She tugged at her skirts and fixed her bodice, gazing down while he buttoned her dress. Endurance was her best defence. She wouldn’t suffer this humiliation once she left him.
He grabbed her chin and forced her to stare at him. “Don’t try to deceive me, Cora. There won’t be any marquess’s threat to protect you.”
She shrugged herself free. “I hate you.” She infused as much loathing as she could into her words. It was odd how saying ‘I hate you’ was as powerful and liberating as saying ‘I love you.’
“That makes everything better.”
A footman seemingly appeared out of nowhere to open the door. How embarrassing. Likely, the man had seen the whole scene. Jacob headed towards the carriage, tossing orders over his shoulder to the footman.
She took a moment to calm her erratic heartbeat. The bracelet caught the light, shining with pretty glimmers. If she could sell it, she would have more than enough for her escape. Except that Jacob never let her keep any jewels. He was careful with the silver, too. Even her wedding ring was stashed in a strongbox in his room, and the household was too terrified of him to help her. Never mind that she’d found a way to stashaside money, to steal from him right under his nose. There was a disturbing pleasure in knowing she tricked him.
They didn’t exchange any words in the carriage, and thank heaven for that. She had nothing to say to him. The reason he took her with him was only because avoiding gossip was paramount. If she disappeared entirely from society, people would talk. God forbid someone might imply she had an affair. Oh, she’d like to see how he dealt with the gossip when she was gone.
He grabbed her arm again when she was about to climb out of the carriage.
“Don’t think Stark scared me,” he said in a low tone. His breath stroked her cheek. “It would be unwise of you to believe so.”
“Trust me, I know the depths of your cruelty. It’s hard to forget.” She headed for the entrance of the museum before he could say anything. A small victory. A short respite. For his revenge would hurt her ten times more. Her sore breasts were proof of that.
five
AFTER THE SEMIDARKNESS in the carriage, the bright lights of the museum glared at Cora, and for a moment a tall marble statue of Zeus seemed to move towards her as if to admonish her behaviour towards her husband.
Well, go away, Zeus.
Jacob took her arm from behind her. “You aren’t in the position to upset me.”
“All I ask is for you to leave David and me alone.”
He tightened his grip on her arm, sinking his fingers into her flesh. “You and that rat depend on me. I pay for the food you two eat, the clothes you wear, and the rat’s tutors. You’d be nothing without me.”
“We’d be free without you.” She tried to yank her arm free, wincing as his fingers didn’t yield. She would get bruised. “You are nothing.”
For a split second, his features contracted in an ugly mask as if the evil underneath his angelic beauty had come to the surface. Was she a horrible person for feeling pleasure in hurting him? She hated how he’d changed her through the years. He’d brought out her dark side. A side she needed to survive.
“Lord Roxbury.” Lady Kingsley sauntered towards them, smiling fondly at her. “Lady Roxbury.”
Cora curtsied, taking the opportunity to remove her arm from Jacob’s bruising grip. “My lady.”
Jacob’s face transformed in the span of a second. The hard lines of his features softened into those of a man with sweet charm. From devil to angel faster than she could blink. She recognised the signs of his manipulation because many times his calculated charm had fooled her. Judging by how Lady Kingsley flushed and batted her eyelashes, Jacob fooled her too.
“My lady.” He took the lady’s hand and kissed it with a perfect bow straight out of the gentleman’s manual. “It’s always a pleasure to see you.” The warm, caring way he said it made it sound genuine.
Lady Kingsley blushed like a debutante, falling prey to his charm.
Heaven. Cora wanted to scream that he was a fraud and a deceiver. If she could, she would shake Lady Kingsley’s shoulders and tell her to run because he was a master of deceit and never meant what he said unless it was a threat.
Lady Kingsley’s smile never faded as she stared at Jacob as one would stare at a saint. She couldn’t be more wrong. “I’m glad you decided to attend tonight’s auction, Roxbury.”
Jacob gracefully bowed. “May I ask what the purpose of tonight’s event is? Your invitation didn’t mention it.”
Lady Kingsley fanned herself. “We’re raising funds for the establishment of a women’s house in Whitechapel.”
“Is Mrs. Sterling starting her endeavour again?” Cora asked before she could stop herself.
One of the reasons she hadn’t left Jacob was because Mrs. Sterling’s women’s shelter had been closed and dismantled at the request of a group of lords and ladies, on the grounds that the shelter caused disruption. Another slap in the face tothose women in need of protection and compassion. Cora hadn’t known where to go. With no money or friends, she’d stayed.
Lady Kingsley shook her head. “Not Mrs. Sterling. Since her husband died and the shelter was closed, Mrs. Sterling withdrew from her charity work. These funds are for a new, better shelter built in a more suitable area where no one will be upset.”
