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‘Yes, though I stayed on the shore. I helped to look after the rescued crewmen.’
‘Common sailors?’ Mr Harper gave her a disapproving look. ‘Hardly a fit task for a lady.’
‘I think you were very courageous.’ Violet’s eyes shone with admiration.
‘Thank you, though I’m sure you’d have done the same under the circumstances.’
‘Her?’ Mr Harper snorted. ‘She’d have to get her head out of a book first. Do you know she needs to wear glasses now? Glasses! On a woman, ha!’
‘I’m sure she’ll look just as lovely as always.’ Ianthe bit the inside of her cheek in restraint, shocked by the old man’s insensitivity. Poor Violet looked mortified.
‘Shall we eat?’ She took the other woman’s arm pointedly, leading her ahead into the hall. ‘I’m famished, too.’
‘Yes. Thank you.’ Violet’s stricken expression didn’t alter. ‘Though perhaps we might talk afterwards?’ She threw a quick glance behind before lowering her voice. ‘In private?’
‘Of course. Is something the matter?’
‘I’m not sure. It’s just something my father said.’
‘Then of course we’ll...’ Ianthe faltered mid-sentence, distracted by a commotion coming from the back stairs to the kitchen. Raised voices and running footsteps and...
‘Robert...! Percy?’ She dropped Violet’s arm as the two men charged, panting and breathless, into the hallway.
‘What’s the meaning of this?’ Mr Harper sounded indignant. ‘Mr Felstone, this is most unseemly.’
‘Ianthe...’ Percy started towards her first. ‘I’m so sorry.’
‘No!’ She put her hands up to fend him off, suddenly realising just how the Baronet had found o
ut about Albert. Until this moment she’d refused to consider the obvious answer, that her own brother had betrayed her. Now there was no way of denying it. But what was he doing with Robert? What were the two of them doing together?
‘Why, Percy.’ The Baronet’s distinctive drawl from the drawing-room doorway made her heart sink to her feet. ‘I didn’t expect to see you again so soon.’
‘I say...’
‘Get out.’ Robert advanced forward threateningly. ‘Get out of my house now!’
‘Mr Felstone!’ Mr Harper looked positively outraged. ‘Mind who you’re speaking to, sir! Good evening, Sir Charles. It’s an honour to see you here.’
‘I don’t give a damn who I’m speaking to.’ Robert’s voice was tight with barely restrained fury. ‘I told him to get out.’
‘I’d think very hard about what you were saying if I were you.’ The Baronet’s confident manner faltered as he took half a step backwards. ‘If our friend Percy here has apprised you of certain events, then you ought to be extremely careful about what you do next.’
Ianthe felt her heart start to thud erratically, gripped by a sudden rush of panic. Sir Charles was talking as if Robert already knew the truth about her past—as if Percy had told him, too! In which case... She dragged in a wavering breath, feeling as if there weren’t enough air in the room to breathe any more. She wasn’t even going to get the chance to tell him herself. This was awful—more awful than she’d even imagined. If Robert knew, then no wonder he was so angry. He looked absolutely livid, his eyes blazing with fierce, fiery emotion. In another moment, he’d turn that face on her!
The doorbell rang again and she whirled towards it. This would be the Lovedays—more witnesses to her shame, as if there weren’t enough already! Quickly, she picked up her skirts, unable to bear the atmosphere in the hall a moment longer, charging out of the front door, past Kitty and Giles and down the marble steps, hurtling blindly through the ornamental gardens towards the promenade. She had to get away—couldn’t just stand there and watch as her past brought the present crashing down on her head! It was too late now to undo any of the damage she’d caused. Harper would never sell to Robert now. And Robert...surely he’d never forgive her!
‘Ianthe!’
She heard him call out behind her, but she kept running, her whole mind fixed on escape. If Percy had told him about Albert, then it was too late to make excuses or to defend herself. Not that she could anyway. Everything was ruined and it was all her fault!
She skidded to a halt at the end of the promenade. Below her the sea spread out like a sparkling green blanket, rippling in gently undulating waves all the way to the horizon. Maybe if she sailed across it then she could find a new home, a place where no one would care about her past, where she could make a new start and try to bury the fact that her heart was breaking...
‘Ianthe, get back!’ Robert’s voice sounded alarmingly close.
‘Go away!’ she shouted over her shoulder, still refusing to look at him.
‘I won’t come any closer, but come back from the edge, Ianthe, please. The soil might be unstable after last night.’
