Page 9 of A Lady's Wicked Revenge
Diana sighed and gave her stomach a grim pat of reassurance. “Come on, now, it’s not so bad as that,” she said softly. “We had tea and cakes just this afternoon, after all.”
And one missed meal is certainly a fair price to escape Uncle James’ ranting,thought Diana. Her stomach audibly registered its disagreement with this sentiment, and she turned over on her side in hopes of quieting this insistent petitioner.
Maybe I should just go along with his plans.Diana shut her eyes tightly, gritting her teeth hard enough to give her a headache.Whatever else he may be, he does not seem to be a stupid man—it’s possible he knows more than I on this subject. After all, marrying may turn out to be my only escape from this horrid house unless the law suddenly changes its mind and decides to let an unmarried woman inherit. Besides, going along with Uncle James seems to be good enough for that cretinous stepson of his.
The thought of Colin twisted Diana’s expression to an even sterner scowl.I knew I was right to assume the worst of him from the moment I saw him. No good can come of someone that flippant, to say nothing of anyone that well-dressed or handsome. Not that I would bother to notice such—
Her thoughts were interrupted by a sudden, sharp sound in her left ear. It was quiet, wooden, almost furtive.
Was that a knock?Diana glanced at the clock and saw it was nearly midnight. No one had paid her a late-night visit in her room since her arrival three weeks earlier, and she felt herself tense with anticipation at the mystery of who might be doing so now.It’s a good thing my stomach finally rested silently for a moment then, else I would not have heard it.
Diana sat bolt upright in bed and stalked to the door on bare feet. There was no movement visible under the door, though she thought she saw a shadow that had not been there before.
“Hello?” Diana asked softly, her voice shaking. No answer.
Pressing her ear to the wood, she heard quiet, distant thumps as though someone were running without shoes down the corridor. Biting her lip in concentration, Diana quickly slid the door open and peeked her head out.
The long corridor that stretched the length of the entire second floor of the Leeson house was dark, the lamps presumably having been extinguished by the staff hours ago.
Was that … Aunt Priscilla?Diana wondered, perplexed. She thought another moment and realised she had definitely seen the older woman wearing such a garment around their home once or twice.
As she moved to take a step out into the hall to explore the odd situation a bit further, Diana stopped before she crushed an unfamiliar shape beneath her feet. Looking down, her face split in a girlish smile. There, left outside her bedroom door, was a small wooden tray bearing a covered plate. Diana pulled aside the cover to reveal a generous portion of roast beef and cauliflower. The smell that entered her nose with her quiet breaths was positively rapturous, provoking a growl from her impatient stomach.
I had not thought you capable of such a gesture, Aunt Priscilla,Diana mused.To be truthful, I had not thought much of you at all. Clearly, I owe you an apology for underestimating you.She prayed she would remember to thank her aunt for the gesture, then realised with a smile that she would never be able to forget this minor but much-needed kindness.
Diana picked up the tray and cast one last curious look down the empty hallway before hurriedly closing herself back up in her bedroom.
Chapter 5
Breaking Fast
“William! Oh God, William!”
Broken glass tumbled through the air like rain, shards scattering on the cobblestones one by one in a silent, deathly procession. A dozen—no, a hundred spectral steeds shattered against the stone, their final horrified breaths hanging in the air like ghosts. Somewhere fingers reached out for help and, finding no salvation in the bloody mist, relaxed into death.
And when the monstrous wood-and-steel hulk finally, agonisingly came to a shuddering stop, collapsing into a pile of splinters on the cold ground, there was only one more sound amid the ghastly silence.
“Diana …”
“Mother!” Diana screamed.
The instant her eyes opened, Diana’s recurring nightmare was replaced by a waking one, her mind immediately filled with mournful thoughts of her mother and father, then anger towards money-grubbing Uncle James, irritation at that dolt Gerard Dunn and that strange Colin Mullens, with his tongue like a poisoned barb and his eagerness to please his damnable stepfather.
She took in a shaky breath, grasping the blankets for purchase to keep herself from fainting, overwhelmed by all that lay in wait for her.The whole world is hungry to marry me away, to abuse me, to shut me up or bury me in my grave and be done with it,Diana thought, laying her head back down on the downy pillow.How many years of this sort of treatment must I suffer through until my misery is ended? How much punishment does this life have in store for me?
She choked out another weak breath, hot tears filling her eyes.It would have been better if I had been in that carriage with them, that I might have died the carriage wreck as well.
But then, with that one simple thought, something changed within her. As she lowered into the deep, despairing well within herself, what came back up was not misery but righteous determination. Her chin set, teeth clenched, limbs suddenly charged with energy and strength as she had not known in weeks.
“No,” she said aloud in a voice full of resolution, her words echoing softly from the corners of the little bedroom. “No more grieving, no wallowing. No more of that. I can live like this no longer. I will not allow myself to be treated as a prisoner.”
Diana rose purposefully from her bed and began to dress herself. She had escaped the tomb she had dug for herself and was eager to live once more.
Easy enough to say, foolish girl, but what recourse is even left to you save to endure your imprisonment?said a dismal voice in her mind.All the determination in the world will not change the fact that Uncle James is your lawful guardian, and he will only allow you so much—less than he has if you continue to thrash about as you have been.
Diana considered the matter carefully as she brushed her hair and washed her face.I could apologise, I suppose?she thought.Play the good, dutiful niece, swear to follow Uncle James’ orders with the utmost obedience, win his favour, and possibly be granted additional privileges? Perhaps I may even be allowed some measure of choice in selecting my own suitors.
She caught sight of her reflection in the mirror at this idea and was immediately stricken by the look of revulsion that shot across her face.No, not that. Even if I had a talent for deception, I do not think I could stomach a farce like that for more than a single sentence. Then what?
