Captive Splendors by Fern Michaels

duping Regan into marriage with her, her affair with Caleb, and none of it meant anything to him. He knew, without a doubt, that he had always been Camilla’s one true love.
    Only Malcolm stood back from the chatter and bandied compliments. When he did allow his eyes to travel to Camilla, he was careful to avoid looking at her swollen midsection. His lip curled in spite of himself as he mused that pregnant women who displayed themselves in public were as appealing as sows with suckling piglets. He noticed that he had come under Sirena’s green gaze and occupied himself with the contents of his wineglass. He hoped she wasn’t capable of reading his mind.
    Sirena’s one glance at Malcolm told her all she needed to know. She had seen that same contempt for women on another man’s face, a man she had married to spite Regan. Stephan Langdon, Camilla’s father, had died at the point of her own sword for his contempt of women, and her hand now itched for the weight of a rapier to put an end to Malcolm Weatherly. She knew, beyond a doubt, that she would never allow a marriage between him and Wren to take place. If she had had any doubts before, they were all behind her now. Wren, too, had suffered at Stephan’s hands, and Sirena wondered why she couldn’t see the sadistic similarities between the two men.
    As though bidden by her thoughts, Wren and Sara entered the drawing room. Without a glance in Sirena’s direction, and ignoring Malcolm completely, Wren moved toward Regan, the silk of her apricot gown rustling softly. Sirena glanced at Caleb, who seemed to have forgotten his disappointment over Camilla and not even to have noticed Sara, whose white-blond hair and pearly complexion was set off by the delicate blue shading of her gown. Caleb’s attention was centered on Wren, who by now was firmly within Regan’s embrace. Sirena softened toward the daughter of her heart when she saw the barely disguised look of pain leave Regan’s eyes.
    Malcolm carefully avoided Sara’s searching gaze. He never knew how she had managed to become friends with Wren so soon after he had refused to accede to her pleas to meet her whenever she could slip out of the academy. How fortunate that he had discovered her father’s falling from grace with the Crown and his near bankruptcy. Imagine, if he had saddled himself with Sara before he had learned the truth about her family’s finances! It was impossible for him to fathom why she had befriended Wren when she knew he had thrown her over for the amber-eyed girl. It really didn’t matter to him that Sara was Wren’s friend as long as she kept quiet about having been his lover. Malcolm smiled, a churlish lifting of the lip that showed strong white teeth. Sara would never spill that sack of beans; the damage to her reputation would be irreparable. He even doubted that Wren would believe Sara, no matter how convincing her tale might be.
    While Camilla drew Sirena aside to exchange news, and Tyler and Regan began to discuss business agreements concerning the handling of certain estates, Wren and Sara gathered about Caleb, leaving Malcolm to entertain himself. Malcolm had never encountered such an inhospitable group of people. He wasn’t in the habit of being ignored, especially if there were women present. And what of Sara, so blatantly flirting with the younger van der Rhys? Even Wren seemed to have forgotten his existence as she hung on Caleb’s every word. If he hadn’t known that Wren was Caleb’s sister, he might even become jealous.
    Sirena glanced over Camilla’s shoulder at Malcolm Weatherly. She didn’t fail to notice his chagrin at being excluded from the little celebration. One might think that if he really loved Wren, he would be jealous of the attention she was giving Caleb. Then the truth dawned on Sirena. Weatherly didn’t know Wren wasn’t Caleb’s half sister. He couldn’t know; otherwise