Chapter 3: Wants all three
Marico woke in a daze the next morning. He gripped his head all morning and wouldn't get out of bed until past noon. Laura was left to tend him as well as she could. He claimed to remember nothing of what had brought him low.
"I must have had too much to drink last night, but I'll swear I don't remember it at all," he complained to Laura when he was feeling a little bit better.
She made sympathetic noises and brought him a weak broth while he lay recovering in his bed. His mother looked at her suspiciously as she carried dishes to and from their bedroom, as if she thought that Laura was responsible from something terrible happening to her son. Laura wondered if her mother-in-law was right.
Laura wondered if she meant anything to Olan. Had he really wanted her for all these years, or did he have many human women that he visited in turn? If he wanted her so badly, would he have left her?
Laura didn't know if she wanted Olan to return or not. When he had been there, everything had seemed so obvious. Of course, she belonged with him. But now she was assailed with doubts. Perhaps he used some kind of Elven magic to convince all the women he met that they belonged with him. She pictured him climbing into women's windows all over the countryside, seducing them while their husbands looked helplessly on. She had no doubt that he could do that if he wanted to. So what made her believe that she could trust him? She knew nothing about him, other than that he had almost killed her when she was a child. Every story she had heard of someone visiting the Elven world and eating Elven foods ended in death. That she survived at all had been a miracle, and well she knew that the experience had left its mark on her.
No more, she decided. Olan had done nothing but hurt her and coax her into adultery. She had enjoyed the experience last night. She wouldn't lie to herself about that. She could even be a bit grateful for it, because she knew it had roused her from the lethargic state she had floated in for years. For years, she had longed and longed for Olan and the Elven world the same way that an opium addict longs for her drug. She had allowed her addiction to consume her, but no more. She would take charge of her life again.
Laura thought of Marico, who had remained a faithful, tender husband despite his suspicions about Seth. True, Marico had done what he could to end that liaison, but he did not seem to hold it against Laura. Laura had been a miserable wife to him, but she knew that she could do better, and that she could take more of an interest in their life together. She would do so. Only . . .
Olan might remain an obstacle. Laura didn't know if he would return or not. If he did, well, then, if he did, Laura would show him that she was not controlled by the desires he awakened in her.
Laura dressed well for dinner that night, rejecting the plain dress laid out on her bed by her maid and choosing instead one of her nicer evening gowns. She had her maid put her hair up in an elaborate twist, then put some diamonds in her ears and around her throat. She was surprised to see that Seth had been invited for dinner, and Laura wondered who invited him. She wouldn't put it past her mother-in-law to try to cause trouble in her son's marriage. Laura thought Suzette's jealousy of her unnatural. Her mother-in-law could not hide her surprise at Laura's lively appearance.
"You look lovely, my daughter," she said sweetly. "I can't remember when I last saw you look so well. If you were an unmarried girl, I would think you had found some young beau to turn your head." Laura blushed, because Suzette had hit a little too close to the mark. Seth also watched her closely, inquiringly. Laura refused to meet his gaze, or to be drawn into conversation throughout the meal.
"Marico's sickness has shown me that I must be strong for both of us."
