Page 51 of The Villain
“Hello,” the girl said with a wary smile, breaking Daphne out of her reverie.
Olivia turned to gaze at her over one shoulder, the gleam in her eyes putting Daphne at ease a bit. She seemed to have been recently dosed with laudanum, her cheeks flushed and a light sheen of sweat dampening her brow. However, she remained docile, unlikely to attack.
“Good evening,” Daphne croaked, her voice hoarse from the lump lodged in her throat.
She could hardly make sense of what she was seeing, though she faintly registered that she stared at a child of her own family … Bertram’s child. There could be no denying the resemblance.
“I am Lady Serena Grace Goodall,” the little girl said when the room fell silent again.
Her heart warmed at the polite severity of the girl’s tone, as if she’d been taught how to introduce herself and the importance of including ‘lady’ before her name.
“It is lovely to meet you, Lady Serena,” she managed, coming closer to the little table and kneeling to the left of the table. “I am Daphne.”
“I have never met another person with hair like mine,” Serena declared.
Your father’s family is overrun with redheads,she thought.
“It is unusual,” she replied aloud. “But you carry it quite nicely. What a pretty girl you are, Serena. How many years are you?”
“Four,” the child replied. “But it is nearly my birthday. Mama says I may have a puppy when I have turned five … but only if Uncle Adam allows it.”
“He frowns and argues when we try to browbeat him,” Olivia chimed in with a girlish giggle. “But he will come around. He dotes on Serena … gives her anything her little heart desires.”
“How wonderful,” Daphne murmured, for lack of anything better to say.
She’d grown dizzy, her stomach roiling as she attempted to digest this final revelation, the evidence of Bertram’s sins sitting right before her.
Before she could part her lips to form more words, a dark shadow fell over her, making her blood run cold. Her entire body stiffened, her spine tensing and her mouth going dry. Serena came to her feet, her expression one of pure joy.
“Uncle Adam!” she squealed, dashing around Daphne and disappearing from sight.
A man’s deep laugh sent a cold stone of dread hurtling into her gut, the heavy weight making her feel as if she would be violently ill. She remained where she sat, head lowered, breath coming in short, panicked spurts as she tried to remain composed while Olivia rose to greet the man who had entered the room. From the corner of her eye, she spied the nursery door, which stood on the side of the room opposite the passage she had come through.
“What have we here? Who is this bonny lass throwing herself into my arms?”
Adam’s deep voice resounded through the room, carrying with it a tenderness Daphne had only witnessed when he spoke to Olivia.
Serena giggled. “It’s me, silly! Serena.”
“Truly?” he said with an exaggerated gasp. “My, how you’ve grown in my absence. You’re practically a young woman!”
The little girl laughed again, the sound turning into the exuberant glee that almost always accompanied being tickled. Daphne dared a glance over her shoulder to find him holding her beneath one arm, his fingers teasing her ribs while she kicked and flailed, screaming with delight.
He had eyes only for Serena, his affection for the girl clear as he lifted her upright and ceased his assault in order to embrace her. The girl wrapped her tiny arms around his neck and held fast, closing her eyes and sighing happily.
“I missed you,” he murmured, his eyes closed as he nuzzled the top of her head. “Have you been a good girl in my absence?”
“Did you bring me a present?” she countered, sitting up to look him in the eye.
Adam chuckled. “That all depends on whether you have behaved yourself.”
“Oh, I have,” the girl declared. “Haven’t I, Mama?”
Olivia smiled and nodded, her words a bit slurred from laudanum when she spoke. “She’s been an angel.”
Adam nodded as if satisfied, then set the girl on her feet. Daphne twisted her fingers together, hands shaking in her lap as she waited for him to look at her, to acknowledge her presence in the room and act accordingly. She knew without being told that she was not welcome here.
“Very well,” he replied, reaching out to ruffle Serena’s neat curls. “Nanny is looking for you. Go find her, and I will come give you your present shortly.”
