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Louisa snarled at George. “And what makes you think that you can make the rules in this house, hmm? Papa is not dead yet, and so this estate is not even officially yours yet. He is the one who can tell me what to do, not you. I shall spit in your face if you try to keep me locked up.”
“Papa can tell you what to do, is that right?” George asked her, straightening his back so that he was standing at his full height. He towered over his sister, and yet Louisa was still trying to look intimidating. She did not succeed.
“When was the last time that you let anyone tell you to do anything?” George finished.
Louisa crossed her arms in front of her and looked smugly at her brother. “You’re saying that as though it is a bad thing.”
George sighed. “Why have you arrive so early, Louisa? We weren’t expecting you until much later. This is an obscene hour to arrive at; the children aren’t even up yet.”
Louisa chuckled and glared at Robert. “I had a feeling that something was afoot, and so I wanted to arrive unexpectedly and see if I could catch you in the act, George. And it looks like I did, but not in the way I expected to. This is so much better!”
“Louisa, why did you feel the need to drive me from the house in the first place?” Robert asked. “Papa already hates me, you despise me, and I hated living in that house. I was looking for a reason to escape, and you ended up giving me the perfect one.”
A scoff escaped Louisa’s mouth. “Yes, but you’re so poor that you don’t have a single dollar to your name. That was what I wanted to do to you. I wanted to leave you without so much as a chance of running off and finding a better life, and the best way I thought of to do that was to utterly destroy your reputation with Father. Which I had done, but now you’ve come to hide with George, of course. You know that isn’t allowed, though.”
“Not allowed?” George asked, stepping in front of Louisa to draw her attention to him. “Says who? I don’t believe that you’re allowed to have control over my decisions, sister.”
Louisa flared her nostrils and narrowed her eyes. “I am well aware of that, you fool. I meant that Robert isn’t allowed to leech off of you because that means that he’ll never leave you. Don’t you know that about him? Robert isn’t strong enough to stand on his own. He’s a sad, pathetic little leech.”
Robert rolled his eyes. “Oh, stop your whining, Louisa. I am going to inherit my mother’s money in a matter of months, and so no matter what you do to me, I shall endure it until I can secure those finances. Your words mean nothing to me anymore. I have moved past my need for you or Father, and so I no longer care if you call him to come and speak with me. My mother ensured that I would be well taken care of for the rest of my life, so I don’t need a speck of help from anyone. George has been incredibly generous these past few months, and I frankly don’t know how I’m going to repay him. Correct me if I’m wrong, brother, but I would not call what I’ve been doing to him ‘leeching’. I have been working very hard to earn my stay here, and I would not accept anything if I didn’t think I earned it.”
“You’re absolutely right,” George confirmed. “Robert has been a valuable employee …”
“I don’t care if he’s been working or not!” Louisa suddenly shouted. “I want him out of this house for as long as I am staying here, and I will be reporting all this to Father! I’m sure there’s something that you’re doing that isn’t right, and he’ll know all about that. I’m going to my room, and I expect this ... this ... thing to be gone by the time I come back.”
Louisa walked off in a huff, but when she got around the corner, she screamed and clasped her chest. “How dare you listen in on our very private conversation! You terrified me beyond belief!”
Robert couldn’t see who was around the corner for a moment, but when Anne stepped out into the middle of the corridor, his heart stopped.
“Anne,” he said quietly, but he could tell from the look on her face alone that she felt she had been utterly betrayed. Of course, he understood why – the man she had begun to develop feelings for had just admitted that he was not who he said he was. He had then revealed that his employer was his brother and that this woman he was running from was his sister.
But Anne didn’t stop to say a word before she bolted down the corridor and the stairs.
“Anne, wait!” Robert cried, running after her.
“Oh, isn’t that sweet,” he heard his sister snidely say. “The runt of the litter has fallen in love with a little maid girl!”
“She’s our governess,” Robert heard George correct her as he pushed through the door into the basement. “And you will not speak to either of them in that tone again, Louisa.”
That was the last thing that Robert heard. He raced down the stairs, pushed through the gaggle of staff that was most certainly eavesdropping on their conversation, and ran to Anne’s room. He knocked on the door.
“Anne, please, let me explain,” he begged through the door. “I know that all of this is very confusing, and I am so sorry that you had to find out in this manner, but I have to tell you that …”
But before he continued, he could hear Anne sobbing on the other side of the door. Suddenly, he didn’t want to try and explain anything to her. He knew what he needed to do.
He slowly turned the handle, and to his relief, the door was unlocked. He slowly walked inside, and when he had the door open enough, he could see Anne curled up in her bed, crying her eyes out.
“Oh, Anne,” he said softly, and when she heard him, she sat bolt upright and wiped her tears away.
“How did you get in here?” she demanded.
“The ... the door was open, my dearest,” he said gently.
“Don’t call me that!” she shouted at him. “You’re not Freddie Austen, and you never have been. You’ve been lying to me since the day we met, making me believe that someone like me could end up with a man like you. But now I see that this has all been a ruse. Did you take delight in watching me fall for you? Were you delighted watching as I became more and more enamoured with you?”
“I did, but only because I felt the same way about you,” Robert tried to say as calmly as he could. “Anne, you are the most remarkable young woman I’ve ever met, and I was having such a hard time believing that a woman like you could fall for a man like me …”
“What on earth are you talking about?” Anne cried. “You’re the son of a duke; I’m nothing compared to you! Don’t tell me that, especially now that I know we have no chance of being together.”
