Page 36 of A Sense of Injustice
Then she turned her back on him. Darius had been furious and blamed Felicity for his subsequent actions. She had told him what needed to be done and his pride was so damaged that he had heeded her advice. Reduced to being told what to do by a woman. He let out an angry hiss, averting his head so that Felicity wouldn’t notice and ask what was wrong with him. How had he fallen so low? Despite blaming Felicity’s hold over him, the small and seldom heeded voice of his conscience reminded him that he didn’t have to follow her instructions.
‘Either way, I think you should call upon the grandmother and pay your respects to Miss Pearson, just to let her know that you are in the district,’ Felicity said briskly. ‘Make the silly girl realise that there really is no escape. Not if she wants to protect her sister’s reputation.’
‘We are coming into Swindon,’ Darius said absently, dislodging her head from his shoulder.
A porter followed them out of the station, where Felicity’s uncle’s coachman awaited her.
‘I wish you could stay with us, but my uncle is a bit of a stickler for the proprieties. He would give you a room but we wouldn’t be guaranteed any time alone. His servants would report our every move back to him.’
‘You have already explained. I shall see you later, as arranged.’
Darius tipped his hat to her, watched her carriage move away and then took a cab into the village, glad to be alone. He found it hard to think with Felicity’s constant chatter distracting him. He asked the cabbie to take him to the local inn, at which Felicity had assured him he would find a room. A step down from his usual living arrangements, but needs must. A small part of him wanted to catch the next train back to London and put all this business behind him. Perhaps his brother would give him one last chance if he faithfully promised to toe the family line. Problem was, he’d made that promise before.
Many times.
He had got himself into a hell of a pickle and was now obliged to dance to a scheming woman’s tune. He almost laughed at the irony, except there was nothing remotely amusing about his current circumstances. All these years he had been taking what he wanted from willing females then casting them aside.
Now the tables had been turned on him and he only had himself to blame. Sighing, he climbed from the cab when it stopped outside the White Hart Inn in Ashton Keynes, paid his fare and made his way into the tavern. He procured a room without difficulty, left a lad to lug his bags up the stairs and collapsed on the bed, disgruntled, wondering what results the next few days would bring.
Wondering if there was any way he could possibly make things up to Miss Pearson and persuade her to marry him simply because she wanted to. He blew air through his lips and stared up at a stain on the ceiling.
‘Don’t be such a bloody fool,’ he said aloud, aware that he had well and truly burned his bridges with the one woman who might just have made him happy.
?????
Flora left Luke’s library, still deeply disturbed by what Louise had told her about Cleethorp’s behaviour. She returned to her room to indulge in a few minute’s reflection before returning to her duties with the countess.
‘Cleethorp ought to be publicly shamed for what he did,’ she muttered aloud.
Society would still turn its back on Louise.
‘Oh, Remus, there you are. I presume you were eavesdropping earlier, although I didn’t sense your presence. Well of course you were. You are the most inquisitive spirit guide I have ever encountered.’
How many are you acquainted with?
‘Good point.’
Anyway, your gratitude is sadly lacking for the interest I take in your affairs. I have better things to do, you know, than to look out for you the entire time.
‘On this occasion it is not my own interests that are under threat.’ Flora fixed Remus’s shimmering image with a serious look. ‘Is it? All I did was give Louise advice and reassurance.’
And offered to involve your earl, which means you yourself are now involved.
‘Only peripherally. What was I supposed to do? Turn my back on the girl and tell her I was unable to help? It took a lot for her to confide in me. The poor girl is desperate. I cannot begin to imagine what she must be going through and it is beyond my capabilities to withhold my assistance. I know what it was like for me, stuck in a house where I was neither valued nor appreciated but still expected to marry a man I didn’t much care for simply because he could be useful to my father’s career.’ Flora twitched her nose in disgust. ‘I wouldn’t wish a similar fate on anyone.’
You have a soft heart, which makes my life much harder.
‘I hate to point out that you are not actually alive.’
Then why are you talking to me?
‘Perhaps you’re a figment of my imagination and I’m simply losing my mind.’
Remus gave an other-worldly chuckle.We all of us live more than once. You still have so much to learn.
‘Evidently.’
Cleethorp is on his way to Swindon. Your path is destined to cross with his. Be careful. He’s dangerous.
