Free The Wagered Wife by Wilma Counts

his sister. Melanie would, in all probability, marry Sheffield and follow him to some foreign post with the diplomatic corps.
    He knew that writing Caitlyn a letter was rather cowardly, but time was of the essence if he was to ship out with the regiment. Secretly, he was glad not to deal with her directly. Best not to encounter pain in those aquamarine, teal-colored eyes.
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    Caitlyn was furious—actually trembling with anger. In fact, she had been annoyed for several days at her husband’s continued absence. Married less than a month, and her husband had been away for over half of that time! And there were estate matters he should be seeing to. Mr. Felkins, the steward, had brought them to her, but what did she know of running an estate?
    Heavens. She barely knew anything of running a household. Had not Mrs. Bassett kept her keenly aware of that shortcoming?
    But now—not only was her blackguard husband absent, he had no intention of returning! She reread the letter several times, her anger increasing with each reading.

    Caitlyn,
    This will undoubtedly come as a surprise to you, but I shall not be returning to Atherton—at least not in the foreseeable future.
    Having at last learned the details of the circumstances which led to our marriage, I have elected to abide by my father wishes and leave England for an indeterminate period of time. As soon as may be appropriate, my family will take the necessary steps to procure the dissolution of our marriage.
    Assuming you do not lodge an objection, a divorce can be handled discreetly, but it will take time and is somewhat dependent on your continuing to live quietly and avoid bringing notice to the Jeffries name. I am confident that you will agree to this course of action.
    Trevor

    â€œDetails of the circumstances” indeed! And just what details were there that he did not know previously? After all, it was he, not she, who had been aware of—party to—that infamous wager.
    And leave her to fend for herself, would he? Oh, yes, the letter had included a postscript with news of his providing for her from his allowance and that some aunt of his was coming to look after her. She did not need looking after and would soon enough send some meddling busybody on her way.
    A divorce? He would have her tainted with such a smear for the rest of her life? True, divorce was not unknown, but only persons of the very highest echelons of society could weather the disgrace. Even then, it was rare for a woman to be accepted after such a scandalous action. And for a female of Caitlyn’s status? Impossible.
    When she finally calmed down enough to think about it rationally, she wondered what had precipitated Trevor’s decision. There had to be something more than the wager—bad enough in itself, but Trevor knew of that. Then she had the answer.
    Mrs. Bassett set a newspaper at Caitlyn’s place at breakfast one morning. “Thought you might be interested in this, madam,” she said with a rather peculiar twist on the term of respect.
    Curious, Caitlyn leafed through the journal twice before the cartoon caught her attention. She drew in her breath. Yes, two of the card players were clearly meant to represent her uncle and Trevor. She did not recognize any of the other figures. The artist had apparently had no inkling of characteristics in her that would be clearly identifiable. But he did not need a personal trait to do his damage. One look at the female figure long gone with child was more than enough.
    Now Trevor’s behavior had an explanation, even if it did not excuse him. And Trevor actually believed . . . She had not felt much like breakfast this morning anyway, and this item sickened her. Idly, she wondered just what it was that Mrs. Bassett had intended by showing this to her.
    Caitlyn spent the rest of the morning in her room—the one she shared with Trevor—pondering her options—or rather, the lack of them. In the end,