Page 13 of Foolish Bride
“Please what? Please forgive you for ruining both of our lives. No, that I shall never do.”
“I am sorry.”
“Yes, it would seem so. Please, if you have an unmarked carriage that can carry me home, I would like to go now.” She grabbed her cape from the chair. It had been a mistake to come, but at least she knew now that he wasn’t the man for her.
“Don’t you understand? I am only half a man. I cannot marry you. I can never marry anyone.”
“Have you had an amputation then?” Sympathy seeped into her voice. It was too horrible to think about.
His face colored. “Elinor! My God!”
Horrified, she touched his arm. “I am sorry, Michael. I didn’t realize the injury was so severe. Should you be out of bed?”
He jerked his arm away. “Really, Elinor, I have no idea who you are. The woman I was engaged to would never even have known about such things.”
Her cheeks were on fire, but the brandy made her bold. “As I said, the country estate is a farm. It’s not as if I haven’t any idea how babies come about.” She cleared her throat. “I think perhaps you should take yourself to bed. It must be too soon for you to be out of bed with an injury of this kind.”
“Nothing has been amputated, Elinor.” His shout should have brought the staff running, but no one came.
Tempted to run for the door, she scooted a few feet away. “If what you say is true, then why are we not to marry?”
“Elinor, cannot your mother explain this to you?” He rubbed his temple and ran his hand through his hair.
“Evidently not. She tried, but got no further then you could not father children.”
“Well. I am not obligated to explain the male anatomy to a silly little girl.” He punched the wall, causing the sconces to flicker.
It was he who acted like a child. She’d risked everything to see him, and he had the nerve to call her names and dismiss her like a bothersome whelp. “I do not believe you. I do not believe there is anything wrong with you. You were just looking for a way out of a marriage you never wanted. It is all a lie. And even if it is not, the doctors cannot know in such a short time what will happen with your injuries. It makes no difference now. The carriage, if you please.”
He crossed the room, tore the mantle from her hand and pushed her against the wall. Where there had once been passion, now his eyes burned with rage.
She screamed his name, then held her tongue.
He pressed his groin into her and smirked horribly. “Do you feel that?”
“I feel nothing but the pain from where your hands are bruising me.”
“Exactly. You feel nothing, because I am no longer a man, Lady Elinor. I will not marry you or anyone else because that part of me that once raged with desire is dead, and now all that is left is the rage.” He pounded the wall beside her head.
She cringed, but when his hands fell away from her, she did not move. Instead, she kissed his cheek. “I am sorry that you are suffering so.”
He pulled away, but she grabbed his arm. She wanted to sob, to hit him, to hug him, to tell him what he’d put her through. Part of her wanted to walk away and never see him again. “Don’t, Michael. Don’t pull away from me. None of this matters to me. Marry me.”
He straightened and looked into her eyes. “I cannot.” All emotion left his voice. He was an empty shell of the man he’d been, and he no longer wanted her.
It was over.
He rang the bell, and Dolan appeared a few seconds later.
Once the carriage was ordered, Elinor put her mantle on and walked to the foyer.
Her mind reeled. He had been so angry, then cold. There had been a moment of passion but then only anger and resignation.
When the carriage was ready, Michael followed her and handed her up. She wanted the door to close so that she could cry. She had been holding back and now she desperately needed release.
Michael stepped up into the carriage and sat opposite her. He’d changed his robe for a long coat, but wore no neck cloth and wasn’t properly dressed for a London evening.
“What are you doing?”
