Chapter 15

Marien cried out, “At least someone was!”

Silence descended like a sudden summer rain shower, falling in a deluge that seemed to drown out the world around them. Marien glared at Eduard, a challenge in her eyes, her face radiant with a fierce beauty. For the first time it struck him that he could have loved her, had things been different. Had hebeen different.

She had sacrificed so much for him, he realized. Her childbearing years were spent wedded to a man who welcomed only other men to his bed. Had she taken lovers? Eduard either didn’t know or didn’t wantto know. He was a selfish man, keeping her like a precious doll, locked away and hidden from others. She gathered dust, watching him from a shelf in the corner of his life. He threw the plantation at her, which she ran efficiently; he threw money at her, which she spent on lavish fashions a year or two behind those in Europe. He was fond of her, no doubt, but fondness kept no one warm at night