The Possessive Lord's Contract Wife

"Are you serious, Hayden? I’d like to think you’re still drunk," Camille said, trying hard not to take him seriously. "I am a woman? Then am I to be at home at all times, never getting a break as you do? Why must I carry all the responsibility?"

"We both know our roles. I provide for everything you have while you care for the children," Hayden explained, though he hardly felt the need to justify himself. "It has always been this way."

"No. I believed you were busy with work, so I took on the responsibility willingly. You should be home with your children. They ought to see their father far more often than they do," Camille argued, her voice rising.

"I am not in the mood for this," Hayden said, shrugging his coat from his shoulders. "It has always worked well enough for us."

"No, it hasn’t. You’ve been lying to me about why you were away. All this time I believed it was work keeping you from home, when the truth was you simply wanted peace. If you wanted peace so badly, you shouldn’t have had children. You shouldn’t have married at all," Camille said, her frustration getting the best of her.

"Camille," Hayden sighed, rubbing his temple. "You speak as though you do so much with the children. Our children are raised by the servants. Finding the finest ones was the very first task we undertook the moment we learned you were with child."

"The servants might tend to them, but they still come running to me. Always with questions, with noise, with something to show me the instant I sit down. I want a break from it all, yet I’m rarely allowed one. How would you feel if I simply up and left the children to stay at another home?" Camille asked, her eyes filling with water.

"I’d see no need for you to do such a thing, since all you do is sit at home," Hayden answered honestly. "I work. I oversee everything concerning our household. All you must do is look after the children, and yet still you complain."

He shook his head. "Should I take the servants away, then, so you might see exactly how much work you’re spared each day? Shall I?"

"No, you should be home, since you have no real business hiding away elsewhere. My duties might seem small compared to yours, but you are still a parent. I need a break as well," Camille declared, and the moment the words left her, she found herself seriously considering taking one.

"You know that wouldn’t be received well," said Hayden.

"You mean by your family? I don’t much care what they will or won’t receive well. My husband just admitted he stays away because he needs a break. I am well within my right to take one myself. You forget I don’t answer to you the way you seem to think. I come from wealth just as you do," Camille argued, lifting her chin.

"Let’s not play the wealth card, Camille. We both come from wealthy families. I’d have thought a woman whose own brother is a lord would understand her role better than this," Hayden said, irritated that the argument had dragged on so long.

Camille sat up from the bed and walked over to Hayden to strike him.

Hayden took the slap without flinching, then caught her wrist before she could pull away. "Don’t get carried away, Camille. I promised never to raise a hand to you, and I expect the same courtesy in return. You know what our roles are. Every lady in town does."

"I am not in a position to follow the same norms as every other lady. I am in a position to do as I please. It troubles me that you don’t see how you’ve disrespected me. Not only in telling me what my role is, but in abandoning me," Camille said.

"Camille, I didn’t abandon you. This is precisely how I’d expect you to react if I had a lover. All I sought was time alone, and when I’d had enough of it, I returned to you. Without those moments to myself, our marriage wouldn’t fare nearly so well," Hayden said, sharing his honest feelings.

The tears finally fell from Camille’s eyes.

"Do you not hear yourself, Hayden? How am I meant to respond to statements like that? Am I simply to let you keep leaving me, again and again, for the sake of our marriage staying well? It isn’t as though you’re gone for days. You’re gone for weeks," Camille said.

She continued, "How dull must our life be that you need to stay away so long? You spend more time gone than you ever do at home. You speak to your own children through letters, and soon enough I shall be the one people whisper about and laugh at."

"There it is," Hayden said, letting his shirt drop to the floor. "Always so concerned with how we’re viewed. Still clinging to whatever was said during your season all those years ago. You are a grown woman with children now, Camille. It’s time you moved past it."

Camille gasped, stung by the remark. "Do not pretend you don’t enjoy others thinking highly of our marriage. I’ve seen the way you enjoy gloating to your peers about it."

"Not every woman in town gets a fine season, with young ladies looking up to her the way they do to you. I intend to enjoy that for as long as I’m able," Camille said.

"Which means you’re not actually going to leave me simply because I prefer time away from home, so spare me the headache of this conversation," Hayden requested, already tired of the argument.

What was the point of fighting on, when neither of them truly intended to leave the marriage?

"Is that why you’ve carried on this way for so long? Because you assumed I’d simply sit still and take it? I am not going to leave you over this, but I am going to leave home. I deserve a break just as much as you do," Camille said, looking forward to escaping motherhood.

"Camille, you mustn’t take this so far."

"I fear I must. If I stay another day in this house, I shall lose my mind entirely. I urge you to spend real time with the children and see exactly what I endure daily. I ought to be gone for weeks myself," Camille said, moving towards the door. "I’ll have my maid begin packing."

"Camille!" Hayden yelled, annoyed by her actions. "This is absurd."

"It wasn’t absurd when you were the one doing it. I am merely evening this marriage out by seeking a break of my own. After all, if I never get one, I doubt this marriage survives much longer. Do not stand in my way," Camille said, her hand already on the door.

"You have a gathering you’ve planned. Would you truly abandon those guests and risk sullying your own reputation?" Hayden asked.

Hayden watched, satisfied, as Camille hesitated to leave. He knew her far too well.