Page 136 of The Language of Love

She chuckled. “Poor Edmund is right, then.”

“Oh?”

“Yes, he is certain that you bear a grudge and that you mean to dispossess us both and see us destroyed.”

“Edmund is not as stupid as I thought.”

Her smile hardened. “The solicitors were kind enough to let me know that any money I receive would come from you. Are you saying that you will make my life difficult, Henry?”

“Goodness, no. In fact, I’ve already arranged to have men work on the Dower House next week. If things go well, you should be able to move in before Michaelmas. As for the annuity, I funded it immediately after Charles’s death and the money shall continue to be paid out for the rest of your life.”

He didn’t expect any thanks from her, and she didn’t disappoint him.

“I’m sure it will be amusing to watch me try to survive on such a meager amount.”

Henry smiled.

She sighed. “I know you are under no obligation to fix the house or give me any money.”

“You are correct—there is no legal obligation, but there is a moral one.”

“I daresay I should thank you.”

“Please save your thanks, Julia.”

“I don’t suppose you would consider allowing me to live in the London house, rather than at the Dower House?” she had the effrontery to ask.

“I’m afraid not. A friend of mine is living at Rotherhithe House for the foreseeable future.”

Her lips twisted into a bitter smile. “You know it would be better if I did not live right on your doorstep.”

“Better for whom?”

“For both of us,” she snapped. Her mask slipped, and she allowed her eyes to blaze with the loathing she felt for him. “Surely you’re not such an ignorant peasant that you can’t see that?”

Henry grinned, beginning to enjoy himself. “What can you expect from a servant’s get, my dear?”

Julia gave a harsh bark of laughter. “Oh, how you must be enjoying yourself at this moment.”

Henry didn’t argue with her. “So, you believe I should buy you a place to live elsewhere when there is a perfectly good house here?”

She got to her feet, skewering him with a look of disdain. “I refuse to squirm for your amusement. If that was all you wished to say, may I go?”

“Let me get the door for you.”

“Don’t bother.” She strode from the room with unladylike haste, slamming the door almost as loudly as Edmund had done the day before.

Henry waited for some feeling of satisfaction to flood him, but he felt nothing except for a vague sense of embarrassment that he had bullied a woman with absolutely no power.

That is what he’d become: a bully.

***

The weeks flew by in a busy, hectic blur, which was just as well since Annis did not want to have too much time on her hands to ponder what had happened to her briefly happy marriage.

Not that her life was unpleasant. In fact, other than Henry sleeping in his own bed at night, they rubbed along fine.

Indeed, they had spent not one, but two lovely days together in York. On both occasions Henry had taken time from his busy schedule to explore the town and visit the Minster with her.