Deceived

look directly at him, but she would not.

'I came across a history of the Hawkesworth family. It is quite fascinating,' she told him. She could feel him staring, and turned to her brother. 'You must visit the library, George. There is a whole section on Greek history, and I know how you love that.'

'I should like that!' George said, his voice excited.

'Why do you not take George to the library now,' Valerian suggested. 'I must leave you and go up to see Calandra.' He rose from the table and bowed politely to them. 'I bid you both good night.'

Valerian Hawkesworth mounted the stairs purposefully, but instead of entering his wife's chambers, he entered his own. There, with Browne's help, he disrobed, washed, cleaned his teeth, and rinsed his mouth. He refused the silk nightshirt Browne offered, instead wrapping himself in a quilted silk robe the color of his best claret. Then he dismissed his valet courteously. Browne departed, his ageless face impassive, knowing what was to come, and knowing he would never divulge even the slightest hint of it to the other servants. Let the women gossip. He would not.

Entering his wife's bedchamber via a connecting door, the duke saw Calandra seated at her dressing table, Sally brushing her mistress's long black hair. He heard the servant counting off the strokes. Walking across the room, he took the silver brush from Sally, saying, 'You are dismissed for the night, Sally. And Moll too.' He began to ply the brush, taking up the count from where the maid had left off. 'How many do you usually do?' he asked Calandra.

'Two hundred,' she replied as the door closed behind her two serving girls.

He continued counting until all the strokes were accounted for, as he did not wish to antagonize Calandra. Perhaps, just perhaps now that they were home, now that Calandra surely understood he would not tolerate any more nonsense from her, perhaps now she would yield herself to him willingly and give him the children he desired. 'Two hundred,' he finally said, putting the brush down on the table and drawing her up and about so she faced him. He bent to kiss her.

A look of acute distaste passed over her face, and she pulled away from him. 'Really, Valerian, must you?' she said coolly.

'You are my wife,' he said quietly.

'And that gives you the right to impose your animal nature upon me? How unfair!' Calandra said.

What was the matter with her? he wondered. He had not been brutal or cruel with her on the rare occasions he had exercised his husbandly rights. The duke drew a deep breath. 'What is it about intimacy between us that troubles you, Calandra?' he asked her. He must be patient. 'Do you find me unattractive? What can I do to please you, my dear?'

'If you truly desire to please me, Valerian, then I would ask that you leave me in peace and allow me to return to London to my friends.'

Suddenly he was jealous. It wasn't that he really cared about this shallow girl who was his wife, but his pride was at stake here. Grasping her by the arms, he said angrily, 'Is it Trahern? Do you find him attractive? Is he your lover? You will take no more lovers until you have given me my heir, Calandra! Until then, you will go nowhere!'

'Trahern?' She sounded genuinely surprised. Then she laughed. 'I suppose he is attractive enough, but he is not my lover. I have no lovers. You are the only man who has ever known me in the biblical sense. I simply do not enjoy the act. I hate it when you push your member into my body, grunting and groaning until you release that unpleasant, sticky discharge of yours. If I never had to do that again, I should be a happy woman. I suppose that is why you are here tonight.'

He was astounded by her admission. 'Is it just me, or is it all men you despise in this sense?' he asked her.

'All men,' she said frankly. 'I do not like the act. I do not like being crushed beneath someone else's body. The scent you produce when you do it is unpleasant to my nostrils. The whole process is utterly disgusting. There is no delicacy in it at all, and I don't want to do it ever again. If you attempt to assault me, I shall scream the house down, Valerian. Now that I have explained myself, I hope you will go away and leave me free of such actions from now on.'

He needed a drink, but there was none available to him here. Drawing in another deep breath, he said in a voice far calmer than he himself was feeling, 'When did you know you felt this way, Calandra? Did your mother not explain to you that the act of copulation between a husband a wife was the manner in which they obtain children?'

'I felt this way from the moment you first touched me,' she said quickly. Too quickly.

'No,' he disagreed, 'you are lying to me.' His grip on her arms tightened again. 'Tell me the truth, Calandra!'

'I was a virgin when we married!' she cried out. 'I was!'

'I know that,' he said, his voice a shade calmer. 'Tell me!'

'When I was a little girl, perhaps eight, there was this planter from Barbados who would stop several times a year on his way to and from Jamaica. He brought Mama all the gossip of her family and friends, for even though she was estranged from them, she still enjoyed knowing what was going on in their lives. He was a great big man, the planter, and he always seemed to favor me over Aurora, taking me up onto his lap, cuddling me, pinching my cheeks, and saying I was the prettiest little girl in the world. Then he began to seek me out when no one else was around. He would take me on his lap and put his hand beneath my gown, touching me where I didn't even dare touch myself. I didn't like it, but he would soothe me with a kiss and a sweetmeat, and then release me, telling me i hat this was our little secret, and asking me not to tell anyone. Once he set me between his legs and took his member from his breeches and asked me to touch it. That was the day Martha came upon us. She took me from the man and told him that only if he promised her he would leave immediately and never return would she keep his disgusting secret. Then she took me away and questioned me as to what had happened, and for how long had it been happening. She said I must never tell anyone or else I would be considered damaged goods, and no decent young man would want me for a wife.' Calandra gave a bitter little laugh. 'But I knew by then I never wanted to be touched by a man again if I could avoid it.'

'You knew what was involved in a marital relationship then,' the duke said, 'and yet you still married me? Why, Calandra?'

'I wanted to be a duchess,' she answered him simply, and then, 'and when I first saw you, you were so handsome, I thought that I could overcome my aversion, at least long enough to give you children. Then, I believed, you would take a mistress, and I should not have to endure your attentions for the rest of my life. I really did think I could do it, Valerian. I did!'

'You will have to do it, Calandra,' he told her. 'It is either that, or I must have the marriage annulled on the basis of your refusal to give me children. I am sorry, but I must have heirs!'

'You cannot cast me off,' Calandra cried to him. 'I like being a duchess! I think you are very cruel to me. If you try to annul our marriage, I shall tell people that you practice wicked and filthy perversions, and I shall ruin you so no decent parent will give their daughter into your safekeeping for a wife. You will never have children, Valerian! Never! Never! Never!'

Valerian Hawkesworth had a fierce temper that he rarely allowed to get out of control. Now, however, it exploded into a white-hot fury. 'You dare to threaten me, you coldhearted marble Venus?'

Calandra stepped back, startled by the rage she saw in his deep blue