‘He believes you don’t care about the law. He believes you were intending to commit bigamy.’
‘Your darling brother has always had a very poor opinion of me!’ retorted Henry. ‘Why would he change now?’ Henry’s outburst gave way to an uncomfortable silence. He turned the horse and trap towards a narrow earthy track, which climbed to the top of the cliff. Vibrant flowers speckled the overgrown hedgerows, before they finally disappeared as the track cut through an open field.
Amelia was the first to break the silence. ‘Is he right to have one?’
‘Have what?’
‘A poor opinion of you.’
Henry frowned and looked at her. ‘Whose side are you on?’
Amelia smiled at him. ‘I wasn’t aware I had to choose sides.’
Henry’s frowned deepened. ‘You do if we marry as you will be my wife.’ He tightened the reins and they came to a halt.
Amelia breathed out slowly. ‘Let us not argue, Henry. That is not why we are here.’
The English Channel spread out beneath them and offered them the respite from their painful conversation. They both watched the silent waves as they rolled beneath the surface and onto the shore.
Amelia dragged her gaze away from the dark waters to the man sitting beside her. ‘Do you love me, Henry?’
Henry continued to stare out to sea. ‘This has all come about because of your brother. If he hadn’t questioned or blocked every idea that I have ever had—’
‘He has not blocked every idea.’
‘It feels like that when you are on the other end of it.’
Henry’s tone reminded Amelia of a petulant child. It was not an attractive trait for a man to have.
‘How did you meet Margaret again?’
‘He just dismisses everything without even a discussion.’ There was that tone again. She felt her resolve stiffen.
‘Henry? How did you meet her again? She says her child is yours.’
Henry shrugged, as if her question was of no importance. But it was, to her and to Talek.
Henry took out a handkerchief and mopped his brow. ‘She came to my office last week on some minor pretext.’ He folded it roughly and pushed it back into his pocket. ‘I had not seen her before then.’
Henry had delivered his lie with such confidence; she suspected he was beginning to believe it himself.
‘Grace told Talek that she had seen her at your house before then. Grace believes you are keeping the profits of the clay contract for yourself.’
‘Grace is a liar. She has no evidence.’
‘How do you know that?’
‘Because I destroyed it!’
So it was true. He was keeping the profits. Henry wiped his brow. He reminded her of a cornered animal. She almost felt sorry for him — almost.
‘You are married to her, aren’t you?’
Amelia pressed her lips together and stared at him. She would wait until the truth came out. Eventually it did.
‘Margaret visited me at my office on the pretext of nothing important. She had just become engaged to Talek. I don’t know what possessed us . . . possessed me. I think it was to have something Talek had. She told me she was carrying my child leading up to the wedding. She said she couldn’t marry Talek now and threatened to tell him the child was mine if I did not marry her. I didn’t believe her . . . until she stood him up at the altar. So I did. I had to. It was the only way to stop her from ruining our business partnership.’ He shrugged.
‘Did you love her?’
‘I did. At least I thought I did.’
‘How did you think you could keep a wife secret?’
‘I hadn’t thought that far ahead, but I managed it, didn’t I?’ He rubbed the back of his neck. ‘But she kept wanting more and nothing would pacify her. She constantly threatened to tell Talek about us. A bigger house. Finer clothes. I swear she planned this. I was at her mercy, Amelia.’
‘Poor Henry. I wonder if her story would be the same.’
‘You don’t believe me?’
‘Your story smacks of vulnerability and being hoodwinked, which is how you have made me feel.’
‘We are not married as man and wife. Yes, legally, but in the marriage bed, no.’
‘I don’t need to hear this—’
Henry grasped her hand. ‘I will get a divorce.’
‘How?’
