Page 8 of A Lady's Wicked Revenge
James’ refusal was immediate. Shaking his head and helping himself to another serving of peas, he orated, “You speak of silly trivialities like what you read in those terrible romance novels. Life is not some storybook romance in which you will be swept off your feet by a dashing prince, Diana. Besides, it is too soon after the loss of your parents. It would not be appropriate for you to be seen at such public functions.”
“But itisappropriate for my guardian to have me sold off like a common harlot to whichever man will give you the best price?” she snapped, incredulous.
James’ moustache twitched in irritation. “Keep behaving like that, and you shan’t see a prospect as good as Gerard Dunn again, mark my words.”
Diana gasped as though terribly stricken by this idea. “I shan’t? Oh, woe is me! Whatever will I do without my beloved Gerald or whatever? After all the trouble I went to in order to win the heart of someone so precious to me, who—”
“There it is, more sarcasm. I expect I should not be surprised by now. You had better not act like this at our dinner party tomorrow, or you’ll wish you hadn’t.” James grunted in exasperation, digging into his plate of food as though trying to do it real bodily harm, then pulling out his fork to point it in Diana’s direction. “I tell you, young lady, you wouldn’t dare speak like that to me if you’d been raised in a proper household instead of being coddled like all you children are these days.”
“Yes, if only my mother—yoursister, Uncle James, as you seem to have forgotten—if only she had died years ago! Then you would certainly have raised me better; I have no doubt. How unfortunate she waited until I’ve been so thoroughly ruined todie horrifically.”
Ah,thought Colin, relieved at least that he had read the situation correctly.There’s the explosion.
Sir James was out of his seat now, crashing his hands on the table with a terrible sound. “I don’t know what you’re implying, Diana, but I won’t—”
“Oh, you don’t?” Diana was standing now as well, her untouched plate rattling from the force of her shouting. “Then I’ll make it plain for you, Uncle: you’re so eager to get rid of me that you don’t give a damn that your sister is not even a month dead and buried.”
James was not one to be overmatched for volume. Now raising his voice to shake the crystal in the chandelier, he replied with a face as red as the beef, “Howdareyou say such a nasty, hateful thing to your own blood, not to mention your legal guardian?”
Colin’s eyes floated up to his mother to confirm that he was not merely imagining this dramatic battle unfolding before their eyes. He was dismayed, though by no means surprised, to see Priscilla looking on at the fracas dispassionately, her mouth small and tight between minuscule sips from her wine glass.Has this become a routine occurrence in this house already, then? Or has Mother just grown that much more apathetic than I’d realised?
“Wicked child! I knew I should have turned you over to a convent and given your inheritance away to the Church. Instead, like a fool, I welcomed you into my own home as if you were a treasured friend.”
“If this is how you treat your friends, Uncle, it’s small wonder you spend so much time alone in your study!”
“Here, now,” said Colin, pushing back from his seat and extending his hands to calm the pair of them. “Miss Hann, I don’t think there’s any call for—”
But there was no stopping this altercation now. James’ wine glass tipped over, spilling blood-red liquid over his side of the table, but he seemed not to notice as he leaned closer to Diana and shook a thick finger in her direction. “If you don’t stop this ridiculous argument and sit back down right this instant, Diana, I swear to you, I’ll—”
“You’ll what, Uncle? Keep me locked in my room? Marry me off to the first turnip-headed fool who’ll have me? Hah!” There was a strange smile on her face, though her eyes were red-streaked with tears. “You’ve already tried that. Come on, we both know you’re wickeder than that. Why not try a little creativity with your threats instead?”
Once again, Colin felt himself need to stifle laughter despite the seriousness of the situation.These are horrid things to say to such a good, upstanding man,he reminded himself, trying to erase what was threatening to become an admiring smile at Diana. Yet as unreasonable as she was being, he could not deny that it took true courage to confront a powerful man like James Leeson. He had certainly had the occasional impulse to struggle against his stepfather’s firm parentage throughout his childhood but had never summoned the bravery to do so.
And the way Diana’s eyes flashed with such life, her red-blonde curls shook and tossed in the air …
Still the battle raged on. “After all I have done for you to make you welcome here, Diana, and still you heap this abuse on your own uncle—”
“It’ll have to be the thumbscrews next if you really want to teach me a lesson.”
“To think what your mother would say if she could see you acting like this …”
“There must be an iron maiden somewhere about this house. Of course, if you don’t want to go to the trouble of procuring such, I imagine a simple flogging should correct my behaviour to your satis—”
“Enough!”
The air was filled with a colossal crashing sound as James swept his dishes onto the floor, transforming them into glittering porcelain shards mixed with half-eaten beef. Diana’s mouth snapped shut; her chin still lifted high in defiance. Colin closed his eyes for a moment, trying to remember whether that had been the last remaining pieces of dishware his mother had brought into the house while simultaneously chiding himself for caring at all.
Sir James sat back in his chair with a heavy thump, a resolute expression on his face though Colin could still see the storm raging behind his quiet façade. In a low voice, James spoke, the words like daggers flung onto the table between them, “I’ll brook no further words from you on the subject. You will be married, Diana, and soon. If not to Gerard Dunn, whether through your own refusal or your barbarity driving him away, then to the first brute on the street who passes by the window.” With nothing more to be said, James reached out to refill his wine glass and calmly sipped from it.
Colin could not keep his eyes from darting to Diana in anticipation. But it seemed his stepfather’s final words had broken the spell. Diana angrily wiped away her tears, casting one last red-hot look of hatred at Sir James, then turned and fled from the dining room, knocking over her chair in her haste to leave.
“Bloody nuisance. I tell you, it’s a crime that a man can’t even have a peaceable meal in his own bloody house,” Sir James grumbled. He snapped for one of the nearby servants to fetch him a new plate, then refilled this from the serving dishes and turned his attack back to the beef.
Priscilla gave a soft, stifled sigh as she peered at the servants who had silently appeared to clean up the wreckage of dishware on the floor beside James. The change in her already dour facial expression was barely perceptible, but it pulled hard on something close to Colin’s heart. He followed her eyes to the door through which Diana had escaped, then she sighed again and took another bite of her peas without a word.
* * *
The solemn silence of the little bedroom was split by a low, insistent gurgle that progressed into a veritable roar.
