Page 49 of The Dragoneers of Longbourn and Pemberley
Valeraine nearly ran to her room in her haste to confirm her suspicions. She went to her trunk, and flung out her things until she found a certain letter.
The letter that Pemberley had written to her father, ruining her chances at saving Longbourn.
She carefully compared the handwriting.
It matched.
It must just be a similar hand. Pemberley could not be Lady Scaleheart. She checked it again, searching for matching words, studying the letters.
It wasn’t just similar, it was exact. In fact, it seemed to be on the same type of paper, though that was harder to confirm because the Scaleheart column had been pasted to the layout sheet, and so the thickness and texture were altered.
Mr. Pemberley was Scaleheart.
Scaleheart was not some prudish lady of a medium dragon house, like everyone assumed.Hewas a rough dragon rider of one of the grandest houses in the kingdom. When Valeraine had read the indictment of racers in Scaleheart’s articles before, she had always assumed that it was coming from a biased perspective, perhaps from a mother who had lost a son to dragon races.
Now she saw it for what it really was: a dragon rider who wanted to destroy his competition. Scaleheart had reported many scandals that had stopped houses from registering in derbies, and even sent one dragoneer to jail. Every one of thoseaffected had been top racers, standing in between Pemberley and his wins.
Pemberley was the most hypocritical, most vile, most odious man she had ever known.
Of course it had been second nature to him to threaten her, as he was well accustomed to leaking shameful secrets. He likely had a whole host of people he was blackmailing, stories that never made it to Scaleheart’s column. He must delight in sowing discord and destroying the reputation of houses.
She had encroached on his win in the derbies several times, so she was a logical target for him. It was a flattering thought.
But her reputation was in even greater danger. Pemberley wouldn’t even need to spread the news of her racing himself; he could easily publish it as Scaleheart, and be believed.
Valeraine furiously scanned Pemberley’s letter to her father, rereading the damning sentence: “If she races again, she will be discovered. This farce will be brought to light.”
The solution to that was simple. Before she raced again, she would tell Pemberley that she knew he was Scaleheart. If he exposed her, she would expose him. He was too much a coward to risk his reputation, for everyone to learn what a hypocritical snake he was.
Valeraine smiled. Her future was composed, written now with a glorious plan. Pemberley no longer had power over her: she had him instead. She would register for the Royal derby, and train over the next four months, and she would win. Longbourn would have another egg, and the respect and consequence they deserved. All would be as it should be. She would rise victorious, and Pemberley would be powerless to stop her.
Chapter thirty-six
“Iwill be returning to Longbourn,” Valeraine announced to Alyce.
Alyce was laying on the bed they shared, sketching out a new layout for the living room. “Val! That’s wonderful news.” Her enthusiasm was precisely the encouragement Valeraine had been craving. “Has Papa invited you back, then?”
“Not exactly.” Valeraine wished for the enthusiasm again. She grabbed her gowns from the closet in a heaping armload, and spread them on the bed around Alyce. “I’ll deal with Papa once I’m home.”
“I’m not sure this is a good idea… won’t he just send you back?”
“I will not be separated from Lelantos any longer. I’m going to race and save this house, whether Papa wishes it or not.”
“Do be reasonable; this can only lead to fighting and tears.” Alyce put a restraining hand on her wrist, gentle.
Valeraine shook free of her grip and began folding a gown. “Papa could stop me if he wished. He could expose me to the public and denounce me, and no derby would accept my registration.” She shoved the dress into her trunk, repacking what she had unpacked just a few days ago when she returned from Rosings. “He could bring a solicitor against me for stealing Lelantos from him.”
“Papa wouldn’t do that,” Alyce said. Was she trying to reassure Valeraine, or defend the character of Papa?
“No, Papa wouldn’t take it to those extremes. And I will not stop for less. I will ride my dragon.”
“I’ll come with you then,” Alyce said.
“Are you sure? Mamma will object to your returning. That’s even more fighting and tears you’ll provoke.”
“Being in the same city as Mr. Nethenabbi is going nowhere, we can agree. I’ll just help Mamma to see that.”
Valeraine wanted to protest — they had been a well-matched couple, obviously in love, and it had been going toward marriage. Alyce was a perfect catch, and Nethenabbi had known it. The problem was that Valeraine was not a perfect sister-in-law. So Valeraine stayed silent, avoiding her part in the disaster. She shoved her small clothes into the trunk, less careful than with the gowns.
