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A scowl briefly surfaced, but he smoothly recovered and sat. Cautiously, Ainsley perched on the edge of a straight-backed chair several feet away from him.
“Ainsley, as I explained previously,” he said, “I didn’t assault you. At the time, you could hardly blame me for thinking you were quite as willing as I was.”
Her outraged gasp had him holding up a hand. “But as I said, it was clearly a misunderstanding, which I regret. I’m eager to clear it up and leave this whole ugly business in the past, where it belongs.”
“And as I told you at the time, it was no misunderstanding,” she said through clenched teeth. “You knew very well I wasn’t willing. You took me without my consent.”
When he let out a snort of derision, her fingers itched to snatch up the vase of mums at her elbow and throw it at his head. Instead, she adopted her coldest manner.
“And I insist that you call me Lady Ainsley, or even better, Mrs. Kendrick.”
His gaze went flinty. “I am just about out of patience, my dear. It’s time for you to stop this nonsense and come home.”
She folded her hands in her lap. “I am home.”
He waved a dismissive hand. “Where is Mr. Kendrick, by the by?”
“At his offices. Unlike you, he works for a living.”
He simply laughed. “My poor girl, reduced to the wife of a tradesman. No wonder your long-suffering parents are so upset.”
“They’ll get over it.”
“No, they won’t,” he said, his voice hard. “I’ll see to that.”
His malicious expression pushed bile up into her throat. Still, she began to feel cautiously confident. He’d yet to mention Tira, which suggested Mamma had kept that ultimate leverage to herself, after all.
“Now we get to the point,” she said. “How, exactly, are you threatening my parents?”
He studied her for a moment before pasting on another charming smile. “Ainsley, my love, surely you can see that—”
“I am not your love. I wasneveryour love. I was only ever a possession to you. Well, I’m afraid you must give up any pretensions to a prior claim. I will not be divorcing my husband. It’s entirely absurd to think that I would.”
He stared at her, incredulous. “If you’re telling me that you have affection for the fellow, I refuse to believe it. End this farce now, and come back to the life you were born to lead. I’ll give you whatever you want, I promise.”
“I want nothing of yours.” She lifted her chin. “And I have much more than mere affection for my husband. He’s the finest man I’ve ever met, and I’m honored to be his wife.”
The marquess leapt to his feet, moving toward her with surprising speed. Ainsley was barely able to scramble up and put the chair between them before he reached her.
“You aremine, Ainsley,” he snarled. “You’ve been mine for years, whether you knew it or not. Andno onetakes away what’s mine.”
His vicious expression and the ugly tone of his voice turned her blood to ice. In that moment, she believed he might kill her. Every muscle in her body urged flight. But she’d done that once before, and trouble had arrived on her doorstep anyway. It was time to end the madness once and for all.
“You do not own me, my lord. I am free to make my own decisions with my future. And my future will never include you.”
Though his complexion remained a mottled, angry red, he regained a measure of control. “You’re making a grievous mistake, my girl. If you wish to avoid the ruination of your family, I suggest you do as your mother suggested. I will be happy to set you up in a quiet house in the country for the requisite time. Or a town house in Edinburgh, if you prefer.” He suddenly laughed. “I could visit you, in fact. That would certainly make the charge of adultery convincing to the courts.”
She shook her head in anger and disbelief. “Aside from the fact that I will never allow you to touch me again, have you gone entirely mad? The scandal would be enormous, and would reflect on you andyourfamily as well as mine. Why would you wish that? To putallof us through that?”
“As I said, what’s mine is mine. Until I say it isn’t.”
“You mean this is simply about your pride? That cannot possibly be true.”
She studied his cold expression, trying to figure it out. Yes, Cringlewood was an incredibly proud, arrogant man who was used to getting whatever he wanted, but something was off. Revenge for embarrassing him was one thing, but this was . . .
“Something else is at work here,” she said.
When his gaze darted away for a moment, understanding hit her like an earthquake.
