He lifted a brow.“You know a good one?”
“Me,” Ralph grunted.“Now help me tie up a few of these culprits.I’d like to make it to bed before dawn.”
That wasn’t a half bad idea.Tomorrow, he’d pay another visit to Lady Priscilla and her odious cousin.He’d need his strength.
CHAPTERFIVE
Priscilla pickedat her poached eggs, the morning sun streaming into the breakfast room.
Eugene glared at her from over the top of his paper.“And, pray tell, what is on the agenda for today?The theater?A ball I don’t know about?”
She pretended to take several seconds to chew the tiny amount of egg in her mouth before she answered.“None of the above.”
He grunted.“Does that mean we’ve seen the last of the viscount?”
“Why would it mean that?”her mother asked from the end of the table.
“I’ve been clear,” Eugene said, slapping down the paper.“Priscilla and I will marry.”He underscored each word by jabbing at the folded sheets, the loud crinkle and crack echoing through the room.
Her mother glared back, her spine straightening.“Has it occurred to you to ask nicely?”
“I’m an earl!”He rose from his seat beginning to pace.“Scores of ladies would be thrilled to have my hand in marriage.”
Priscilla lifted her brows, unable to hold back her words or her frustrated tone.“Then ask one of them.”
His teeth bared as he bent down, his face inches from hers, his hot breath fanning across her face, making her cringe.“Oh, but I’ve chosen you and I won’t be denied.”
How Priscilla wished she could scream back.Cry.Slap him, perhaps.But she kept her icy façade, her only effective weapon.The problem she’d found of late was that her façade was becoming harder to take off.She was slowly losing all her warmth.“I’m afraid not even earls get to dictate other people’s choices to them.”
“Oh contraire,” he said, pressing his forehead to hers, her skin crawling with both fear and anger.“In this case, you will bend to my will.You’ve no idea what I’ve been through to get here and I won’t be denied now.By you or anyone else.”
She closed her eyes, leaning away as he pushed closer, his words muddled as emotion overwhelmed her.She hated him.
“Eugene,” her mother cried, her voice rising.“That’s quite enough.”
He shot up, shaking his fist.“I don’t think it’s near enough.The two of you treating me like some sort of plague instead of the man who’s kept you housed and fed.Cared for you these past months.”
Priscilla shook her head.This had been her home her entire life.She was to be grateful to stay in it?
It was her mother who rose to meet his challenge.“You hardly allow us to leave.It’s not care, it’s imprisonment.”
“It’s not my fault your late husband has locked all his fortune away where neither of us can touch it,” he bit back and so another round between them started again.
Priscilla sat in the chair, attempting to calm her shaking body.
They lived on a small stipend until such time that she married or turned five and twenty, which was still four years away.Not even her father had been able to subvert those rules.
There was no way she could face Eugene’s tyranny for another four years, she’d not survive it.The escalation in just a few months was breathtakingly rapid.
The argument continued even as her head dipped, her thoughts automatically focusing on Lord Ware.
She’d like nothing more than take his offer and never look back at Eugene again.
But he was still a stranger and she needed to be smart.
He’d visit today during her calling hours.If Eugene ceased allowing her to hold them, serious questions would arise and so her guardian had been forced to continue allowing her to have them.
But when Lord Ware arrived, Eugene was bound to be furious.
