Free Sinful Confessions by Samantha Holt Page B

disengaged
from her hand. Julian slumped onto his chair and ran a hand through his hair.
She sat again and leaned forward, waiting. He glanced at her and lifted his
tumbler of whisky. Swirling it around the glass, he eyed it. “I told you I’m a
widow?”
    “Yes.”
    “Three
times.”
    She
drew in a breath and remained silent. She knew this but this had to come from
him.
    “Lucy
and I married very young. I had just inherited the title and all of its
responsibilities. Of course one of my main ones was to sire an heir.” He gave a
bitter snort. “Lucy was not particularly happy with me and nor I with her but
we tried our best. We were children really. She died of consumption after three
years of marriage.”
    Viola
nodded and clasped her hands in front of her. Her feet twitched and she longed
to go to him and hold him against her chest but she suspected he would not take
well to it and she needed him to tell her everything.
    “I
grieved for her in a way. Not so much for her company but for a life lost so
young. Then I met Sybil. Her family purchased a large property in the area and
my mother became friends with the Viscountess—Sybil’s mother. We spent much
time together and I fell in love with her. We married just over a year after
Lucy died. Some said that was in poor taste. At the time, I did not much care
for what others thought and my family were pleased with the idea of me finally
being able to have a son.”
    Though
a pang of jealousy seared through her, she checked herself. This was not about
her but about Julian and whatever pain he was holding in. “How did she die?”
    “In
childbirth.” His gaze met hers and the agony in his gaze shot through to her
heart. She had to fight not let the tears well up in her eyes. “I lost my son
and my wife that day.”
    The
words hung in the air, hollow and agonising. What could she say to that? How
could she possibly comfort a man who had gone through so much pain?
    “What...
what of your third wife?”
    “You
really wish to know all of this?” She nodded. “I had known Mabel since my
younger years. We’d always been good friends and I believed we could make a go
of it. She had need of a husband and I, of a wife. I knew I wouldn’t be so
lucky as to find someone I could love and frankly, grief had eaten away at me.
I couldn’t love someone again anyway. Within two years of our marriage, she
grew distant. We spent much time apart and the gossips spoke of her spending
time with other men. I avoided the gossips at all costs, hoping the rumours
were false. They were not.” He took a sip of whisky and placed the glass on the
table. “Just over a year ago, she left me a letter telling me she was running
away with her lover. Two days later came the news of her death. She and her
lover were shot in a highway robbery.”
    A
hand to her mouth, Viola gaped at this man she had almost certainly begun to fall
for. To go through so much loss and betrayal... it didn’t bear thinking about.
    “I’m
so sorry.”
    He
lifted a shoulder. “I am not the first man to have lost his wife to a lover.
Though not many can claim to have lost so many to death so quickly. And that,
Viola, is why I cannot go to London. Those who recognise me will avoid me and
it is likely you shall be tainted by association. I would not wish you to go
through that.”
    “People
avoid you because your wives died?”
    “Yes.
They believe I brought them death. Haven’t you noticed how few servants I have?”
He gave a snort. “Some of the delivery boys will not even approach the house
for fear of ‘catching’ death.”
    “But
that’s just silly!”
    The
look he gave her told her he wasn’t so sure it was. Did he truly believe he was
responsible for his wives dying? She rose and held out her hand to him. He took
it but didn’t seem to know why he had. Confusion echoed in his expression.
    Viola
didn’t suppose she could convince him otherwise and she didn’t believe she
could help him conquer any