Web of Dreams (Casteel 5)

She lowered her shoulders and shook her head.

"I was going to speak to you about all this after I had settled in," she said. "I had hoped it could wait until I regained some of my strength."

"Speak to me about all this? But how did you know?"

"Tony picked me up at the airport, Leigh. He told me how you have been behaving. He didn't tell me about your following him to the cottage, but he told me you asked him to come into your suite and when he arrived, he found you stark naked on your bed."

"What? He's lying!"

"He said you took hold of his wrist and pulled him onto you, begging him to make love to you, but he broke free, bawled you out and left."

"Momma, listen to me . . ."

"He also told me about your going to my suite to pretend you were me so he would not refuse you a second time. He said you had even put on one of my nightgowns and sprayed yourself with my perfume." She looked at me with triumph, sniffing the air. "That is my nightgown, isn't it? And you are wearing my perfume."

"Oh, Momma, I did all this just to be close to you. I was so afraid."

When she looked at me again I could see her disbelief. She didn't even attempt to hide it! In that moment a surge of hatred flowed through my blood. Never before had I felt this way toward Momma. Never! But why shouldn't I? She didn't believe me! She was choosing to disregard her own daughter's words over those of a man she hadn't even been married to for a year! All she cared about was Tony . . disgustingly wealthy Tony . . . her young and horrible husband.

I looked at Momma with cynical eyes. Oh yes, I could see it all. Momma wasn't about to jeopardize her position as mistress of Farthinggale Manor. So what if she had gotten Tony to sign a settlement agreement, entitling her to half his fortune? Without his name she was nothing . . NOTHING! If she chose to believe me and divorced Tony, she would lose the respectability and privilege she had as Mrs. Tony Tatterton. Invitations would no longer arrive. Boston society would close its doors in her face and she'd be reduced to being a poor girl from Texas, allowed only to look in from the outside. As much as I wanted Momma to be happy, because deep down part of me still loved her . . because I knew she needed to have a man i

n her life to give her a purpose . . . I couldn't allow Tony to get away with what he had done to me. I couldn't. I tried one last time.

"Momma, I'm telling you the truth."

"Really, Leigh. Your story is so outrageous. What do you expect me to believe?"

"I expect you to believe me, not him! He's a madman."

"He said you tried everything to get him to make love to you and when nothing worked, you . . . you betrayed me. You told him about my age," she concluded. She looked more hurt than angry.

"Momma, I . . no, I said that because . . ."

"How could you? There was no one I trusted more than my own daughter."

"Momma, he already knew. He didn't care!"

She shook her head.

"Really, Leigh, you must get hold of yourself. I was a teenage girl; I know what you're going through. Your body is developing quickly. Overnight, you have become a woman with a woman's needs and here is handsome Tony Tatterton, the man you modeled in the nude for. It's understandable, and I'm partly to blame for not seeing how mature you've become, but you have to learn to control your fantasies and drives.

"You see how well I can do it. Remember what I told you about a man wearing you out and remember what I told you about being a good girl.

"I'm sure that after a day or so, everyone will get along with everyone just as before. Tony doesn't harbor any ill feelings toward you. He is very understanding when it comes to these things. That's why our marriage is going along so well."

She smiled.

"Oh, I can't wait to soak in a hot bubble bath," she said.

"Momma, you must believe me . . . please . . ."

"Now, Leigh," she snapped. "I insist you stop talking about this. One thing leads to another. Next thing you know, the servants will be talking about it, spreading horrible rumors."

"They're not rumors. I'm not fantasizing or lying!"

"Leigh," she said, her eyes small, "do you expect me to believe that my husband would turn to my daughter, a girl just becoming a woman, when he has me? Really," she declared. "Now get hold of yourself. I want you to bathe and dress and come down to dinner."

"But Momma . . ."