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increasing fright. He had taken a chance with her,
showing her the ways of being submissive to a man’s heavy, but loving touch.
She could turn around and blackmail him, report their activities to Martine. He
could just imagine all of London learning of their tryst and how he prefers to
spank women.
    Christ! How many people would consider that assault? He could end up incarcerated, or even worse, locked away in an
asylum for his deviant behavior. That would top any scandal brought on by the
Marquess of Stoughton and his tryst with marchioness in the pleasure gardens,
as well as the Earl of Bridgeton marrying Lady Thompson in Gretna Green moments
before she was due to marry the Duke of Downsbury.
    I’m
doomed.

 
     
     
    Chapter Two
     
    Cordelia grimaced
as the marchioness joined her in the parlor for tea. She could not imagine how
much her ladyship had endured, but knew how vicious London could be and how
vindictive her husband was. For what it was worth, she could not have been more
pleased when Lord Thompson had divulged that her husband had lost all his
holdings and was imprisoned at Newgate.
    “Your Grace, you
have my apologies for my swooning the other evening.”
    Cordelia waved off
the comment as if it were nothing. “Please, my lady, there is no need to
address me with formality any longer. I have renounced any of my associations
to Richard and would prefer to be addressed as Mrs. Weylen. However, if you can
ever find it in your heart to forgive what I have to say, then I would be happy
if you used my name freely.”
    The marchioness
nodded in acknowledgement. “Go on. My husband said you had some news to give
me.”
    “I do not expect
you to understand, nor do I expect your forgiveness. For if I was in your
situation, I am not certain that I would be so willing to listen. I can,
however, be clear in saying that I never, ever had an affair with your late
husband. Nor have I ever entertained the thought. Henry owed my husband a great
deal of money…or so he said. The night he was caught in my apartments, he was
there delivering a message from my lover, the Earl of Wendelhem.”
    Cordelia stopped
to wipe away a tear slipping out of the corner of her eye when the marchioness
handed her a square of linen.
    “I am so sorry,
Cordelia. While some of us have endured displeasure at the hands of your
husband, I suppose no one suffered more than yourself. He is a cruel, cruel
man. You were with Wycliffe’s child, then?”
    Cordelia sucked in
a sharp breath and nodded then peered to the door at the end of the room.
    “Do not worry.
Little Matthew is in good hands, I assure you. To be honest, now that I think
of it, he has got the earl’s eyes.”
    The duchess smiled
and her belly fluttered, thinking of the precious gift that was her son. “He
does, does he not?” Then her expression turned sour. “Richard is a shallow man
and will always seek fortune wherever it is easily made. Perhaps before I
depart, I will visit him in disguise. I cannot believe he has received his
comeuppance with a vengeance.”
    “Agreed. However,
I wonder what his reaction would be to see his duchess back from the dead. Can
you imagine his horror at seeing his duchess while he is dressed like a
pauper?”
    Cordelia couldn’t
help but laugh hysterically. To her delight, she would certainly have to pay
him a visit. Perhaps if Bastian decided to come away with her, he would join
her in making the duke a cuckold. She could see his face now, red with fury and
embarrassment. While she was at it, she would tell him how inferior his cock
was to Bastian’s. The earl’s prowess in and out of the bedroom superseded
anything to which her husband had ever exposed her.
    She had never
minded the attention of introducing a second man into their relations. It had
surely spiced things up. But not in the way that Richard liked to do things.
    To him, a woman
was not to be given any pleasure. She was there to serve—to take him full to
the hilt, while