Page 23 of A Lady's Wicked Revenge
“No, I do—that is, I am,” said Diana, blowing her nose into the handkerchief. “I’m sorry, Leah, I just—”
“Diana Hann, I swear to you by this black and horrid tree that if you apologise to me once more, I will scream.”
Diana giggled once again.My God, how did I even survive this long without a friend like Leah by my side?
The two women sat side by side beneath the bare branches of the old sentinel. The rolling countryside they could glimpse from this vista was entirely different than what Diana had seen that morning, looking entirely more grim and funereal beneath the endless silver clouds. Yet, she could not deny that she already felt better, having unleashed the demons that had howled inside her mind day and night for nearly a month.
After several quiet minutes of watching the whispering rain, Diana did finally begin to speak. Once she started, much like her endless tears, there was no stopping the flow of words. She told Leah the whole bloody story of the previous weeks, from when Mister Arnold had accompanied her to this house to her first dreadful night of grief to the weeks of shouting matches and broken dishes.
She held back only her most recent interactions with Colin Mullens, which still struck her not as shameful exactly, but as too personal to share even with Leah. All the while, the rain blew to and fro, strengthened and dissolved into vapour.
“… And that’s all there is to it,” said Diana by way of a dejected conclusion. “Before long, I will be married off to Mister Dunn or whichever buyer offers Uncle James the most affordable price. I expect I shall be allowed one last foray out into the world as I am carted from this prison to the next, where I shall spend the rest of my miserable days in the birthing bed.”
Her story finished, Diana felt as though she could sleep for a thousand years now; her limbs, her head, even her eyelids felt unbearably heavy. Just the previous morning, she had hoped inviting Leah might point her in the direction of her deliverance from this hell she was trapped in. Now, even the act of speaking felt like a herculean task.
Perhaps it would be better just to accept what fate has in store for me,Diana mused in the silence that filled the summer air.I haven’t the strength to go on fighting much longer. Surely I can find some measure of tranquillity in whatever Uncle James means to do with me. With a bit of luck, I may catch an illness and secure my final rest before much longer, anyway.Her eyes flickered up to the ominous black branch of the tree above her, and Diana instantly regretted wishing such a thing, even within her own mind.
“Let me make sure I have all that clear in my mind.”
Looking over, Diana could see Leah sitting with her legs out straight, her fingers toying idly with a blade of grass and tingeing her fingers green. Diana gave a weak smile; she could remember Leah doing this same thing when they were girls, every time they were contemplating some difficult problem or predicament.
“Your uncle is your undisputed legal guardian and will remain so until you are married,” said Leah thoughtfully. Diana nodded. “You suspect he is stealing from your inheritance to enrich himself and will do so right until your wedding, though you have no proof of such. You also believe he does not have your best interests at heart and means to give you away in marriage as soon as possible without any regard for your wishes or your future security. Do I have all that correct?”
It all sounded so final, so inevitable when she heard it summarised aloud. Diana nodded limply, casting another almost longing look towards the branch above her.Bereft of other options, perhaps there is still one more choice I may make for myself …
With a relieved laugh, Leah shook her head and flashed Diana a smile of reassurance. “That’s all, then! Well, that sounds simple enough.”
Diana blinked. The words were strange, incomprehensible somehow. “What …?”
“Come now, Diana. It’s the simplest thing in the world! What you’re describing is a monstrous injustice, and of course, we shan’t stand for it!”
“We shan’t?” she asked in a timid voice.
“Of course not! Thieving from a poor orphaned girl, selling her off to a wicked suitor? Why, that’s the stuff of the worst villains in literature—no, in the world! I tell you, Diana, we won’t stand for this.” Leah squeezed Diana’s shoulder, jostling her roughly, and Diana could not help smiling at the reassuring gesture. “Now, just tell me how I can help, and we’ll have this battle won before Sir James knows what’s what!”
The life drained from Diana’s face again. “I … I don’t know. I’d hoped—that is, I wanted …” Darkness gathered at the edges of her vision, threatening to envelope her in a dead faint.How on Earth did I expect Leah to help me if I haven’t the faintest idea what to do myself?she thought, feeling a crushing weight fall onto her shoulders.
“No plan, eh? You haven’t any idea what I can do to help, have you, you poor girl?” Leah sighed with a bitterness that was almost enough to throw Diana into a fit of tears once more. She stopped this in place by embracing Diana again, pulling her close and patting her head gently. “Dear, dear Diana. This all must be even worse than I imagined. You really aren’t yourself these days, are you?”
Diana shook her head wordlessly, hoping she was not soiling Leah’s shoulder with tears or mucous.
“Well, lucky for you, I hear the old Diana Hann isn’t far off. She’s exactly the sort of person I would turn to in a case like this.”
“Really?” Diana croaked.
“Without a doubt! The old Diana Hann certainly wouldn’t allow such injustice to continue unabated. She would concoct a plan of action, then follow the most reasonable steps to resolve this situation.”
“But I don’t know what to do, Leah! How am I to follow the most reasonable steps if I don’t know how to—”
Leah shushed Diana once again, an unbothered look of confidence on her face beneath her coppery curls. “There are a thousand possible avenues through which you could fight this, and I’ve some ideas as to which might be best. I’ll tell you more about that in a minute, but as it happens, the first steps are the same no matter which road you take. Just sit quiet and rest for a minute—you listen to what your friend has to say, now that apparently I’m the more capable one of the two of us.”
Diana snorted. “Don’t get too used to it.” She chuckled, then allowed herself to fall silent. The rain had stopped, leaving only the sound of her own heartbeat and the sound of Leah sifting through her ideas in a steady, soothing voice.
* * *
It was remarkable what a world of difference a few hours could make. Since the sun had risen that morning, Diana had descended into the blackest pits of despair and been carried aloft on wings of hope. It had happened so often, in fact, that she felt as though she had been forced through a bellows. Indeed, she found herself yawning mightily as she came back into the Leeson house after bidding her fond farewell to Leah.
Still, weary though she was, her mind was clear with what she needed to do if she was to take back her destiny from her wicked guardian. Until she was presented with an opportunity to formulate and execute a more complete plan, Leah had said, all Diana needed to do was keep herself while following two simple steps.
