The earl, who was blissfully recovering from his own pleasure, gazed down at her, astonished. She was clinging to him like a limpet, and he could feel the wet of her tears against his chest.
“Good God, woman, whatever is the meaning of this?”
“I hate you,” she sobbed, but her hands tightened about his back.
“Ah, a natural enough feeling, I suppose.” He became concerned that his weight was too great for her and rolled over on his side, bringing her with him. He imagined that her pregnancy was making her unpredictable and allowed himself to tease her. “At least you haven’t taken your pleasure with me and rolled over to sleep and to snore.”
He felt her breasts move against his chest as she reared up to frown at him. “How dare you, you wretched man? I don’t snore.”
“No, of course you do not.” He stroked her tousled hair back from her flushed face.
He said, “Will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?”
For a fleeting moment, he saw naked pain in her eyes and wished that Edward Lyndhurst had never been born.
But he was only partially correct. Edward had been but a vague, shadowy thought. Her pain was born of her fear, fear of herself and fear of a future that she could not as yet fathom. She lowered her eyes from his face and whispered, “Yes, if it is what you want.”
“It is what I have always wanted,” he said firmly, and lightly kissed the tip of her nose. He eased her down against his side. “Sleep now, my love, and don’t be concerned that you will keep me awake with your snoring. It is soft and ladylike.”
Chapter 17
La Contessa Giovanna Giusti was in a rage. She hurled a priceless, exquisitely designed Ming vase, a prized possession of her late husband’s, against the mantlepiece and watched it shatter into myriad broken slivers.
“Don’t just stand there, you fool,” she screamed at a cowering servant, “clean up the pieces!”
She found the violent act calmed her enough to prepare to meet Caesare.
She lay beneath him that afternoon, grimacing at her body’s discomfort. He had taken her violently, with no thought to her pleasure. A smile curved her lips upward. She had heard it rumored that Caesare was not always the polished and gallant gentleman, that he had forced more than one woman. She gently eased herself away from him.
“My dearest Caesare,” she said gently, “you have sorely used me. Have I said or done anything to make you angry?”
“Damn him,” Caesare said in a low voice. He seemed to recall himself and turned slowly to face Giovanna. “Forgive me,” he said, almost as an afterthought.
“You have heard the news, I see,” she said, her voice soft, commiserating.
“Yes,” he said, not questioning how she knew of Cassandra’s pregnancy. “The earl joyfully informed me last evening at dinner. Later, he told me of the need for haste.” He paused a moment and pulled himself up on his elbows. “Damn, the English wench has done me in. I will become as nothing to his great lordship, now that this girl holds all his attention, not even his heir.”
Giovanna’s mind raced ahead. “Perhaps,” she said thoughtfully, “the wench can be bought off.”
“You talk like a fool, Giovanna. Do you forget how very wealthy my half-brother is? Buy her off with what?”
Giovanna lowered her head. “I am sorry, Caesare. It is just that I so dislike seeing you upset by all of this. Surely you always knew that the earl would wed and sire legitimate children—sons to carry on his name and title.”
“I am still his heir now, Giovanna.”
“Not for many more months, it would seem.”
He wanted to hit her, until reason asserted itself, and he shrugged. “There is nothing to be done.”
God, but he was weak, Giovanna thought. “Dear Caesare,” she began, “I have no desire to see you cheated out of your birthright by some silly foreign slut. It is not right that the Parese lands and wealth pass to her English children. It is my feeling, despite the impression the earl is giving everyone, that the English girl has tricked him into marriage. She wants his wealth for herself and her children. I think, Caesare, that she is a scheming little bitch, intent on destroying all ties you now hold with the earl.”