Counterfeit Lady Read online

  He hugged her closer. “You know I wouldn’t take them away from you. It’s just that you have too many people and too much to do.”

  She kissed his shoulder. “You’re kind to worry, but they’re really no problem. Now, if you wanted to take Janie and Gerard, I might consider your proposal.”

  “Is Janie giving you problems?”

  “No, not really. She and Gerard hate each other, and they constantly pick at each other. I just get tired of listening, that’s all.”

  “If Janie hates someone, it’s usually for a good reason. You haven’t said much about your stepfather.”

  “My stepfather.” Nicole smiled. “It’s odd to think of Gerard as being a replacement for my father.”

  “Tell me about your life. I feel so removed from you.”

  She smiled again, feeling his love all around her. “Gerard is infatuated with being part of the French aristocracy. It seems so humorous when you realize there are hundreds of people in France wanting to be part of the common people.”

  “From what I hear, his being in your house isn’t exactly humorous. You know that if you need anything—”

  She put her fingertips over his lips. “You’re all I need. Sometimes, when it gets very noisy and everyone seems to be pulling at me, I stop and think about you. This morning when I woke, I was terribly excited about the warmth in the air. Do you think the weather is the same in the west as it is here? And do you really know how to build a house? When do you think we can leave? I’ve been wanting to pack for a long time, but I didn’t feel it was time yet to tell Janie.”

  She stopped when he didn’t make any response. She rose on one elbow to look at him. “Clay, is everything all right?”

  “Perfectly,” he said flatly. “At least, it will be.”

  “What do you mean? Something is wrong. I can tell.”

  “No, nothing serious anyway. Nothing is going to upset our plans to leave.”

  She frowned at him. “Clay, I know you, and I know you have a problem. You haven’t mentioned Bianca, yet I pour out all my troubles to you.”

  He smiled slightly at her. “You wouldn’t know how to pour out your troubles. You are so kind, so loving, so forgiving, that half the time you don’t even see how people use you.”

  “Use me?” she laughed. “No one uses me.”

  “I do, the twins do, your mother, her husband, even Janie. We all impose on you.”

  “You make me sound like a saint. I have many things I want out of life, but I’m practical. I know that I must wait to get what I want.”

  “And what do you want?” he asked quietly.

  “You. I want you and my own home and the twins. And maybe some other children—your children.”

  “You’ll have it! I swear it! It’s all going to be yours.”

  She stared at him for a long while. “I want to know what is wrong. It has to do with Bianca, doesn’t it? Has she found out about our plans? If she’s threatening you again, I won’t stand for it this time. My patience is nearly gone.”

  Clay put his arm around her firmly and pulled her head to his shoulder. “I want you to listen to me, to all of the story before you say a word.” He took a deep breath. “First of all, I want to tell you that it will make no difference to our plans.”

  “It?”

  She tried to lift her head to look at him, but he stopped her.

  “Just listen to me, then I’ll answer questions.” He paused, staring at the ceiling of the cave. It had been three weeks since Bianca had told him she was pregnant. At first, he’d laughed at her, saying that she lied. She’d merely stood there and smiled at him, so self-satisfied. She’d been the one to have the doctor come to her and examine her. Since then, Clay had lived in hell. He couldn’t believe the news. It had taken a long time to decide that Nicole meant more to him than the child Bianca carried.

  “Bianca is pregnant,” he said quietly. When Nicole didn’t react, he went on. “The doctor came and confirmed it. I’ve thought about it for a long time, and I’ve decided to go ahead with our plans to leave Virginia. We’ll make our home in a new place, together.”

  Still, Nicole did not say a word. She lay on his shoulder as calmly as if he’d said nothing.

  “Nicole? Did you hear me?”

  “Yes,” she said quite evenly.

  He loosened his arm so that he could move back from her, see her face.

  Without looking at his eyes, she sat up, then turned her back to him and slowly pulled her chemise over her head.

  “Nicole, I wish you’d say something. I wouldn’t have told you at all except Bianca’s already told half the county. I didn’t want you to hear it from someone else. I thought I should tell you.”

  She didn’t say a word as she slipped her dress over her head, rolled one woolen stocking on, then the other.

  “Nicole!” Clay demanded, then grabbed her shoulders to turn her to look at him. He gasped at what he saw there. Her brown eyes, usually so warm and loving, were cold and hard.

  “I don’t believe you want me to say anything.”

  He pulled her to him, but her body was rigid against him. “Please talk to me. Let’s get this thing out in the open and discuss it. Once we clear the air, we’ll be able to make plans.”

  She stared at him, half smiling. “Make plans? Plans to go away and leave an innocent child with no one to care for it except Bianca? Don’t you know she’ll make a magnificent mother?”

  “What the hell do I care about her motherhood skills? You’re what I want, you and you alone.”

  She lifted her hands and pushed his away. “Not once have you said that the child couldn’t be yours.”

  He stared at her, his eyes never blinking. He’d expected this, and he planned to be honest. “I was drunk, and it was only the one night. She put herself in my bed.”

  She gave him a cold smile. “I guess I’m supposed to forgive what’s done under the influence of alcohol. After all, look at all that’s happened to me because of it. I was drunk the first time you made love to me.”

  “Nicole.” He leaned toward her.

  She jumped backward. “Don’t touch me,” she said under her breath. “Don’t ever touch me again.”

  He grabbed her shoulder, hard. “You’re my wife, and I have a right to touch you.”

  She pulled back her hand and slapped him as hard as she could. “Your wife! How dare you say that to me? When have I ever been anything but your whore? You use me when you need me to get rid of your physical desires. Isn’t Bianca enough for you? Are you the type of man who needs more than one woman for his lust?”

  Her handprint stood out vividly on his skin. “You know that isn’t true. You know I’ve always been honest with you.”

  “Know? What do I know about you? I know your body, I know you have power over me, both mentally and physically. I know you can get me to do what you want; you can make me believe the most outrageous stories.”

  “Listen to me, believe me. I love you. We’ll go away together.”

  She threw back her head and laughed. “You are the one who doesn’t know me. I admit I haven’t shown much pride while I was around you. Actually, I’ve done little more than flop on my back when you enter a room, or on my knees, or astride you. I don’t even ask what your pleasure is; I just obey.”

  “Stop it! This isn’t you!”

  “It isn’t? Who is the real Nicole? Everyone thinks she is an earth mother, nurturing everyone, taking the responsibility of everyone’s problems, asking so little from others. It’s not like that! Nicole Courtalain is a woman, a full-fledged woman, with all the greeds and passions of other women. Bianca’s so much smarter than I am. She sees what she wants, and she goes after it. She doesn’t sit at home and wait patiently for a message from some man to meet her for a morning romp. She knows that isn’t the way to get what she wants.”

  “Nicole,” Clay said, “please calm down. You’re saying things you don’t mean.”

  “No,” she smiled. “I thi