Captured by Love (Michigan Brides #3)(76)

“What truth?” Angelique asked.

“The truth about what you were doing,” Ebenezer said from a corner of the room.

A sharp crack of thunder was followed by a flash of lightning that brightened the room, revealing Ebenezer perched on the edge of one of the barrels of rum.

Angelique froze.

He rose slowly, each motion deliberate and calm. “Where have you been for the past hour in that revoltingly immodest gown?”

“I went to the fort to meet with Miss McDouall. That’s all.”

“You’re lying!” His words burst out like a roar, and he slammed his hand against the barrel.

“I’m not lying. Ask the sentinel at the South Sally Port. He’ll tell you I was at the fort.”

“Cavorting with all of the soldiers, no doubt.”

“No—”

“Don’t deny it, young lady!” He brought his fist down again. But then he straightened, cleared his throat, and continued in a low, placid tone, “It’s become clear to me that you’ve been paying far too much attention to your outward appearance.”

“This is the first time I’ve put on the gown since the dance.”

Another crash of thunder was followed by a deluge of rain pounding against the window. Ebenezer moved toward her. “Then how do you explain the presence of this among your possessions?” He stretched out his arm, and in his palm was the ivory-handled comb Jean had given her upon their engagement.

She lunged for it, but he jerked it out of reach. “That’s mine,” she cried, desperate to keep the one beautiful thing she owned. “Give it back to me.”

But Ebenezer tucked it into the folds of his long, shapeless shirt. “So you’re admitting to your sin of vanity?”

“There’s nothing vain about owning a comb.” She trembled. “Jean gave it to me as a pledge of our commitment to each other.”

“Then it’s fitting I should take this comb away.” He patted the pocket at his side. “Since you’ve broken your commitment to him with all your fornicating.”

Betty had stopped stirring and was watching the scene unfold between her and Ebenezer. Over the past few weeks, Betty had continued to send her withering glances. She supposed Betty needed someone to blame for Ebenezer’s lust with the Indians, and somehow she’d convinced herself that Angelique was the problem.

“I haven’t been fornicating,” Angelique said. “You must believe me.”

“What I believe is what I see.” Again his voice rose in anger, and he waved his hand toward her gown with its low neckline. Through the dimness of the room the lust in his eyes flashed.

Revulsion forced her back, and she covered her chest with her hands. Maybe Betty hadn’t been wrong. Maybe she had caught Ebenezer staring at her with lust on other occasions. What if the woman’s concerns were justified?

Ebenezer tore his attention away. “Young lady, such a gown is the tool of the devil, intended to lead men astray. There’s no other reason for it.”

“I’d only hoped to please Miss McDouall after all our lessons this summer.”

“You’d only hoped to please the soldiers!” he shouted, clenching his arms stiffly at his sides. “How many men did you let inside your skirt today?”

The crassness of his words took her breath away. He approached her with a raised hand as if he would strike her across the cheek. He held it above her for a long moment, and she tried not to cower.

No matter what he said, she’d done nothing today for which she need be ashamed.

“You’re an ungrateful, disobedient girl,” he said. With measured restraint, he lowered his hand and instead grasped the bare skin on her arm above her glove. “I’m disappointed that you’ve spurned all my efforts to help you. The Lord knows how hard I’ve tried to shepherd you into becoming a pure young woman, and how hard I’ve worked to protect you from your own sinfulness.”

He yanked her toward the steps, his fingers pinching into her flesh. She wanted to say something to defend herself, to remind him of how carefully she’d obeyed him, of how submissive she’d been to his rules. But she knew he was too angry to listen.

He’d lock her in the attic for a couple of days, and then he’d release her after he’d had the chance to calm down. At least she prayed that was what he’d do.

“I had the feeling you’d end up just like your mother and sister,” he said, then shoved her more roughly than usual toward the stairway.

“I’m trying not to be like them,” she said, but the guilt of the summer came rushing back to haunt her, the pleasure she’d found in Pierre’s arms, the sweetness of their stolen kisses, the passion one look from him could arouse. They shouldn’t have shared intimacies, not while she was pledged to another. How easily she’d thrown away her loyalty to Jean, how quickly she’d forgotten about her commitment to him. Angelique hung her head.

“I’m beginning to think Betty has been right,” Ebenezer said. “It’s time to find you a husband.”

“No!” Panic poured into her, and she struggled against him. “I’m waiting for Jean to return.”

“I suppose that’s why you had your body pressed all over Pierre’s at the dance.”

“I was wrong—”