Charles had been watching her expression, and now he gave a nod of satisfaction. "You are beginning to believe me, aren't you? Very good. Your intelligence is one of the things I always liked about you. When confronted with facts, you listen rather than have an attack of vapors. You may take comfort in the fact that your husband is surely a bigamist who will abandon you when he is ready to leave England. Then you will be free of him."
In the remote corner of her mind that was still capable of thought, Sara realized that Charles had an uncanny ability to trigger the hidden fears that her husband did not love her and would eventually leave her. But she would not admit that. "You have not given me facts, Charles," she said as evenly as she could. "Merely showed me what a vulgar mind you have."
He shook his head pityingly. "You will learn the truth, but it is already too late. By marrying him, you have ruined your life and reputation."
The music ended and with a final flourish, he released her. After bending over her gloved hand for a mocking kiss, he said, "I would advise you not to rush home to discuss this with your dear husband. He is a dangerous man and might react very badly to your knowledge of his past. You would be wise to find excuses to spend as much time as possible away from him."
Charles turned and marched away.
Sara stood very still and concentrated on her breathing. After a minute, her nausea began to subside. When she decided that she would be able to walk without falling, she began to make her way to the door where she was to meet Mikahl.
She would have given anything she owned not to have to face her husband until she had had time to think through what she had just been told. When Mikahl had tried to persuade her that Weldon was evil, she had not believed him. She had put the whole subject out of her mind once she and Mikahl became intimate, and had not thought about it since.
Tonight Charles's malice had been unmistakable, and it was easy to believe that he might have pushed this first wife down the stairs in a fit of rage. Nonetheless, though he had clearly been doing his best to hurt her and injure her marriage, Sara could not escape the horrible belief that somewhere in his tissue of lies was a grain of excruciating truth.
* * *
Ross was part of a group of men discussing colonial policy, and Peregrine had to wait a few minutes before he could separate his friend for a private talk. When they were alone, Peregrine said only, "The cat is among the pigeons."
Ross raised his eyebrows as he considered the statement. "You mean that you have shown your hand to Weldon."
"Exactly. I decided that it is time to bring the game to a conclusion. Weldon could be dangerous. I don't think he will threaten you, but be careful—the man is like a loose cannon on a ship's deck."
"What about Sara's safety?"
Peregrine smiled humorlessly. "Weldon agreed to one condition: he will not hurt Sara. In return, I will not hurt his daughter Eliza."
Ross frowned. "This is getting very ugly."
"It has always been ugly," Peregrine retorted. "But soon it will be over. Sometime in the next few days, I'd like to talk to you again. I'm hiring some guards, former soldiers, and it might be good if you took one. You've got frontier experience of your own, but no one can look all ways at once."
"Do you really expect matters to get that bad?"
"Expect the worst. That way you are never disappointed." Then Peregrine said good night and turned to look for his wife. With his height, he was able to see over the crowd, and his mouth tightened when he saw her dancing with Charles Weldon.
The music stopped and Weldon bowed deeply, then left his partner. Sara stood still for a moment, then turned and slowly made her way toward the door where her aunt had been earlier. Wondering what Weldon had said, Peregrine worked his way through the thick crowd. To his intense irritation, several people stopped him to talk, and it was several minutes before he was able to reach Sara's side.
His wife flinched when he touched her arm, then looked up at him with a blind, unseeing stare. Mentally cursing his enemy, he said quietly, "I saw you dancing with Weldon. Did he threaten you? Frighten you in some way?"
She shook her head and managed a thin smile. "No, Charles had the admirable motive of showing people that we are on polite terms. I am merely suffering from a guilty conscience. As I said earlier, I knew it would be difficult the first time we met again. I'll be fine in a few minutes."
Peregrine frowned, sure that Weldon must have said something to upset Sara. But he would not ask her again until later. Taking her arm, he said, "Come, let us go home."
"We must take our leave of Letty first."
He would rather have ignored the amenities, but knew Sara would never be so rude. After scanning the room, he was glad to see that Lord and Lady Sanford were holding court by the main entrance, so making a polite farewell would not take long.