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‘That’s enough, Carina.’
Summer hasn’t even flinched. ‘I’m not saying this to be cruel, Lady Fitzroy. I’m saying it because you need a wake-up call.’
‘I need a wake-up call! A bit rich coming from you, don’t you think?’
‘Actually, no. I think I’m best placed to tell you so.’
‘You?’she sneers. ‘A girl who’s come into an inheritance that she doesn’t deserve, acting above her station? I don’t think so. This is ludicrous—this whole situation. I don’t even know why I’m standing here speaking to you. You take my mother’s attention when she’s alive, and now you take her home in her death. It’s unbelievable.’
‘Mother, I’ve already warned you!’
But Summer’s hand is back on my chest, soothing me, reassuring me.
‘The truth is, this house would have been yours, Lady Fitzroy, if you’d returned an ounce of the love Katherine tried to give you over the years. All she ever tried to do was make it up to you. For the way her parents ostracised you both. The way she was barely more than a child when she had you, scared and alone. She tried, but all you were interested in was taking. Financially, not emotionally.’
My mother is stunned and still, and Summer has us all captive.
‘It won’t have been an easy decision for her to make, but she wanted to provide me with a home. She wanted Edward to have the same. She loved him, and she was proud of him—his achievements, his good heart. The fact he possesses all of those in spite of the way you treat him is some kind of miracle. And she hoped that one day you would see sense and return to Glenrobin as his loving mother and not...’ Summer nips her lip, her cheeks flushing just a little ‘...not as you are now. I didn’t invite you to rub your nose in my good fortune, as you see it—’
‘Like hell you didn’t,’ my mother scoffs, but Summer’s unperturbed.
‘I invited you because this whole night is in memory of your mother and co-hosted by your son. You belong here.’ She tilts her chin up. ‘But now you’ve outstayed your welcome. I’d appreciate it if you packed your things and left. I don’t want bad press to taint what has been a lovely evening, and I certainly don’t want the kids to witness the kind of violence you displayed in the ballroom.’
‘Don’t you—Why, you—? Rupert! Edward! Are you really going to stand there and let her speak to me like that?’
I have to smother the grin that wants to crack my face in two. I have never seen my mother so unsettled, or Summer so utterly empowered and stunning with it. My chest swells with pride as my heart pounds with my love for her. If I could sweep her up into a kiss and ravish her senseless, I would.
Definitely not what my mother is asking me to do...
There’s a rap on the door and James steps in. ‘Lord and Lady Fitzroy’s car is ready.’
‘Thank you, James.’ Summer sends him the most dazzling smile and folds her hands in front of her. ‘Now, if you please...?’
My mother blows out a flustered breath, looks from me to my father and back again, but neither of us are moving.
She pins Summer with her frosty stare. ‘You haven’t heard the end of this, you foolish woman.’
And then she’s off, storming out of the room.
‘At least I’ve progressed from being the “foolish child” I was, Lady Fitzroy,’ Summer calls after her.
I frown over the reference. Foolish child? Summer’s tone resonates with meaning. Did my mother once call her that? All those years ago?
‘I’m sorry, son,’ my father says into the sudden silence. ‘She’s confused. Things have been a little odd since Katherine fell ill and—’
‘It doesn’t excuse her behaviour tonight.’
‘No...no, of course not. But—please don’t write her off for good.’
My nod is very slight, because I can’t make that promise. It hinges so much on my mother, and she’s too unpredictable. She could have ruined everything tonight. If not for Summer’s courage, her strength, her performance just now, I’d be convinced she had.
‘Miss Evans...’
My father turns to Summer, his respectful form of address taking her by surprise, judging by the way her brows lift. Hell, it surprises me too.
‘If you will permit me to speak openly?’
She nods. ‘Of course.’
