Page 127 of The Quiet Wife
“Let us repair to your study to discuss it.”
He shook his head. “I don’t have time.”
“I can tell you here, but I don’t think it’s something you’ll want the servants listening to.”
Her heart thumped and she could feel a headache creeping in, but she was determined. She couldn’t go on like this. He would wear her into the ground if she were forced to endure this any further.
“For God’s sake,” he muttered and stalked off to the study. Frances took a breath and followed. When they reached the study, she closed the door behind them, held her hands behind her back as though she were posing for her portrait, and lifted her chin.
“What is it?” he demanded.
Should she jump straight in? She summoned every ounce of courage she could muster.
“For crying out loud, Frances, don’t stand there like a damned statue. What is it?” he yelled.
She tilted her head to one side. Straight in it was… “I would like a divorce.”
His temper abated. He blinked, frowned, then his lips quirked in what might have been humour.
“A divorce?”
She nodded. “I would like a divorce. I don’t want to be married to you anymore.”
“You think you are going todivorceme?” He chuckled and something inside Frances solidified.
He laughed aloud for some time before coming back to her, dabbing his eyes with the heel of his hands. “Well, Frances, you say some odd things, but this takes the biscuit.”
“Really.”
“Oh, for goodness’ sake. Say what you came to say and have done. I don’t have all day.”
She steeled her resolve. “I should like a divorce, but I may be persuaded to accept a separation if the terms and conditions are suitable.”
He shook his head, still grinning. “Have you been at the sherry?”
“No, I’m perfectly serious.”
“And if, nay,whenI refuse?” he smirked.
She drew another breath. This was it.
“Then, I go to a newspaperman with whom I’ve become awfully friendly and share the full story about you and Rosa Caldicott and how I found youin flagrante, in my own home whilst our guests dined. Or maybe I shall just say I saw more of your naked rear than I ever wanted to. I will also go to the editors of the best society and gossip pages. Once that is done, I will visit the board of the Bibby & Sons and tell them about the affair, and that having taken your pleasure, you are leaving a young woman withyourchild in her belly who has now been abandoned by her husband, one of your employees, and has been completely undone. I can also tell them about Annie Wooster if that won’t suffice, but I think seducing a young woman of quality into an affair and leaving her with an illegitimate child splashed all over the newspapers is probably enough to persuade Bibby that you are not the kind of man they want as a major shareholder.”
She waited. Heart pounding. Her hands shook, so she gripped them behind her so he wouldn’t see.
“A divorce would be the ideal resolution, but failing that, I would consider a house in London that I can call my own. You will pay for it and give me a reasonable stipend. I will have the children with me. They would, of course, be free to visit you any time you wanted to maintain your image as a family man. I imagine being seen as curmudgeonly and vindictive towards your wife and children would not help your position with Bibby either, so it would be something to be avoided at all costs.”
His face was red, and he stared at her silently.
“You don’t even like me. I’m not sure why you want to live with me. You criticise everything that I do. It’s clear you find me inadequate in every sense, so I imagine this will suit.”
“You are my wife. My hostess.”
She shrugged. “I might be persuaded to attend any important functions that you have. On the understanding, of course, that as we are now separated, you will not have access to my bedroom. Ever.”
“This is blackmail,” he said. He was calm. Terrifyingly calm. The calm before the storm kind of calm.
She quailed but held onto her ground.
