Counterfeit Lady Read online

  “You choosin’ that over Nicole?” Travis drawled.

  “Mind your own business,” Clay said sharply and walked away, Travis’s laugh sounding behind him.

  Janie handed Clay a small cup of liquor. He drank it quickly, needing its warmth and strength. He gasped when he finished. The stuff was delicious. “What is this?”

  “Bourbon,” Travis answered. “It’s from the new land of Kentucky. Some peddler brought some in last week.”

  Clay held out his cup to Janie again.

  “Go easy on it. It’s strong stuff.”

  “But it’s Christmas!” Clay said with false joviality. “It’s time to eat, drink, and be merry.” He raised his cup in salute to Bianca, who was slowly circling the table, nibbling little bits and pieces of food from all the dishes.

  Everyone quieted as Nicole entered the room. She wore a gown of sapphire blue velvet, off the shoulders, with deep décolletage and thin embroidered blue ribbons around the high waist. Her long dark hair was down, perfectly arranged in fat curls, braided and entwined with dark blue ribbons studded with hundreds of seed pearls.

  Clay could only stand and gaze at her longingly as her eyes avoided him. Knowing that she had a right to be angry didn’t make the pain any less.

  Wes stepped forward and offered his arm to Nicole. “Just seeing a sight like you is enough of a Christmas gift for me. Don’t you agree, Clay?”

  Bianca spoke as Clay stared mutely. “Is that some of the fabric that was meant for me?” she asked sweetly. “Some that you and Janie took without permission?”

  “Clay!” Travis said, “You’d better do something with that woman before I do it.”

  “Be my guest,” Clay said calmly, then poured himself more bourbon.

  “Please,” Nicole said, still avoiding Clay’s eyes. “Let’s have some eggnog. I must get the twins. They’re in the mill admiring the new puppies. I won’t be a minute.”

  Clay set his empty cup down and walked to the door with her, where he took her cape from the wooden peg by the door.

  “I don’t want you near me,” she said under her breath. “Please stay here.”

  Clay ignored her as he opened the door and followed her outside. Putting her chin in the air, she walked ahead of him, trying to pretend he wasn’t there.

  “It’s a pretty little nose, but if you don’t lower it you’re going to stumble.”

  She stopped in her tracks and whirled on him. “It’s a joke to you, isn’t it? Something that is life and death to me is only a cause for amusement to you. This time, you’re not going to talk your way out of my anger. I’ve been hurt and humiliated too many times.”

  Her eyes were enormous and blazing in the starlight as she looked up at him, her mouth drawn tightly until her lower lip nearly disappeared. All that was left was her full, sensual upper lip. He ached to kiss it. “I’ve never meant to hurt you,” he said quietly. “And certainly not to humiliate you.”

  “Then, out of ignorance, you’ve done a fine job, a superior job! You called me a whore five minutes after I met you. You allowed me to run your home, yet discarded me as soon as your dear Bianca appeared.”

  “Stop it!” he commanded, grabbing her shoulders harshly. “I know our relationship hasn’t been an ordinary one, but—”

  “Ordinary!” she said sarcastically. “I’m not even sure it’s been a relationship. I think I am a whore. You snap your fingers, and I come running.”

  “I wish that were true.” His voice was heavy with amusement.

  Uttering what was obviously a French oath, she snarled at him and kicked his shin very hard.

  He released her as he bent to rub his shin. Limping, he hurried after her and grabbed her arm. “You’re going to listen to me!”

  “Like I did when you told me about Beth? Or like the time you asked me to remarry you? Am I supposed to be naive enough to believe you again? Then, when I’m vulnerable and fall into your arms, will you again tire of me and return to your dear Bianca? There’s only so much a woman will do for the man she loves.”

  “Nicole,” Clay said, holding her firmly by one arm and caressing the other one with his hand, “I know you’ve been hurt. I’ve been hurt, too.”

  “Poor dear,” she smiled. “You have to make do with only two women in your bed.”

  His jaw hardened. “You know what Bianca’s like. I get closer than a foot, and she turns green.”

  Nicole’s eyes widened; her voice was high. “You want sympathy from me?”

  He fastened his hands on her shoulders. “I want your trust. I want your love. Could you stop hating me for a minute and just consider that there’s a reason why I haven’t seen you? Is that too much to ask after what we’ve been through? Maybe I have done some things to make you distrust me, but I love you. Doesn’t that mean anything to you?”

  “Why?” she whispered, blinking back her tears. “You just left me with no word, just dropped me as if you were through with me. On the island, all I thought about was getting home, the two of us together at Arundel Hall.”

  He pulled her close to him, felt her tears wetting his shirt. “Didn’t Isaac mention his cousin?”

  The time on the island was a blur in her mind.

  “I wanted to explain then and there, but I couldn’t. I was so frightened that I couldn’t even speak to you about it.”

  She tried to raise her head, but he pushed it back down. “Frightened? But I was safe. Abe was gone. You weren’t afraid of Isaac, were you?”

  “Bianca is Isaac’s cousin. They’re one of the reasons she came to America. She guaranteed Abe a bull and some heifers if he’d take you away until she could get the marriage annulled. One of old Elijah’s daughters told Wes about the plan.”

  “And Bianca told you where I was?”

  He pulled her even closer. “For a price. She told me that if I didn’t marry her, she’d have one of her many relatives return you to France.” He could feel Nicole shiver against him; the thought was as horrible to her as it was to him.

  “Why didn’t you tell me? Why did you just leave me so abruptly?”

  “Because you would have marched up to the house and defied Bianca. You would have dared her to try to send you back.”

  “It’s what should have been done.”

  “No, I can’t risk losing you,” he said as he stroked her hair.

  She pulled away from him. “Why do you tell me this now? Why aren’t you still cowering behind Bianca’s ample skirts?”

  Shaking his head, he chuckled. “I talked to Isaac since he began working for you. He said the reason you went with Abe so quietly was because you thought I was in trouble. Was I supposed to do less, knowing that your life could be in danger?”

  “Let’s go back inside and tell Bianca.”

  “No!” It was a command. “I will not risk you, do you understand? All she has to do is arrange for your capture again. No! I won’t risk it.”

  “So, do you propose that we spend the rest of our lives meeting at Christmas just so Bianca can have what she wants?” Nicole asked angrily.

  He ran his finger along her upper lip. “You have a sharp tongue. I prefer it when you use it for something besides lashing me.”

  “Maybe you need to be lashed. You certainly seem afraid of Bianca.”

  “Damn you! I’ve been very patient, but I’ve had enough of your insults. I’m not afraid of Bianca. It’s taken all my control to keep from killing the bitch. But I knew that if I hurt her, I’d hurt you.”

  “Isaac said Abe left Virginia. Are you sure there are any more relatives? Bianca could be lying.”

  “Wes went back to the girl who’d helped him before. She said that Bianca was related to her mother, and her mother had hundreds of relatives.”

  “But surely not many of them would do what Bianca wanted.”

  “People would do anything for money,” he said in disgust. “And Bianca has all of the Armstrong plantation at her disposal.”

  Nicole put her arms around his c