Page 73 of A Virgin for the Duke of Scars
She noticed that the other guests were scattering in all directions, though. Some went out to the gardens, while others went to the back of the house.
“We will go to the library to search, dear wife,” Aaron said when she pointed out that everyone else seemed to have a different idea.
“I will take your word for it,” she replied.
When they entered the library, Aaron shut and locked the door behind them. He grabbed her by the shoulders and forced her to face him, just as he had the night at the garden party when she refused to look him in the eye after meeting Lady Isabella.
Theresa could not help but notice the similarities between that night and this one. Lady Isabella was the reason their marriage fractured before it truly began.
“Tell me what happened,” Aaron demanded, as he so often did.
He thinks he can command me like a servant.
“I will tell you, dear husband, but you will not like what I have to say. You lied to me at the garden party when you did not admit that you were still in love with Lady Isabella.”
Aaron recoiled from her as if she had struck him.
“Why would you say something like that?”
“It was obvious to everyone except me, I believe. Though I must admit, I do not know what you see in her. You could do with someone… kinder.”
“You do not know what you are talking about.”
“No?” Theresa raised her eyebrows in disbelief.
Aaron looked at her with surprising tenderness. He reached up to brush his fingertips over her cheek, but she swatted his hand down and took a step back from him.
“Theresa, my dear,” he said, his voice dangerously low. “Do you think that what we have shared is not real? For God’s sake?—”
“Do not use the name of the Lord in vain,” Theresa said instinctively.
Aaron continued as if she had not interrupted him. “I asked you just a few nights ago if you trusted me, and you replied that youdid not know me well enough. Is it possible that you do not know me well enough to know who I choose to care for?”
Theresa bit her lip, mulling over his words.
He had a valid point. If she did not know him well enough to trust him, perhaps she did not know him well enough to know when he was in love.
Juliette seemed to think that his affections lay with her. She had said as much when Theresa skipped dinner in an attempt to avoid him. But was it true, or was it only what Juliette wished to see in her brother?
Theresa wished she had someone to confide in. She wished she could speak to Margaret about what was going on, even if Margaret would not understand.
Who else would ever understand what Theresa had been through?
“I do not profess to know who you love,” she said. “I state only the facts. It seems like Lady Isabella has changed her mind about your betrothal. She asked if you would dance with her this evening.”
“I would rather dance with the devil,” Aaron scoffed.
She tilted her head up and met his gaze.
He reached for her, but as soon as he was within arm’s length, she pushed him away. She did not want to be intimate with a man who wanted to be with someone else.
“I am offering you a way out of our marriage,” Theresa said with more confidence than she felt. “Given that we are not yet married in the true sense of the word, you can annul our marriage and marry Lady Isabella.”
Her voice wavered on the last word. Tears burned at the back of her eyes, so she averted her gaze lest he see them fall. She would not give him the satisfaction of seeing her upset if he were to choose to send her away.
She would go with her pride intact.
Despite her bravado, she knew that she would miss Aaron if he took her up on her offer.
