the emerald ring on her finger. It felt cold, an empty gesture to appease his guilt, to satisfy his sense of responsibility. Her eyes closed. Last night it had all seemed worth it. In the cold light of reality, with her mind back in control of her body, it seemed wrong. How could she have done it?
It had been a last desperate gamble, she thought miserably. To make him so enslaved that he’d get over Bess. But it hadn’t worked. Bess was still number one in his thoughts. It seemed that she always would be.
“If you want him, fight for him,” Margaret said gruffly. “You’ve got an advantage she doesn’t. He likes you. All he really feels for her is pity and some leftover affection. She was like a child when she and Bobby got married. Kingston helped her over those first few quarrels.”
Elissa studied her slender fingers. “Liking isn’t enough.”
“Neither is pity,” Margaret said, and got up. “Now, you eat a good breakfast. We’ve got to build up your strength. If Bobby stays in the hospital for any length of time, we’ll probably have ourselves a houseguest.”
With a sinking feeling, Elissa watched Margaret’s broad back disappear. She hadn’t considered that King might bring Bess here. But on second thought, of course he would. And what a perfect opportunity for Bess to get through his defenses. And what in the world was Elissa going to do to prevent it?
Sure enough, a few hours later, King came in with a weeping, pale Bess in tow. Bess was still in jodhpurs, gloriously sexy in the expensive silk blouse she wore opened to the deep cleavage between her breasts. Her honey-blond hair was in a delicious tangle around her shoulders, and she was clinging to King as if he were a lifeline.
“I’ll take her upstairs,” King said, glancing at Elissa. “Call Margaret to help her undress, would you? Have you got a nightgown she can borrow?”
“Yes, of course,” Elissa said dully, following them. “How’s Bobby?”
“He’ll be all right,” he said, his arm protective around his sister-in-law. “His leg’s broken, and he’s got a hell of a headache, but he’ll be out in a few days.”
“Thank God.” Elissa sighed. But nobody seconded that, least of all the two people in front of her.
She had only two nightgowns with her, but she spared the blue one for the opposition. Margaret gave it a sinister look as she carried it into the second guest bedroom to the tearful blonde.
Elissa slowly wandered back downstairs. Margaret was getting Bess some soup, and King, forgoing all the pressing business he’d been attending to without a thought to Elissa’s lack of company, was proving he had all the time in the world for Bess. And why not? Elissa thought miserably. He loved Bess.
King ate his supper on a tray in Bess’s room, to Margaret’s blatant fury, leaving Elissa to eat alone or with the housekeeper.
“Idiot!” Margaret flared as she put a bowl of stew in front of Elissa. “Blind man!”
“Don’t start feeling sorry for me,” Elissa murmured. “I went into this with my eyes open. Nobody dragged me here. On the other hand,” she added quietly, staring at the empty symbol on her ring finger, “I think I might see about a flight back to Miami. I’m only going to be in the way here.”
“You can’t go,” Margaret huffed. “If you do, they’ll be here alone, and I won’t have that kind of gossip.” She glared at Elissa. “Your parents wouldn’t appreciate your doing that kind of thing, either. No, ma’am, you’re stuck. I’m sorry, but there isn’t a thing you can do and still live with your conscience.”
Ah, Elissa thought, but you don’t know what I’m already living with. You haven’t a clue. But she didn’t say it. Conventions or no conventions, she was getting out of there. If she didn’t, seeing King and Bess together was going to kill her. She was brave but not suicidal. Her heart was already breaking.
King still hadn’t come out of Bess’s bedroom when Elissa went upstairs. Gritting her teeth, she looked in the door, which Margaret had apparently left open.
King was sitting beside the bed, holding hands with a radiant Bess, and they were talking about Bobby. Elissa felt sick all the way to her toes just looking, and then she heard what they were saying.
“I feel so guilty,” Bess was saying. “But I couldn’t help it, Kingston. You know how he treats me. I’m so alone. He’s never going to change,