Marriage As Punishment

My Shadow

CHAPTER 10






"Who was that woman?"
"Did you see her slap him?"
"Wasn't that Lord James? He pulled her into the gardens. Do you think she could be his..." "Shhhhh..."

They stop whispering as I draw closer, but I overheard enough to know that something's happened.

"Hello, Aleana darling. Marvelous party, we can't wait for the wedding," Katherine smiles. The other girls follow with a chorus of 'oh yes, most definitely, beautiful'.

I smile stiffly. These women are supposed to be my friends, yet they don't tell me that they've seen James with a woman.
"Thank you. How kind of you to say. By chance have you seen James anywhere?" I prod.

They look at each other uneasily, "No, I don't believe we have," Katherine states.

"Perhaps I'll look outside. He may have gone for a stroll, in the gardens maybe," I say pointedly.

They all look away and shift uncomfortably. I turn and walk away before any can reply. So, James is in the garden with a woman. I guess I'm going to find out who she is. I determinedly march outside, we may not be married yet and I may dislike him, but he will not make a fool out of me.
I step into the dark cool air, the moon is very bright tonight. It will help me to see. I walk toward the nearest gardens. There are quite a few people about, mostly of my age. Passing these small crowds I travel deeper into the gardens. The tall hedges most definitely provide privacy, this is where I would come to meet a lover. It's a little frightening walking alone though. I stop abruptly when I hear a high pitched voice coming from my right. I stoop low and move to dark shadow. I peek around the hedge to see if I can catch a glimpse of this woman. James back comes into view. 'Well at least I'm not eavesdropping on strangers' I think.

"...I will be your official mistress. You will buy me anything my heart desires," she commands. I scoff, she sounds like a perfect lady. James couldn't possibly want a woman like this!

"Anything you want, my doll! perhaps a new dress could make up for this dreadful evening?" he replies hastily. He sounds desperate.

"Just one?" the silly woman asks. I don't even know what she looks like, but I can just see the pathetic pout she has on. Can a man really be so blind? She wants his money. She certainly doesn't love him. One thing is absolutely certain, she is not going to be my husbands mistress. If I'm expected to be loyal to him, he must be loyal to me.

I stop when I realize that they are no longer speaking. Have they gone? I lean out to see if they're on to me. No! Her arms are around his neck. They're kissing! That's disgusting, I hope this ends soon. Just as that thought comes to mind I hear James breathless reply.

"Make it four." I roll my eyes. He is wrapped around her finger. She giggles annoyingly and walks toward me. I back further into the darkness hoping she doesn't look back. She doesn't. I only see her back as she walks on. I imagine her face must be very beautiful. I'll be even more disappointed in James if she isn't. Her clothes are fashionable and her hair is brunette like mine. I would love to see her face.

I turn to see if James has gone only to find him looking in this direction. I quickly pull myself back. I don't think he saw me, but it's possible.

"I know you're there," his deep voice says, "You may as well come out now."
I freeze at his words. He did see me. How will I explain this? I'm spying. Wait, he's the one secretly meeting his mistress, I have nothing to be ashamed about. Feeling emboldened, I stand to come out.

"Well done brother," another mans voice says. I crouch back down. He wasn't talking to me after all. I lean further out to see who this man is. I gasp and fall back into my shadow. It's my mysterious dinner neighbor. Brother? Does James have another brother? I don't recall. It seems clear now that he does. Surely his brother recognized me at dinner. Why would he pretend that he didn't? I listen to they're words.

"What are you trying to do Samuel?" James growls. Samuel. Well if I were Samuel I would be shrink at the tone of James' voice.

His reply speaks of the opposite though. "...Official mistress, luckily she likes your money." I hear a sound of disbelief from James. At least someone can see it. "Hopefully Aleana likes your money too." I don't. "It would make it difficult to control her if she knew you had a mistress." James couldn't control even before I knew about this other woman.

James growls a violent threat at Samuel. They must really dislike each other. I would think siblings would be more kind.

"If she ever does," he starts again.

"I'm sure she won't."
I already have, and I'm going to make him suffer. He wants to control me? I'll make that impossible.

My leg begins to cramp from crouching in this position. I attempt to readjust so that more weight is on my other leg, but I slip, which causes me to grab out for the bush. Unable to grab anything my hand just rustles the small branches. Landing gracefully on my butt I wait to see if James heard me.

"Who's there?" he calls. I debate whether I should come out and confront him or not. Not, I decide. I don't want him to know that I know.
I wait until he walks off in the other direction before jumping up and racing back to the house. I want to be there before him, so he won't suspect anything.













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I'm sorry I lied not midweek. I tried though I had half of it written on Tuesday, but I only finished it today. #1 rule: this author lies.

Tomorrow is my parents 20th anniversary and I've been doing a lot of gift buying. I'm so excited! I hope they love their gifts!!