Page 50 of A Lady's Wicked Revenge
“Then explain it to me, for God’s sake!” Colin felt a sting of shame as a single tear ran down his cheek, but he pushed this aside. “Just tell me what happened, and we will deal with it accordingly. Whatever’s happened, Father, I’m sure that—”
“Don’t you dare call me that, you viper,” snapped Sir James, holding himself as tall as he could. “I’m no father of yours; if I were, perhaps you wouldn’t have turned out such a miserable drunken wretch.”
One thick arm was propped against the back of an armchair; Colin found himself wondering if the man intended to throw the chair at him. He extended the other towards Colin. “I won’t ask you again, boy. Give me what’s mine.”
Colin took in the sight before him for a long, tense moment … then stuffed the will and the envelope alike into the breast pocket of his jacket. “Not until you tell me exactly what happened to William and Catherine Hann.”
He swallowed a mouthful of sawdust, expecting Sir James to either lunge at him or to loose another volley of abuse. Instead, the man took a step back and laughed bitterly, bemusement twinkling in his eye. “Very well. Since you’re so desperate to hear the truth of things. For all your faults, lad, perhaps you’re finally ready to hear the reality of this world.”
Colin folded his arms and studied his stepfather carefully.
The flames in the hearth danced and leapt in Sir James’ eyes, his hair standing askew as the shadows played along the walls of the study. “The hand of fate is not wise, my boy—it’s stupid. Terribly stupid, and cruel besides. Rich rewards are handed out to the unworthy. Whole kingdoms are given to madmen if you have been too blind to notice. Meanwhile, the truly good and deserving are given only bitter punishment.”
“Meaning yourself, of course,” Colin said through gritted teeth.
Sir James nodded. “Those with true ambition and the intelligence to shape the world for the better—they are the truly great men of the world. Yet they are deprived of what they are owed, what the world would be better for their having.”
“Your sister’s money.”
Sir James recoiled, his face curdling in disgust. “My sister … bah! She spreads her legs for a low-born simpleton, and then fortune showers his business with riches while the fruits of my labours wither on the vine. She is given a life of luxury, and I can barely afford to keep my lazy, idle household staff.”
Colin blinked, uncomprehending. “Were things truly that dire, F—Sir James?”
His stepfather barked with humourless laughter. “Between my business partners robbing me blind and my generosity to every pleading hand that is shoved my way? It’s a crime, Colin. Adisgrace.When I think of all I could do with that money, all the good I could have done in the world … but that selfish bitch of a sister kept it all to herself and her own wretched family.”
“It was her inheritance. Her money and her husband’s, not yours,” Colin put in numbly. “The fortune your brother-in-law built with a lifetime of hard work, and they left it to Diana.”
The man’s nose wrinkled, repulsed. “I’ve taught you what a man does, Colin—at least, I have tried to do so and prayed my efforts have not been wasted on unworthy clay. Now it’s time you learn the most important lesson of all: a man does a great many things, but agreatman is not held to the same inferior standard. Most of all, he does not bow to the whims of an unjust world.”
Sir James’ eyes were wild, his lip twisted in an imperious sneer. “No, he corrects the errors that he comes across. He seeks out the injustices on this Earth, the mistakes dealt by fate’s hand, and he makes them right.Thatis what a great man does; it is what you will do yourself, someday, when you are called to do so.”
In one fell swoop, the room stopped its mad spin about Colin’s head. Suddenly everything was clear as day, from the pathetic figure he saw capering in the firelight to the very future itself. Two paths lay before him, and though his heart broke to see that neither led to Diana, only one of them led away from the flames, and that paved with tragedy.
But it is what a man must do,spoke the voice in Colin’s soul.
“It’s true, then,” said Colin in a loud, clear voice. He drew himself tall with his chin set in determination. “You arranged your sister and brother-in-law’s carriage wreck. You killed them.”
His stepfather regarded Colin as though he were a bit of mud soiling his boot. “You really are a naïve child, aren’t you?” asked Sir James with revulsion. “I suppose it’s my fault for being too kind, too lax with your upbringing. It’s your mother’s influence that’s kept you so soft and ignorant of the true workings of the world. Pathetic.”
Colin stepped towards his stepfather, his fists clenching at his sides. “Say it,” he said in a voice dripping with menace. “I want to hear you say you did it.”
“I only wish I had done what needed to be done sooner, so I would not have been too distracted to give you the proper upbringing you needed,” Sir James said thoughtfully, heedless of how close Colin had come to him. A wicked twinkle came to his eye. “I might well have thought to do the same to their mewling brat, Diana. It would have saved us all a lot of trouble.”
“Say you killed them!”
Sir James threw out a fist, pushing Colin back a step, then laughed. “OfcourseI bloody killed them!”
Chapter 22
Justice and Mercy
“Murderer!”
The door flew open, and Colin was momentarily blinded as the doorway was filled by the shadowy form of a person holding a candelabrum. He blinked, rubbing away the shining green after-images from his eyes, and saw it was Diana, tears streaming from her eyes and closely followed by Jerome Arnold.
“What the hell is this?” roared Sir James, drawing himself up to his full height. “Leave us this instant! I am having a private conversation with my stepson.”
“I heard every word,” said Diana, fists shaking as they clenched at her sides.
