Chapter 17 #2
This manipulative, calculating wench was incapable of love, incapable of thinking of anyone but herself.
He didn’t believe her story for a minute.
Any woman snobbish enough to reject him just because of his background would be too insensitive to honor the wishes of a dying heiress.
Susanna’s greed lay at the heart of this charade, and nothing else.
She might have been an actress born to the stage, she had deceived him so completely.
Well, there were ways to make her pay, to hurt her as much as he was suffering right now.
It was time to think of the revenge that might still be within his grasp.
Yet one agonizing question still burned in his mind. He had to know the answer before their discussion went any farther.
“Why didn’t you tell me how you felt at the beginning, rather than accept my courtship and play me for a fool?
When I think of all the time we spent together…
” He swallowed hard, his anger almost choking him.
“Dammit, woman, you let me kiss you! Hold you! Touch you! You led me to believe that you wanted to marry me, that you might even lov—”
Adam caught himself just in time, knowing he had revealed too much already.
He swore in that moment that the last thing he would ever tell her again was that he loved her, even when he knew that he still did.
It didn’t seem to make any difference to his heart whether she was an heiress or a waiting-maid.
God help him, he still wanted her, and not just for his revenge. That made him an even bigger fool.
“Everything you said to me, everything you did was a lie,” he went on harshly when she still hadn’t answered him, her eyes large in a lovely face grown pale. “Your promises, your kisses, your tears, the other night in your bed…Damn you, why did you lead me on? Why?”
Unsettled by the pain in his eyes, Susanna nonetheless told herself that it was just his male pride which had been sorely bruised and nothing more.
How could it be? He had made it clear he didn’t care about her, Susanna Jane Guthrie, a common waiting-maid.
In fact, he seemed to hate her for what she had done to him.
He probably had every intention of throwing her in prison no matter what she said.
“I had no choice,” she finally replied. “I didn’t know anything about tobacco or running a plantation, and until I found the proper husband, I needed someone to manage the place. If you had known the truth, you would have left Briarwood.”
“It’s as simple as that?” he asked, his tone incredulous.
“Yes.”
He gave a short laugh, but it held no amusement. “So you chose Dominick Spencer for your proper husband.”
“Why not?” she demanded. “He’s wealthy and respected.
One of the governor’s councilors. Lady Redmayne taught Camille that she must marry someone who would enrich her fortune, and since I was here in her place, that is what I fully intended to do.
Marry wisely, like Camille asked me to—the richest, most prominent gentleman I could find.
I knew I didn’t have much time, especially when you began to press me.
That’s why I went to Raven’s Point yesterday and arranged with Dominick to announce our betrothal at the Tates’.
He had already said he wanted to marry me. ”
“And when did he do that?” Adam queried, a tic flashing along his jaw.
“At my welcome ball, during the first dance.”
“How like him not to waste a moment in pursuit of his unsuspecting quarry,” he muttered.
“I…I imagined that hearing the news today might upset you. I always sensed that you didn’t like him, probably because you used to work for him. But there wasn’t any way to spare you…”
“You don’t know the half of why I hate that bastard, Susanna, and I’m certainly not going to explain now,” he began. “What would you say if I told you that your precious Dominick is not quite the man he makes himself out to be?”
“I don’t understand—”
“No, you don’t understand. You don’t understand anything!
What did you see when you went to Raven’s Point yesterday?
A sumptuous house, yes, but when you went inside, did you find it somewhat lacking in comfort?
Did you think it not quite up to the luxury you might have expected from such a rich man? ”
“No, I didn’t,” she responded tartly, not willing to give him the satisfaction of knowing that was exactly what she had thought.
“Really? I’m surprised. And outside, did you see anything strange?
No ill-fed, ill-clothed slaves? By the way, Dominick Spencer doesn’t have any free laborers at Raven’s Point, as we do at Briarwood.
His only free slaves are dead slaves, and the few lucky ones like myself who managed to earn back their indentures before he worked us to death.
He doesn’t employ any more indentured servants for that very reason.
He didn’t like having to set anyone free, white or black.
He imports convicts now, I hear. They make better sport. ”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she insisted stubbornly, willing Corliss’s disturbing observations from her mind. “I didn’t see any of the things you’ve described.”
“Well, you would have eventually, but not in time to save you from making the biggest mistake of your life,” Adam said tightly, then he abruptly changed the subject. “You said that Lady Redmayne would never come here to the colonies. Do you believe that to be true?”
“If I didn’t, I would never have attempted to fulfill my promise to Camille,” she said, not sure why he wanted to know. “Whatever you might think of me now, Adam, I am no fool.”
“What I think of you…” He grabbed her arm and began pulling her along with him toward the carriage.
“What are you doing?” she cried, his cruel grip hurting her. At his hard expression, apprehension flooded her. “Where are we going? Back to Briarwood?”
“No. Williamsburg.
“Oh, God, you’re taking me to prison, aren’t you? After I told you the truth? You could at least let me go. I’ll leave the colony, go back to England. You’ll never see me again—”
“Now why would I want to do that?” He stopped to face her, his eyes ablaze with anger.
“Why would I want to spoil something you have so skillfully engineered? I’m the only one who knows about your masquerade, Susanna, and I plan to keep it that way.
But I can’t do it without your help, so now you must make a very important decision.
Either continue on as Camille Cary and become my wife this very afternoon, or I shall convince the constable that you are a murderess and see you hang before the week is out. ”
“You wouldn’t!”
“Try me.”
At that moment Susanna became convinced with icy certainty that he had never been in love with her.
It was only Briarwood he wanted and he would have it, even if it meant forcing her to marry him against her will.
She had been right about him from the very start.
He was nothing but a vicious, coldhearted, opportunistic blackguard—
Suddenly she thought she saw uneasiness in his gaze, almost as if he feared from her hesitation that she might choose prison and its terrors over marrying him. But then it was gone, and he was shaking her so hard that her head snapped back.
“Choose, Susanna, for you have tried my patience long enough!”
“I said I was no fool!” she cried, infuriated by his rough treatment of her. “How can I not choose life over death…even if it means I must spend my days with a conniving bastard such as you? Maybe to hang would be a better fate!”
For a fleeting instant his expression became so thunderous that she thought he might strike her, but the poignant anguish in his eyes tempered her fear. Why did he seem to hate her, when at the same time she sensed a hurt deep within him?