JADE STAR by Catherine Coulter

‘But I’m not your wife,’ she said, and bit down hard on her lower lip.

‘Of course you are,’ he said sharply, disregarding the true meaning of her words. ‘Now, do you believe me? Trust me?’

‘Yes, of course. I’m sorry, Michael.’ She fingered the beautiful emerald necklace about her throat that he’d give her two weeks before. He was so generous to her, so kind, and here she was questioning him like a silly shrew. She wanted to apologize again, but instead she heard herself asking, ‘Have you gone to see Jane Branigan?-‘

‘Yes,’ he said simply. ‘I would have taken you with me, but I wasn’t certain that it would be wise.’

Jules swallowed a bit painfully. ‘Did you kiss her?’

‘No.’ ‘Did you want to?’

Yes, he thought, he had wanted to. He hurt from need. And he didn’t know what to do about it, because he’d promised Jules he’d be faithful. He lied easily: ‘No.’

‘And if Jane got sick, you wouldn’t feel anything if you had to touch her?’

9An

‘Of course I’d feel things. I am fond of her, Jules. I would be frightened that she would be too ill for me to help her.’

‘And if I were ill?’

He smiled at that. ‘I’d be scared silly. So don’t get sick, all right?’

Jules felt as though she’d dug a hole a good ten feet deep and leapt into it. She fought to get out. ‘Thomas should be here soon,’ she said.

‘Yes, he should,’ Saint said, relieved at her abrupt change of topic. ‘I’ve been thinking about him, and probably the best thing for him would be to go back East, perhaps to NewYork, to medical school.’

‘But he’s so young!’

‘Not at all. He’s twenty-two, isn’t he?’ She nodded.

He found himself looking at her closely. She looked beautiful, he was used to that, but she also looked a bit pale and too thin. He frowned. Surely she couldn’t be lonely. Chauncey and Agatha both spent a good deal of time with her – she was always visiting Chauncey to play with Alexandra. Now that Byrony and Brent were back, he was certain she would become friends with Byrony.

He had forced himself not to touch her. He couldn’t bear it. When he went to bed at night, he was careful to keep his door closed.

Irli

It was another tangible barrier that kept her safe from him. Even when he woke up during the night, his breathing harsh, his groin aching, he’d see that closed door.

‘Jules,’ he said suddenly, ‘are you happy?’ He saw her quiver, but she didn’t look up at him. No, I feel like I’m living a half-life. I’m frightened that Wilkes will take me every time I leave the house. I’m afraid that Wilkes will send men after you.

‘Of course,’ she said, forcing her head up. He flinched at the haunted look in her eyes, but he didn’t know what to do. Dammit, he thought, so frustrated that he wanted to yell. How much longer could they continue living like this? He knew she had to have time, time to forget, to heal, but God, it hurt. He heard himself say in a tight, very controlled voice, ‘I want you to be happy.’

‘Yes,’ she said, ‘I know that you do.’

The day before the subscription ball., Thomas DuPres arrived in San Francisco. He looked fit, handsome, and darkly tanned, and Jules didn’t want to let him out of her sight. He limped only slightly. Saint, pleased to see his wife laughing, chattering like a magpie, her face flushed with pleasure, sat back drinking a

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brandy, watching the two of them. Unlike Jules, Thomas had brownish-red hair and his eyes were brown. But, he saw, they both were possessed of the same stubborn chin.

‘I must say, Thomas,’ he said during a brief lull in the conversation, ‘you’re looking much better than I thought you would. No more pain?’

‘Narry a bit, Saint. Reverend Baldwin gave me a clean bill of health three weeks ago, said my leg was mending just fine, then told me to fatten up before I came here. He said you’d blame him., Saint, if I showed up on your doorstep looking like a scarecrow. Jules,’ he continued to his sister, ‘we’ve both been disowned by our father, but I didn’t think you’d mind particularly.’

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