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“If it weren’t for her, you wouldn’t be seconds away from ruin. Lady Quinseley is not your friend, Miss White. She doesn’t want you to flourish. She wants your utter destruction, and will pay any price to get it.”
“W-what? She… But I… ”
His eyes were sympathetic, but honest.
Hurt and humiliation twisted in Bianca’s gut. She had wantedso muchto have a family again. Had longed for her mother, had imagined Lady Quinseley taking on if not a motherly role, or one of friendship, then at least one of companionship.
Bianca had so yearned to be wanted, to be accepted, to be loved, that she’d let herself believe her father’s countess would one day thaw toward her, that Lady Quinseley would draw her to bosom in a hug, would sayYour father broke our vows, but I would never blame his betrayal on an innocent child. Of course we’re family. I won’t leave you.
“I thought Lady Quinseley and I could be f… ” Bianca swallowed hard and started over. “I thought we could be friends.”
“Then you are even more foolish than I feared,” Eagleton said harshly. “If you stay, kitten, she will destroy you. Perhaps tomorrow. Perhaps tonight. She grows impatient, which makes her dangerous. Lady Quinseley always gets what she wants.”
“What does she want?” Bianca whispered.
“Your absolute misery… or worse. Your life could be in danger. There are rumors… But this is no time to gossip. Your time is limited. She saw us enter the library. She won’t expect to see you for another hour, maybe two. Which gives you time to—”
“Won’t expect to see me! But that means she thinks that we… That you and I are currently engaged in… ”
“You should have thought the same when you accepted my invitation. A wiser woman would never have agreed. But I’m glad you did, because it’s given me the chance to save you.Take it.I’ll read a book by the fire while you pack your belongings and hie far away from here as quickly as possible. If you don’t leave on your own two feet tonight… You might leave in a box.”
She jerked her hands from his. Surely the situation was not as dire as he claimed… but could she be so certain? Even the most forgiving interpretation of Lady Quinseley’s personality would be forced to acknowledge her ambition, her vanity, her ruthlessness.
“What rumors?” she demanded.
Eagleton winced. “Miss White… ”
“What rumors?”
“That your parents’ accident was no accident. That their deaths were by design. Vengeance for the crime of adultery. Retribution to right a wrong.”
Fear and panic rushed through her.
“I was supposed to be with them that day. Father visited every Sunday after church, like clockwork. The three of us would go out for ices, then take a drive up to… ”
Bianca’s menses had kept her at home. Bloating, cramps, a pounding megrim. How she had cursed her abominable luck.
“If I’d gone with them as planned, I’d be dead, too.”
“She’s been biding her time ever since. Keeping her enemy close—”
“I didn’t know Iwasher enemy!” Bianca burst out.
But shouldn’t she have suspected? Father never missed a visit, but Bianca hadn’t even met Lady Quinseley until after the funeral. Bianca had never questioned the countess’s absence. What wife visited her husband’s mistress and illegitimate child? But it had never occurred to her that twenty years of anger, of resentment, of relentless, flagrant betrayal of their wedding vows would build inside Lady Quinseley until the pressure erupted like lava, destroying everyone in its path.
“Now you know.” Eagleton grabbed her shoulders. “We’ve wasted a quarter hour already. You must run while you still can.”
“Run where?” she said desperately. “I don’t know anyone else who would take me in. Unless you… ?”
“I cannot even afford a kitten, and the beasts feed themselves,” Eagleton said dryly. “Think. There must be someone. Where can you go that she won’t look to find you?”
“Everyone is afraid of her. There’s no one who would dare stand up to—” Bianca’s voice caught.
Therewassomeone who wasn’t loyal to Lady Quinseley. Someone who would love the opportunity to stick a knife in her old rival’s back, if only figuratively.
Bianca gasped. “I may have thought of someone.”
“Who?”
