Lady Thief - By Rizzo Rosko Page 0,63

hoping to ward off more questions.

William glared at her, a vicious look Marianne had never seen on him before. “James!” He called. “Come here!”

The young squire jogged forward. If Marianne thought her screams frightened him ‘twas nothing compared to how he refused to look in William’s eye now.

“What was my wife doing seeking out Robert?” William asked when he was near enough.

James had the good sense to look embarrassed. “I do not know, milord. She said nothing to me and I only found them near the stables after they got away from me.”

William turned to Olma and sneered at her as well. “You would only protect your lady and not say anything.”

Marianne snapped at him. “Do not be harsh with her. ‘Tis not her fault you cannot control yourself.”

“I cannot control myself? You, my dear, have less self control than any living creature I have ever met. ‘Tis your lack of control that put us here!”

The second insinuation towards his regret of the marriage was the last she could take. Without commanding her body to act, she squared her shoulders before his taller frame and slapped him. The resounding crack echoing loudly enough to send birds from their nests in the woods, Marianne was sure.

The demanding fury on William’s face melted into stunned disbelief before her eyes. And because she was a coward, Marianne fled from him before he could do anything to her in return.

Tears streamed down her cheeks as she blindly ran, humiliation and heartbreak throbbing in her chest and escaping her throat in choked sobs.

He did not love her. He regretted that they were wed, that she had chained him to her with her foolishness

And he was correct. Of the two of them, she had the least control.

***

William watched her go, frozen in place and hand on his tingling cheek, Olma and James scurried after their lady. William turned, similar looks of shock were on all three men behind him.

“Are you certain she was not raised by a pack of wild dogs?” Hugh asked.

“A woman’s temper is not a thing to be trifled with,” Nicholas replied when William did not.

William was thankful that neither of he nor his wife had given this show of temper in front of anyone else. Regardless, William was at a loss for what he should do.

Part of him wished to punish her so that she would know to never behave in such a way again, but he knew that to do so would be to kill the fire in her that he did indeed love.

Regardless, he could not trust himself to leave her be now. Whether he punished her or not, if he did not go after her she was sure to do something rash again.

Nicholas smirked, seeming to already know what William would do before he did. “We forgive you for your cruel abandonment of your guests. A woman’s hissing heart needs to be soothed before it blackens against her spouse.”

Bryce rolled his eyed and rubbed his face. “God’s teeth, will ye kindly shut that romantic nonsense up? I’ll be forced to throttle ye if ye spew anymore of it.”

Satisfied that his guests would not bear any grudge against him, William went after his wife.

***

Marianne had to run into the castle and take several turns before she was satisfied James and Olma would not find her. She loved Olma and was growing fond of the boy but she needed to be left alone with her humiliation.

‘Twas the second time he had suggested she was having an affair and the second time he claimed to regret their marriage. She could take it no more, so she slapped him.

The nerve of him! How could he suggest such a thing?

She rubbed away the moisture on her cheeks and the guilty tingle in her palm as she sat herself on a bench outside of the Chapel. ‘Twas quiet, something she thought she needed but the silence only prompted her to think about her mistake.

She’d struck him, in front of his friends. If there would be a penalty then she would pay it. Though no love existed between them, she felt certain what they shared would have brought some level of trust between them.

She knew better now.

Already tired of sitting and sniffling, Marianne rose to her feet and went back to the stables, rubbing the annoying tingle in her palm along the way.

She went inside and this time was glad to find Robert absent.

The grooms saw her and looked amongst themselves. The bravest came forth.

“Ye be