Page 60 of A Captain For Clarissa
As she awaited his response, Clarissa’s heart pounded in her chest. How could the man she once thought she might be able tolove be capable of such treachery? And what other secrets might he be hiding?
Dalton’s face contorted, a mix of shame and desperation etched across his once-handsome features. “I... I owed money,” he confessed, his voice cracking. “A Greek moneylender. The debt was astronomical, Clarissa. I was desperate.”
Clarissa’s stomach churned, the bitter taste of betrayal rising in her throat. “So yousoldme tocorsairs?“ she spat, her hands trembling with rage.
“No!” Dalton exclaimed. “I swear, I thought they would only hold you for ransom. Your father’s wealth... I never imagined they would sell you.”
The room seemed to spin around Clarissa as she processed his words. She steadied herself against a nearby chair, her knuckles white as she gripped the ornate wooden back. Another terrible suspicion began to form in her mind.
“The vineyards,” she whispered, her eyes widening with dawning horror. “It was you, wasn’t it?Yousabotaged Rafael’s vineyards.”
Dalton’s silence was damning. Clarissa watched as he seemed to crumple before her, no longer the dashing figure she had once admired but a pitiful, cowardly shell of a man.
“How could you?” she breathed, her voice raw with emotion. “I trusted you, Edward. We all did.”
As the full weight of his betrayal crashed down upon her, Clarissa’s mind raced with the implications. How many lives had he ruined? How much damage had his selfish actions caused?
Her eyes flashing with righteous anger, her voice trembled as she spoke, crushing him with her words. “I would sooner marry a mongrel dog from the streets than a man without honour like you, Edward Dalton.”
She watched with grim satisfaction as Dalton flinched away from her, his face contorting with shame.
“Clarissa, please,” Dalton pleaded, reaching for her hand. “We can still make this right. Your father—“
She snatched her hand away, her skin crawling at his touch. “Do not speak of my father,” she hissed. “You have no right.”
Clarissa’s mind raced, considering her options. She knew she held the power now, and a part of her relished it. Taking a deep breath, she fixed Dalton with a steely gaze.
“I will ruin you,” she declared, her voice low and dangerous. “Every drawing room in London will know of your treachery. And Rafael—“ she paused, savouring the way Dalton blanched at the name, ”—I will tell him everything.”
Dalton’s face drained of colour. “You wouldn’t,” he whispered, terror evident in his eyes.
Clarissa lifted her chin defiantly. “Try me.”
“He - he’ll kill me!”
Clarissa had absolutely no doubt of that fact. Rafael would not hesitate to call Dalton out for the sabotage to the vineyards alone, never mind for selling her to the corsairs, and he would shoot Dalton dead.
Dalton’s eyes darted about the room like a cornered animal. In an instant, he bolted for the door, nearly knocking over a delicate side table in his haste.
Clarissa watched him flee, her heart pounding. “Coward,” she muttered under her breath, smoothing her skirts with shaking hands.
“Clarissa?” A voice called her name a few moments later, and she looked around to see Diana entering the library. “Are you quite well? Will said you were hiding out in here, but Mama is looking for you.”
“I am well indeed, thank you.” Clarissa lifted her chin and smiled. “The better for your company, of course.”
Diana laughed and linked her arm through Clarissa’s. “I have missed you, dear one.” She leaned closer and said confidingly, “I shall miss you more when you reside in Portugal, however, though I do plan to make Will bring me to visit you at least every year or two.”
“I may have got rid of Mr. Dalton, but it still brings me no closer to persuading Papa to let me marry Rafael,” Clarissa said glumly.
“Got rid of Mr. Dalton?” Diana’s delicate brows rose. “How did you manage that, Clarry? He seemed quite persistent.”
“Indeed, even going so far as to threaten to blackmail me!” Her hands were still trembling. Clarissa tried to breathe deeply, telling herself that it was over, even as her sister exclaimed in horror and demanded the details.
I faced him down alone.She was proud of that, even though she had resorted to threatening Dalton with Rafael’s vengeance at the end. And indeed, she would tell Rafael… about Dalton’s sabotage of the vineyards, at least, because he deserved to know. Somehow, she did not think Dalton would ever risk showing his face in the same city as either her or Rafael ever again, though.
Having vanquished Dalton, suddenly she felt more confident about her ability to win over her parents. They would not force her into marriage, of that she was certain. Her father’s bark was far worse than his bite. If she was patient, steadfast in her insistence that Rafael was the only man she would marry, they would, eventually, give in.
If only she could see him!
