Page 60 of Tamed By a Passionate Lady
Chapter 22
Adaline gazed at her husband, appalled. The last thing that she had expected to come out of his mouth was a question about her relationship with Reuben Montgomery.
He had just recovered his memory, to her shock and dismay. He recalled all the details of how and why he had married her, and the state of their marriage. But the pain of it had unexpectedly turned to fierce joy. He insisted that he still loved her, that perhaps he had always loved her deep down. He wanted their fledgling love relationship to continue the way that it had, since the accident.
He had finally told her the reason why he had never allowed himself to get close to her. A lost love, a woman he had wanted to marry, with all his heart. A love that he had never allowed himself to let go, that had coloured his life completely. He had been mired down in pain and heartbreak. It had never been her, it had always been him.
The relief of it was so powerful that she could barely comprehend it.
But now, he was solemn and frowning, gazing at her with a deep concern.
“Reuben?” she said slowly. “What do you mean?”
He took a deep breath. “I have reasons to be concerned about Reuben,” he said carefully. “Things that I have recalled, which have led me to question what exactly went on at Birkenhead Lodge prior to my fall.” He hesitated, seemingly groping for words. “Please, Adaline, I want you to be as honest with me as possible about him. How has he treated you, since he came here?”
She kept staring at him, biting her lip in dismay. She didn’t want the spectre of Reuben Montgomery to spoil this precious moment between them. She didn’t want to think about him at all.
She bit her lip harder. What exactly did he remember? She had thought that he was oblivious to what his friend was doing to her, and that even if he did suspect, he did not care. But something had piqued his memory, and this was her chance to finally tell him what she had endured. To get it out in the open, and deal with it. But how would he react?
Reuben Montgomery was his dearest, oldest friend. And as much as she detested the man, she did not wish to ruin that friendship. It might never recover, now that James loved her the way that he did. But, on the other hand, he deserved to know how disrespectful and presumptuous his friend had been with her. For his sake, as well as her own.
She took a deep, ragged breath. Her heart started to throb painfully. It was not going to be easy to tell him what his friend was truly like. Even though he claimed he loved her now, and always would, she had no idea if it might drive a wedge between them.
“Please, Adaline,” he said slowly, taking her hand. “I promise that I shall listen, without interruption, and that I will believe you…”
She took another deep breath. He promised to believe her. It was a careful choice of words, which alone made her realise that hedidsuspect something untoward had gone on between them. It was enough to finally convince her that she should take the chance.
“Things have been…problematic, between Reuben Montgomery, and me,” she said slowly, gazing at him anxiously. “And it has been that way ever since he came to Birkenhead Lodge with Isabel.”
He winced, as if she had struck him. He looked truly pained.
“Tell me,” he whispered fiercely. “What has been the source of the problem?”
A deep, painful flush rose over her face. She was ashamed to speak of this, even though she had done nothing, and had not encouraged Reuben’s advances in any way.
“He always sought me out, when I was alone,” she said, haltingly. “When he knew that he was safe to speak to me in the way that he wanted to.” She hesitated. “He didnotwant witnesses, you see…”
James’ face hardened. She noticed that he was balling his fists so tightly that the knuckles were white. Alarmed, she reached out, resting a hand on his arm. She wasn’t sure, at all, if she should keep speaking of this.
“It is quite alright, Adaline,” he said, in a tight voice. “It is just making me very angry to hear you say this. To realise how calculating he was, seeking you out when you were alone, and that I did nothing to stop it.” He paused. “Please, tell me, what he said to you. Imustknow.”
She took another deep breath. “Hewascalculating. He would tell me that he wished us to become intimate with each other. That he wanted to have an affair with me.” She choked back a sob. “He would not listen when I told him how uncomfortable he made me feel, when he said such things to me. I told him to stop, numerous times, but it made no difference…”
James looked stricken. For a moment, he turned away, trying to control his emotions. “Please, go on,” he said, in a muffled voice. “Tell me everything.”
Her eyes filled with tears. “There is not much more to tell, James. He was persistent, as I say, and would not take no for an answer. He said that you would not care if we had an affair; that you barely noticed that I existed.” She hesitated. “He was quite contemptuous of you, but there was truth in what he said. Just enough to distress me. I knew that you took no interest in me, nor noticed anything that I did…”
He winced again. “I am so ashamed of myself,” he said, curtly. “To think that I once was such a man, that a so-called friend of mine could flirt and make suggestive comments to my wife under my very nose, and not be concerned in the slightest that I would notice or care.”
A single tear ran down her face at his words. She was only just starting to realise how deeply changed he was, how heartfelt. The accident had clarified things in his mind, once and for all.
“Please, do not distress yourself,” she said quietly. “Yes, he was persistent, but I handled it.” She paused. “I want you to know, James, that even though our own relationship was not good, I never entertained the thought of giving in to him. Not once. You are my husband, and I always loved you. I wouldneverbetray you in such a way…”
He reached out, gently caressing her face, stroking it. His blue-green eyes were bright with tears.
“I do know,” he said, in a low voice, gazing at her ardently. “You do not need to even utter the words, my Adaline. I know what a loyal and faithful wife you are.” He paused. “However, my friend has no such loyalty or faithfulness. I always suspected that he held me in contempt, but I tried to brush it off to justify how he would act over the years, from time to time.”
Adaline’s heart ached. “Isabel confided in me that he has always been jealous of you,” she said slowly. “I had no idea that you knew, and I could not talk about it with you prior to the accident. I could not talk about anything, James. You were so very resistant to developing any confidence between us, so much so that I did not feel I could speak frankly, at all.”
