Page 79 of Untaming Lady Violet
In three strides, Tristan crossed the room, seizing Violet’s hand from his mother’s. She did not resist when he hauled her up onto her feet.
Cupping her chin in his palm Tristan stared deep into her eyes.
“Who was with you in the conservatory, Violet?” He snarled the words, growing more furious when her mouth remained a line of stubbornness. “Tell them.”
“I was not in the conservatory last night, Lord Longleigh.” Her voice was cool, the denial as smooth as her brow. She hung limp in his grasp.
Tristan almost shook her in his frustration. “Damn you, Violet. Do you want to marry him? Do you?”
Fear of marriage to William sparked like distant lightning in her eyes before it was shuttered. “Of course not.”
“You will do as you’re told, Violet. Your failure will result in consequences you can’t possibly imagine,” Lord Everstone growled.
Lady Darby interjected softly, “Oh, my dear girl. You always have a home with us.” With a fierce glare for Violet’s mother, she added, “How can you allow your daughter to be bartered in such a manner, Eloise?”
Violet hung in Tristan’s grasp, giving no response to either her father’s threatening words or his mother’s sympathy.
Tristan understood at last. She would sacrifice herself, her reputation, and her honor rather than force Tristan into claiming her for his own. She’d made a promise she would never scheme nor lie to become part of his life. And that promise was kept by withholding the truth. If he only agreed with her statement, he would be free of her.
There was no doubt in Tristan’s mind that Violet’s parents would forcibly marry her to any man who paid their price.
“I say, Longleigh, I must object to you holding my fiancée in such a manner.” William pocketed the hairpins and withdrew a snuff box from the same pocket inside his coat.
After pinching a generous amount and inhaling it, he pointed an index finger at Violet. “Violet, once we are wed, this outrageous behavior will cease. I won’t have my wife whoring herself out to any man willing to fuck her beneath my very nose.”
With the roar of a furious lion, Tristan released Violet and lunged toward William, intent on destroying the man. Two quick jabs to the man’s face and one to his stomach occurred in a matter of seconds.
Somewhere in the room came the sound of his mother’s shocked cry, and Lord Darby’s chair scraping as he quickly stood. Lady Everstone let out an alarmed scream.
Violet’s moan of despair was the first sign of emotion she’d shown other than disgust.
“No, Tristan. Don’t. Please…”
But Tristan could not stop.
Holding the usually elegant man by the throat, his hands crushing the precise folds of his cravat, Tristan bit out, “I was the one kissing her, holding her, Gadley. I’ve caressed every inch of her soft skin. My lips discovered all her secrets and destroyed any resistance. And my hands sent those goddamn hairpins scattering everywhere by the conservatory fountain. I’ve taken everything, each little piece of her. Because she gave herself to me.Me. Not you. Anyone but you.”
Chapter 31
“That was a foolish thing to do.”
Tristan whirled on Violet, brow furrowing with her quiet declaration.
“And what would you have me do, kitten?” he bit out between clenched teeth.
“Let me go.”
Violet watched his eyes darken into stormy pools of frustration.
“Impossible.” Raking a hand through his hair, Tristan grimaced in sudden pain. Shaking his fingers out, he flexed them in an attempt at easing the ache. Violet wondered if he might have broken his hand on Gadley’s jaw.
He restlessly paced the empty room, muttering beneath his breath before lifting a decanter from the side cabinet in the corner. Liquid splashed into a tumbler, and he downed the alcohol in one quick swallow.
Only the two of them occupied Lord Darby’s study at the moment, and Violet nervously regarded Tristan as complete awareness of what just transpired began seeping in.
The ramifications of disobeying her father would not be pleasant.
Earlier, when Nicholas burst in, it had taken him some effort in prying Tristan off William where they grappled and rolled on the floor. Once they were separated, Violet’s father escorted the man away from the room, hurrying past Celia and Grace and a crowd of curious onlookers who had gathered in the hall.
