarded her with a disgusted look. “I
also have all the rights as your husband now. Try to remember that
should you anger me.”
    Arianne shook with fear, blue eyes
growing wide at his words. “Would abusing me solve anything, my
lord?”
    “ No, but it depends upon the
manner of abuse you have in mind.” His green eyes filled with
amusement. “Even pain can be enjoyable. I’d show you, if I had any
plans to stay in your delightful company. Alas, I’d just as soon as
forget I ever set eyes upon you.”
    “ I had no choice in this!
Does that matter to you at all?” She was visibly shaken by his
scandalous words.
    “ There is always a choice in
everything we do, my lady. Had you more sense under that fluffy
blonde mop there; you’d see that.”
    Arianne gasped, a blush staining her
cheeks. “I’m hardly ignorant, my lord!”
    “ How old are you, girl?”
Garret asked in disgust. “You look like a woman grown under all
those stupid ruffles, but looks can deceive.”
    “ I am nearly eighteen.” She
saw him cringe, rolling his eyes heavenward.
    “ That damned young? I
wouldn’t have guessed it by your actions. You’re nearly a blasted
child,” he taunted unmercifully. “Have you had any formal training?
Do you have any idea what’s expected of you as the Marchioness of
Ravensford?” She bit her lip in dismay. He cursed fluently and
shook his head in disgust. “I can see you don’t have the first
damned clue of what your duties are. It’s lucky for us I never
intend to present you to society. You’d likely embarrass us both
with your ill-bred manners. For a fortune hunter, you have much to
learn, my dear. If you seek so high, be sure you can carry it
off!”
    “ I learned deportment from
Lady Vale as a child,” Arianne snapped in heated response. “I can
assure you that I’m quite housebroke, my lord.”
    Garret chuckled at her spirited reply,
a cruel light in his gaze. “Lady Vale can be commended for her
efforts to turn a sow’s ear into a silk purse. A pity she