Page 78 of Sinful Persuasion of a Lady in the Making
He thumped the decanter back in the cabinet and let the stopper land on top, the glass ringing loudly through the room. Then he turned to face Diana, glass dangling from his fingertips, his jaw set in fury and rage. He had tried to be kind to her, to make her see, but now she was pushing even his limits.
That she would bring this up again angered him in a way he had never felt before, and that she was doing it on such a day that he had visited a prison and was searching for answers was even worse.
“I have had quite enough of your attitude,” he said. His voice was quiet, steady, but it was firm and focused. He clenched his free fist as he spoke, and his eyes bored into his sister’s.
“You don’t understand,” she spat, shaking her own fist at him. “You are just a foolish man, being played by a scarlet woman who will take you for everything you’ve got and ruin us both in the process!”
“That’s enough,” he said, again quiet, controlled, but beneath his words his rage simmered just below the surface. “You promised me you would try.”
“I know I did,” she urged. “And I did. I really did, Sebastian. But the more I think on it, the more I can see the truth. That woman is—”
“That woman has a name,” he growled.
“That woman,” she repeated, “is out to get wealth by whatever means she can. There is a clear reason why no other gentleman has chosen to court her—and that is because they are not as stupid as you are.”
“Stupid? You dare to call me stupid?”
“What other reason could there possibly be?” she demanded.
“Oh, I don’t know,” he said, a streak of sarcasm in his voice. He waved his brandy in the air, speaking loudly and forcefully now. “Perhaps it is thanks to the work of the rumor mills and gossip mongers.” He took a step toward her, and she took a step back. “Perhaps, dear Diana, it is those such as yourself who ruin other people’s reputations, not those such as me.”
“Sebastian, please,” she pleaded, holding her ground. “I have been on this earth longer than you, and I know a woman’s mind far better than you ever will. I beg you. Annul this contract, end this agreement. We will find you a better wife, one more suited to your position.”
“There could be no better wife,” he muttered, “and I want no one else.”
“But you are wrong. There are so many other lovely ladies. Give me a chance to—”
“Stop!”
They paused, both catching their breath, each staring at the other, and then Sebastian threw back his brandy in a single gulp. He put the glass down on the table, dropping it from a few inches so that it rattled loudly as it thumped and settled. He took a deep breath, a step forward, and put his hands on her arms. She glared at him.
“As a woman, and an older one on the hunt for marriage,” Diana said quietly, looking at Sebastian’s chest rather than at his eyes. “I know of what I speak. She is past her peak, and she is looking to improve her lot. She may tell you she loves you, and perhaps in some peculiar way, she believes she does. But I promise you this, dearest brother. She will not stop until she has siphoned away all your wealth and most likely with it, your happiness.”
Sebastian curled a finger beneath Diana’s chin, forcing her to look up at him.
“The only one siphoning away my happiness right now is you,” he said, pushing thoughts of the letter out of his mind. “Why can you simply not accept this?”
“She is but a servant, Sebastian,” Diana whispered.
“No,” Sebastian whispered back. “She is my betrothed. We are to be married, and you will be sisters, and the sooner you accept this truth, the better it will be for all of us.”
