Page 32 of A Duke to Restore her Memory
She knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that she was speaking the truth, although she had no idea how she knew that she did. A lady of any calibre should never make her guests feel inferior or unwelcome.
She felt it had been drummed into her from when she was a small child, even though she couldn’t recall who had told her or when. That was entirely beyond her.
“It is gauche to make a guest feel unwelcome in one’s home,” Christina said in an icy voice, arching her eyebrows. “It is a sign of ill-breeding. You really should know better, My Lady.”
“You are insolent!” huffed Lydia, looking affronted. She had turned pale, and her eyes were glittering dangerously. “I never invited you to stay in my home, and nor did my brother! You simply barged your way in here by virtue of falling down a mine shaft.” She took a deep, shuddering breath. “And the jury is still out on whether you did it deliberately or not.”
“What are you insinuating?” Christina couldn’t believe what the lady was saying. “Are you saying that you think I pretended to be injured just so the duke would offer his services to me and take me into his home?”
“Perhaps you did,” replied Lydia, in a voice filled with contempt. “How would I know? I have never seen you before in my life! You may have staged the whole thing to gain entry to Newquay Hall and create all manner of mischief.” She paused. “You could be lying about losing your memory entirely. You might know exactly who you are and where you have come from.”
They had edged closer to each other as they fought and were now standing mere inches away from each other. Christina’s heart flipped over in her chest in distress. This was truly dreadful.
A part of her wanted to end this conflict now and back down, telling the lady that she had been wrong to challenge her in such a way.
But another, more obstinate part of her refused to do any such thing. Lydia had been spoiling for this fight since the beginning. The lady had been dismissive, rude, and unpleasant towards her. She had made the duke not like her anymore. She was trying to make Frances dislike her, too.
But that wasn’t the end of what Lydia was trying to do. Now, the lady was trying to discredit her entirely by claiming that Christina was a fraud, that she had set up the entire thing as a way to gain entry to Newquay Hall to … cause mischief.
She still had no idea what Lydia thought she was trying to do here, but whatever it was, it wasn’t good.
She was hurt. No matter what she did, she couldn’t win Lydia’s approval. The lady had decided to distrust her right from the very start. And there was nothing she could do to convince her that she was wrong about her.
“I am not a liar,” insisted Christina, in a low, angry voice. “I am not lying about losing my memory. I fell into that mine shaft and hit my head badly.” She drew a deep breath, her eyes glittering with angry tears. “That is the truth of it, My Lady. I never asked his grace to bring me here to recover. He did that of his own volition … and I am truly grateful for his generosity and hospitality. What more do you want from me?”
“That is enough, Lydia,” said Frances, who had sprung to her feet and gingerly approached them. “This unpleasantness must stop. Let us sit down and have our tea in a civilized manner – before we all say something that we might regret.”
An uncomfortable silence, filled with anger, descended upon the room. Christina could barely breathe. Lydia glared at her, but she turned away, walking back to her seat, picking up her cup of tea and sipping it slowly, staring frostily ahead.
Christina hesitated, biting her lip. After what had happened, she didn’t want to sit down, sip tea, and nibble on cucumber sandwiches. She wanted to collapse across her bed and never leave the sanctuary of the room again.
Except that it isn’t my bed, nor is it my room. I do not belong here. I am a stranger.
Her eyes filled with helpless tears. She wanted to go home to a place where she was welcome … but she had no idea where that was.
She was stuck here, in the lap of luxury, like a fly in amber, despised by the mistress of the house. And the worst of it was she had no other options at all …
Suddenly, there was an almighty rumble, like the loudest thunder Christina had ever heard. Confused, she took a step back, gazing around.
The room walls were shaking – they were warping and twisting in front of her face. Her eyes widened in horror, and a low, distressed moan escaped her lips. What on earth was happening? Was it an earthquake?
Frances, who was seated next to Lydia, cried out in alarm. Lydia had turned deathly pale again, gazing around the room, looking as dazed and confused as Christina felt.
“Oh, dear Lord,” she cried, springing to her feet, gazing around her frantically. “There has been a mine explosion!”
Chapter 17
“What was that?” Daniel’s face was white and stricken with shock as he turned to Sebastian. “It sounded like a blast from hell itself.”
Daniel had only just called at Newquay Hall. The two gentlemen were taking a turn around the gardens.
Sebastian had been about to start teasing his friend, asking him about stealing kisses from Lady Frances Lewis when the explosion occurred, causing the ground to shake beneath them and a statue to topple over in front of them, crashing into two clean pieces.
“There has been an explosion at one of the mines,” said Sebastian, in a grim voice, starting to run towards the house. “Heaven knows what damage has been done. We must get there immediately.”
Daniel nodded, matching his stride, his face set in a determined line. That was one thing about his old friend – he was fiercely loyal and wasn’t afraid to get his hands dirty.
The ladies were running out of the house by the time they reached the front door. He noted that Georgina was with them, which was unusual. Lydia looked sick and stricken – his sister was deathly pale with fright.
