Free The Taming by Jude Deveraux Page B

young charge might be beautiful and rich, but she was listening to and obeying Joice. “Believe me, I know what men like Lord Rogan want. He will hate you just as he does her if you defy him.”
    Liana rubbed the fingers of her right hand together. She could still feel his hair against her skin and she remembered that, for a moment, there had been softness in his eyes. She did not want to take that away. “What do I do?” she whispered.
    â€œObey him,” Joice said firmly. “Be ready in three hours. Lady Helen will no doubt protest your leaving, but stand with your husband against her. I have told you how men want loyalty from their wives.”
    â€œ Blind loyalty?” Liana asked. “Even now, when he is wrong?”
    â€œMost especially when he is wrong.”
    Liana listened to this, but still she didn’t understand.
    Seeing that her young mistress was still confused, Joice continued. “Swallow your anger. All married women feed on anger that they keep to themselves. You will see. You will learn to swallow so much anger that it will become a way of living to you.”
    Liana started to say something, but Joice cut her off.
    â€œGo and get ready now or he will leave you.”
    Feeling very confused, Liana hurried out of the room. She was going to do whatever she could to prove to this man that she could be a good wife, and if it meant repressing her rage, then so be it. She’d show him that she could be the most loyal of wives.
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    As Lord Rogan went down the stone steps, a frown on his handsome face, the first person he met was Lady Helen. “The deed is done,” he said to her. “There will be no annulment. If there is anything to be added to the wagons, then do it, for we leave in three hours’ time.” He started past her, but Helen put herself in front of him.
    â€œYou will take my stepdaughter away from her own wedding feast?”
    Rogan didn’t understand what these women were making such a fuss about. If it was food they wanted, they could take plenty with them. “I will not starve the girl,” he said, making an effort to take the hatred from Helen’s eyes. He was not used to women hating him. For the most part they were like that girl he’d married: adoring and soft-eyed.
    â€œYou will starve her,” Helen said, “as your father starved his wives of warmth and companionship.” Her voice lowered. “As you starved Jeanne Howard.”
    Helen stepped back when she saw the look on Rogan’s face. His eyes hardened and he looked at her with such rage that she began to tremble.
    â€œNever come near me again, woman,” he said coldly, in a low undertone. He then stalked past her, ignored the calls of the guests to come and join them in a drink, and went outside to the courtyard.
    Jeanne Howard, he thought. He could wring that woman’s neck for mentioning Jeanne to him, but it made him remind himself to be careful with this new wife, not to allow pretty blue eyes and blonde hair to sway him.
    â€œYou look ready to run someone through,” Severn said jovially. His face was flushed from too much food and drink.
    â€œAre you ready to leave?” Rogan growled at him. “Or have you been too busy bedding the wenches to tend to the business at hand?”
    Severn was used to his brother’s constant anger and he’d had too much wine to let it bother him now. “I have anticipated you, brother, and filled a wagon full of food. Do we leave the feather pillows or take them?”
    â€œLeave them,” Rogan snapped, then hesitated. In his mind he heard Helen Neville saying, “As you starved Jeanne Howard,” and felt a knife twisting in his gut. The girl he’d married—what was her name?—seemed simple enough. “Let her have her feather mattresses,” he growled to Severn, and went to check on his men.
    Severn watched his brother walk away and wondered what his