Free Seduced by Innocence by Lucy Gordon Page B

daughter-in-law. Her sharp eyes missed nothing, including Elena’s smile, held on by willpower. “You’re looking well, Mama,” Elena said brightly. “I hope that means you’re feeling better.”
    “I’m as well as I ever am,” Lisa informed her sourly. “My visitors exhausted me, but one has one’s obligations.”
    “I’m glad you had company, Mama,” Francisco observed. “Who was it?”
    “Antonio brought his new wife to visit me. Such a pleasure to meet her. Only four months married and pregnant already, which is exactly right. The first child should always be secured quickly, especially when there is a great inheritance to be considered.”
    “I just came in to say good-night,” Elena said in a strained voice. “I won’t stay. I’m rather tired.”
    “Good night,” Lisa responded distantly, presenting her cheek for Elena’s dutiful kiss. She waited until Elena had departed, then turned to look at her son. A significant glance passed between them. “How much longer will you allow this to go on?” she demanded in a rough voice that contrasted with her frail appearance. “You’re fifty-five and time is running out. Where are your sons? Why aren’t you doing something to get them?”
    “You make it sound so easy, Mama, but things are complicated.”
    “Nonsense. You’ve got to get rid of her, and quickly. Doesn’t she give you any excuse?”
    “Unfortunately no. My wife is infuriatingly discreet. She has occasional romances, but she never goes beyond playing the kind of games all society plays.”
    “Surely there must have been more?”
    Francisco shrugged. “There was one young man a few months ago, during Carnival, but nothing came of it.”
    “You’ve been clumsy. She knows you’re watching her, so of course she’s discreet. Well, it’s your own fault. I warned you against marrying her but you wouldn’t listen. You were hot to get her into your bed, she held out for marriage and like a fool you capitulated.”
    Francisco gave a wintry smile. “I believe you caught by father by much the same methods.”
    Lisa cackled. “Yes, but on the wedding night, he was rewarded for his patience. Was your Elena worth waiting for?”
    “You know very well that she wasn’t,” Francisco said coldly. “All that waiting, putting me off, all that exaggerated modesty. She seemed to be made of ice, and acted as though the sight of a man would make her swoon. And what did I find? It was all a cynical performance to fool me. She’d already been with a man.”
    “You should have got rid of her then.”
    “It’s easy to say that now,” Francisco told her irritably, “but she never admitted it, and I had no idea who to suspect. A man she knew in England probably. Even then she could have redeemed herself by giving me a son. But she’s barren, and the years are hurrying by.”
    Lisa took his arm with a clawlike grip. “Be careful that she doesn’t dismiss you. Your ‘hobbies’ are too well-known, and unlike your wife, you’re not always discreet.”
    “I don’t know what you mean.”
    Lisa made a sound of exasperation. “Don’t pretend with me. I lived too many years with your father to be deluded. His favorite pastime was debauchery of the young and innocent—and the younger and more innocent, the more he enjoyed it. It was my fate to bear him a son who’s his mirror image. And I know how many little ‘unofficial’ Calvanis there are in this city.”
    Francisco shrugged. “At least there’s no doubt that it is my wife, not I, who’s barren.” He strode restlessly about the room, pausing at last before an ornate gilt mirror that reflected the room behind him, and his mother, dominating everything from her huge bed, like a spider. “Young and innocent,” he mused. “An ice maiden. That’s how I saw her—that’s what she made me believe she was—and all the time—”
    “Enough,” Lisa said imperiously. “It’s useless to dwell on the past. What you need now is a wife