like that. Now they were about to have two houses she didn’t want. He was out of control. He had signed off on their prenup as though it didn’t matter to him, and had been spending millions of dollars of her money ever since. “What were you thinking?” She owned the house, but he was costing her a fortune, and not even apologetic about it. He kept telling her how lucky she was that he was improving her investment. And now he wanted to buy another one, or just had.
“Coco, we need a country house. It just turned up a little earlier than we planned.”
“We never planned to have a country house. We never even talked about it. For what? Why do we need a country house?”
“To give house parties like the ones we go to every weekend. We can’t mooch off my friends forever,” he said primly, and for that exact moment she almost hated him.
“I don’t mooch off anyone, Nigel. I don’t even know if I can afford it.”
“I think you can.”
“You don’t know that. I don’t even know if I can. And a handshake does not constitute a ‘done deal’ when it requires someone else’s money. This is a nightmare.”
“Do you love me?” he asked, looking woebegone.
“That’s beside the point. I don’t love what you do, or how you spend my money, without even consulting me! What kind of marriage is this?” It was a very expensive one to be sure.
“I’m asking you to trust me. I know houses. You’re going to end up with two of the prettiest houses in England.”
“And the largest staff and the highest expenses. How big is the place in Sussex?”
“It has four good houses on it, pastureland, and beautiful stables. He even threw in the horses. There are only six there now, but there’s room for a lot more. And there’s a lake.”
“This is insanity.” He told her the price he had agreed to, and she had to admit, it sounded low to her too, but she didn’t want a country house or to spend more money. She couldn’t be married to a man who incurred expenses to that degree without even asking her.
She slammed out of the house and went for a long walk. He was gone when she came back. She hoped he had gone to find his friend from Australia to tell him he had to renege on the deal. He didn’t come home until midnight, and he was drunk.
“Did you get out of it?”
“Out of what?” He looked confused as he got into bed.
“Out of the house in Sussex. I thought maybe that was where you went.”
“Of course not. I gave him my word as a gentleman, I can’t go back on that.”
“What if I refuse to pay?” She felt desperate and trapped. What if he bought more houses?
“I suppose then he might sue us for breach of promise. I gave him a note on it, and signed it.”
“Nigel,” she said, feeling frantic, “this has to stop. You’re going to ruin me.”
“According to my discreet inquiries, you have a lot more than that.” Her stomach turned over as he said it. And when had he researched that? Before or after he married her? Sam had been right from the first. Nigel was after money. A lot of it. And a lifestyle she didn’t want and feared she couldn’t afford long-term.
She went downstairs then and slept on the couch, and he was too drunk to get out of bed again. When he got up in the morning and came downstairs, she was gone. She had called Leslie Thomas, her boss, and went over to her house. She had no one else to talk to. She told her what had been happening, and Leslie looked dismayed.
“You know, these men from the old aristocratic families don’t know how to live without money. They’re used to their houses and their farms and their land just being there, and the lifestyle that went with it. When it’s all gone, they somehow expect it to be magically restored to them again. I think it crushed Nigel when his brother got everything, even though he knew he would. And I think he expects you to be that magic, to re-create for him that world that he grew up with. It’s not very realistic. I’m not sure that he even realizes he’s taking advantage of you. What do you want to do now? Divorce him?”