Marriage Without Love & More Than a Convenient Marriage?

‘Really, chéri,’ Louise said crisply, ‘English women are so strange! I would not neglect my husband for a small boy.’

‘Not even when that small boy happened to be your husband’s child?’ Briony said quietly and with cold contempt. ‘Please excuse me, both of you. Nicky will be waking up, and I don’t want him to wake up alone. It can be very frightening.’

She thought for a moment that Kieron’s eyes darkened, but then his mouth suddenly twisted and he looked away, ignoring her.

What was he trying to do? Show her how much more of a ‘woman’ he thought Louise? She told herself that she didn’t care, but she did, achingly so.

* * *

Briony dressed for the evening with scant enthusiasm, staring uncertainly at her reflection in the black dress. She was just about to take it off when Kieron walked into the bedroom.

‘Don’t tell me you chose that,’ he demanded grimly.

Her fingers faltered uncertainly against the silk flowers she had just tucked in her hair.

‘Don’t you like it?’

His eyebrows rose.

‘What red-blooded male wouldn’t?’

The brief, lightly boned bodice cupped her breasts, the black fabric stark against their swelling creaminess, her small waist emphasised by the full skirt.

‘I was just going in to read to Nicky,’ she said nervously as his eyes slid slowly over her.

‘Lucky Nicky,’ was his only comment, although he added laconically, ‘Wait for me, I’ll get changed and we can go in to dinner together.’

Nicky’s eyes widened when he saw her, and Briony laughed as he sniffed appreciatively at her perfume. One day Nicky was going to be as potently male as his father, but for now he was still her precious little boy.

His eyes had just closed when Kieron walked into his room. He had changed into evening clothes, the narrow black trousers making him look taller and leaner, the white shirt and jacket a pale blur in the evening dusk. He kissed Nicky, who hugged him back sleepily.

Whatever else had not turned out right, at least Nicky had his father, and it was impossible to doubt their feelings for each other. Nicky’s every other sentence seemed to contain the words ‘Daddy said’. It would be easy to feel jealous, Briony admitted, but instead she could only feel relief that some good at least would come out of this ill-fated marriage.

Louise raised her eyebrows a little when she saw Briony, and there was jealousy in the narrowed gaze. The brunette was wearing red—a slim satin sheath of a dress which emphasised her voluptuous curves.

Because they were going out, Héloise had prepared a light meal. It was delicious, and Briony had consumed two glasses of wine before she realised that her glass had been refilled. They had been a mistake, she reflected a little woozily as they went out to the car.

Marian had insisted on Louise accompanying her in her car, leaving Briony and Kieron to follow alone.

As they drove down the Grande Corniche the city glittered beneath them, the dark blue Mediterranean bristling with expensive yachts, bedecked with coloured lights.

Kieron parked by the harbour and they walked past the glittering array of craft before turning away from the coast, placing Briony’s arm through his as he drew her across the road. The slight contact triggered off insane desires which she fought hard to quell.

The casino was noisy and full, and Briony watched the tables, wide-eyed and awed that anyone could lose money with such careless sangfroid.

Louise smiled at her condescendingly. They had been waiting for them in the foyer, and no sooner had they all stepped into the main gaming room than Marian had been swept off by a party of old friends, delighted to see her and anxious for her to spend some time with them.

‘You will dance with me, won’t you?’ Louise pleaded with Kieron. ‘We always used to dance so well together…as we did everything.…’

‘But now I’m a married man and must dance only with my wife,’ Kieron said dryly.

He bought some chips and handed some to Briony. She followed his instructions carefully, but in no time at all the small pile had disappeared.

‘You are no gambler,’ Louise said scornfully. ‘You should have placed the lot on one number.’

‘Briony’s too cautious to be an all or nothing girl.’ Kieron’s mocking smile pierced her heart. ‘But I’m trying to teach her.’

Louise wanted a drink, and as Kieron turned to summon a waiter, they were parted by the crowd. A feeling of panic came over Briony as she searched anxiously for him, and the crowd seemed to press down upon her until she felt that she was suffocating. At last it parted and she saw Kieron standing with his back to her, Louise in his arms.