Stranger in My Arms(93)

“what?” Arthur exclaimed, while Janet catapulted from her chair.

“You lying bitch,” she screeched, striding toward Lara with her fingers curved into claws. Lara flinched in reaction. Before Janet reached her, Hunter leapt from his chair and caught her from behind, snatching her flailing wrists. Janet reacted like an enraged cat, twisting and yowling in a way that seemed to alarm everyone except for Arthur, who merely looked disgusted.

“Out!” the lord chancellor thundered, his jowly face mottled with outrage. “I insist that this creature be removed from my chambers at once!”

The pandemonium was slow to subside.

“She is lying!” Arthur exclaimed. “Larissa, you double-tongued witch, I’ll see you in hell for this-” “Silence!” The lord chancellor stood, his scarlet robes swirling about his large body. “I will not have my chambers disgraced by profanity and violence.

Remove your wife, sir, and if you are not capable of controlling yourself henceforth, do not return!”

Turning purple, Arthur wrested Janet’s writhing body from Hunter’s grasp.

Hunter went to Lara, his gaze raking over her. Ascertaining that she had not been injured, he gripped the arms of her chair and leaned over her. His face was close to hers, and suddenly the rest of the room was blocked out, and all that existed was the two of them. His dark eyes simmered with anger. “Why are you doing this?” he asked harshly.

“Tell them the truth, Lara.”

Her chin lifted, and she returned his gaze obstinately. “I won’t let you go.”

“Dammit, haven’t I done enough to you by now?”

“Not nearly,” she said softly.

Her words seemed to infuriate rather than please him. He released her chair with a muffled sound of frustration, and crossed the room in a few swift strides. The atmosphere was fraught with unexpected antagonism.

Arthur returned for a hastily muttered conference with the prosecutor, who then approached the lord chancellor. Words were exchanged, and Lara saw the prosecutor’s mouth press into a thin line of disapproval.

Unhappily he returned to his seat, waving Arthur to do the same.

“Now, then,” Sunbury barked, staring hard at Lara. “I hope you will enlighten us further, Lady Hawksworth. You claim that this man is your husband, yet he insists that he is not Lord Hawksworth.

Which one of you is telling the truth?”

Lara focused an earnest stare on him. “My lord, I believe my husband feels unworthy of me because of a past indiscretion. His well-known affair with a certain…” She paused as if it were painful to mention the name.

The lord chancellor nodded, the rolls of his silver wig slipping over his shoulders. “Lady Carlysle,” he supplied. “I received her deposition earlier.”

“Then I’m certain you’ve been informed about her liaison with my husband,” Lara continued, “a relationship that has caused me no small amount of grief.

in his remorse over the affair, I believe my husband’s intention is to punish himself in this most drastic manner, by denying his very identity. However, I wish to make him understand that I forgive him for everything.” She glanced at Hunter, who stared stonily at the floor. “Everything,” she repeated firmly. “I want to begin again, my lord.”

“Indeed,” the lord chancellor muttered, scrutinizing Hunter’s closed face, and Lara’s resolute one. He returned his gaze to Hunter. “If what Lady Hawksworth claims is true, my good fellow, it’s going a bit far to renounce your own name. A man makes mistakes now and again.

It is up to our wives, with their superior virtue, to make up for us.”

He chuckled at his own joke, heedless of the fact that no one shared his amusement.

“Claptrap!” Arthur exclaimed as he glared at Lara.

“My lord, this woman is suffering from mental derangement. She has no idea what she is saying. This cunning impostor has somehow convinced her to side with him, when only yesterday she was denouncing him!”

“What have you to say to that, Lady Hawksworth?” Sunbury inquired.

“I have made a terrible mistake,” Lara acknowledged. “I can only beg forgiveness for the trouble I’ve caused. I brought the suit against my husband in a fit of anger over his affair with Lady Carlysle, and I was influenced adversely by my uncle. I’m not usually so weak-minded…

but I’m afraid my condition has made me somewhat irrational.”

“Your condition?” Sunbury repeated, while everyone in the room stared at her openmouthed, including Hunter and Sophie.

“Yes Lara flushed as she continued, hating the necessity of using her pregnancy this way. However, she intended to use every weapon at her disposal.

“I’m expecting a child, my lord. I’m certain you understand the instability of a woman’s temperament when she is in the family way.”

“Indeed,” the lord chancellor murmured, stroking his chin thoughtfully.

Hunter’s face was pale beneath its golden tan.

From the way he looked at her, Lara knew he thought she was lying.

“Enough, Lara,” he said hoarsely.

“More lies!” Arthur cried, standing and shaking off his attorney’s restraining hand. “She’s as barren as the desert. Everyone knows that she is incapable of producing a child. My lord, she’s faking a pregnancy and will no doubt fake a miscarriage as soon as it’s convenient!”