Miss Winthorpe's Elopement (Belston & Friends #1)(66)

She might not have understood the words, but Adam clearly had, for he broke free of her and struck his friend, knocking him to the ground. Tim staggered to his feet with blood in his eye, ready to fight.

And at last, Penny snapped. ‘You may do as you please, the both of you. And Clarissa as well. But whatever you do, you can do it without my help.’

‘Penny, go to your room.’ Adam barely looked at her.

‘That is how it is to be, is it? You will be brother and guardian to me, and banish me to my quarters, so that you can do as you please? Take my money, then. I offered it to you freely, in exchange for peace and freedom. And I have scant little of either. But the money was not enough for you. You wanted my affection when it suited you, so that I did not embarrass you in public. And then, you needed my body to be a mother to your children. And now you expect my loyalty, while you lie with another man’s wife.

‘I want none of it, Adam. No more than I ever did. I want to be alone. And I would sooner see my children raised by jackals than by you or your twisted friends. I am leaving you.’

‘You cannot. I will not permit it.’ Her husband had turned away from his friend, no longer caring for the fight before him.

‘And you cannot stop me. The bargain between us is irretrievably broken. If you thwart me today, I will try again tomorrow. Sooner or later, I will succeed in escaping you. If you wish, you may drag me back to your home by the hair, and lock me in my room. The Duke of Bellston, charming, handsome, lecherous and debauched, will need to keep his wife, and her fortune, by force. And then we will see what people say of you and your precious reputation.’

And she swept from the room.





Chapter Twenty-One




Adam thought, all things considered, that he should feel much worse. But he felt nothing. She had left the room, and taken his anger with her.

He had turned back to Tim, who must have been more than a little drunk, for he had collapsed back on to the floor, and absently offered him a hand.

Tim had ignored it and struggled to his feet, wiping blood from his mouth and on to his shirt cuff. ‘There. Are you satisfied now?’

He stared back at Tim. ‘Are you?’

‘I think I am. For you finally look the way I feel. All these months you have spent, wallowing in ecstasy, or lust or guilt.’ Tim made a bitter face. ‘Never content unless you were torn by some emotion or other, and convinced that no one felt more deeply than you. Now, she will go. And you are all hollowed out.’

Adam nodded. He could feel the growing emptiness as she withdrew from him. A space that needed filling.

Tim smiled. ‘Now imagine her with someone else.’

The pain of the thought was exquisite, for there was nothing to dull it. It was untouchable, like the phantom pains that soldiers claimed, in a limb that was no longer there. ‘And this is how you feel?’

Tim nodded. ‘Clarissa knows it, and she works all the harder to make me hurt. And yet I cannot leave her. She says, if I do, she will take the children, even though she cares little for them. They are innocents. They do not deserve such a mother.’

‘She does not deserve to live. And if I cannot find a way to mend this?’ Adam smiled. ‘Then I will send her back to hell from whence she came.’

He offered his hand to his friend again, and Tim pushed it aside. ‘It is a bit late for that, I think. I am going home, to my loving wife. You will understand, I trust, if the door is shut to you, should you attempt to visit.’

Adam nodded. ‘As my door is now shut to you. But a word of warning. It all may get worse before it gets better. Your wife is none too happy with me. I refused her this morning. If you find letters to her, in my hand? They are old. Burn them without looking. For both our sakes.’

Tim nodded. ‘Goodbye, then.’ And he left him alone.

One, two, three… She’d had to start over on several occasions, for she was so angry that she kept losing her count. Penny stormed into her library and rang the bell for Jem. Twenty-seven, twenty-eight…And why did she even bother with it? For what good did it do to keep your temper, and be agreeable in all things, if someone you thought you could trust used your even nature against you?

Jem entered and looked at her suspiciously.

She waved an arm at the walls. ‘Pack them up again.’

He squinted. ‘Your Grace?’

‘My books. Bring back the crates. Take them down and box them up.’

‘Where will I be taking them, once I’m done?’

‘I have no idea. Box them.’

‘Are we going back to London, or the Scotland property that everyone talks of? Or is there somewhere…?’

‘Away. I am going away, and not coming back. You were right all along. My idea was foolish, and now I am punished for it. So stop arguing with me and box these cursed books.’

‘No.’

‘I beg your pardon?’

He raised his voice. ‘I said no, Miss Penny. I have put up with more than my share of nonsense from you over the years. But today it stops. I have carried these books halfway across England for you. You may not have noticed the fact, since you lift them one at a time. But as a group, they are heavy. And they are not moving another inch.’

‘They are not remaining here,’ she shouted, ‘and neither am I.’