“Was it?” Why couldn’t he meet her eyes? Austin had never cared to pay pieces of toast and jam so much attention before now.
“How about you? You look as if you haven’t slept at all.”
She said her words in jest but when he glanced up at her, her brows raised in surprise.
“Didn’t you?”
“I suppose my mind was a little preoccupied as well.”
Lavender just stared at him for a moment. And then her smile widened knowingly. She began pouring herself a cup of green tea. “Well, I hope you are not too tired, Austin, since there are still a lot of preparations we need to undergo for this Season. Like the tailor’s visit tomorrow afternoon. And—”
“Pray tell, don’t you think about anything other than your silly little plan?”
Her brows dipped. “It isn’t a silly little plan. I have been devising this for as long as I can remember and I only have a limited amount of time to execute it.”
“All for the aim of impressing a lady who has no respect for you nor your family.”
He struck a nerve. Austin realized it a moment after he said his words and instantly regretted it. This wasn’t how he’d intended for their morning to go. He thought they could talk comfortably over breakfast then perhaps go for one of those walks she was so fond of before returning to her home. But as he watched her smile slip into a scowl, Austin realized that he’d just ruined their chances of that.
“Impressing? Surely after everything you do not still think that I only wish to impress the countess?”
Since he’d already gotten this deep, he couldn’t help but say, “What else could it possibly be?”
She drew in a slow breath as if she was trying to calm herself. “Austin, I think you of all people would understand how degrading it is to be around those who deem you as inferior.”
“I do,” he admitted. “Which is why I cannot understand why you want to be accepted by such people.”
“Because it was my father’s only wish to be.” Austin leaned back, watching as she slowly sipped her tea. “My father grew up in poverty and created a name and wealth for himself. He gave my brother and me a comfortable life. Even after my mother passed away, when I was only seven, he did all he could to raise us. I always respected him for that, loved him dearly for everything he’d done for us.”
Lavender drew in a breath. Austin could almost see the layers of her composure peeling away from her skin as she spoke. With every breath, raw emotion began to shine through to the surface. Right now, he saw nothing but such deep sadness that he wished he could go back in time and take back the words that had caused it.
“He wanted more for us. We were always stuck in between, you see. Wealthy enough to be deemed a part of the upper class, but lacking the prestige and honour that came with a title. He thought that if he could get us accepted by them then our lives would be infinitely better.” She laughed but it lacked its usual humor. “Those were excuses, of course. My father idolized the idea of becoming a lord and thought that he could be granted land and a title if he befriended the right people. He tried so hard that when they eventually rejected and humiliated him in front of the ton, it sent him into deep melancholy. I was young at the time, too young to understand just how embarrassing it had been. Apparently, it was enough of a scandal to fill the scandal sheets for weeks on end. He became the laughingstock of the ton.”
She sipped her tea again and another layer peeled away. Under the sadness, Austin saw anger and resentment blazing in her eyes. “My father, the proud man that he was, could not handle it. He drank himself to sleep every night after that. He turned away from us. He was a shell of his former self. When he finally passed away, a part of me thought that it was a mercy, that perhaps now he was a bit happier. Before he died, though, I made him promiseto use his connections to find me a husband. I needed one, you see. Not for love or to start a family but because I was well aware of how crucial having a husband would be to executing my plan.”
“Your plan of revenge,” Austin said as realization dawned on him.
Lavender met his eyes. She held her composure well enough but there was no concealing the rage that shimmered there.
“The Countess of Lively pulls the strings of the ton. She was the one who degraded my father until he felt like a failure, despite everything he had built for us. You’ve seen firsthand how scathing her words can be, even as she says them with a smile. I intend to show her that sitting on such a high throne will only make her fall that much more painful.”
After that, nothing else was said. Lavender blinked and the mask—the mask he hadn’t even realized until now that she’d had in place from the moment he met her—was back in place. She resumed eating as if nothing were amiss, as if she hadn’t just revealed to him that she had been consumed with vengeance all these years.
He didn’t know the right words to say and it bothered him. He should apologize at least, for misunderstanding her, but before he could get the words out, the door banged open.
Vincent Latrice came marching in, face red with anger. “Lavender!” he barked, making his sister jump.
“Vincent?” Lavender sounded confused. “What are you doing here?”
“Why do you think I am here, my foolish, insane sister?” He stalked towards her, dragging his fingers through his hair. “Do you know how worried I was about you all night?”
“But Austin sent word—”
“Which did not reach me until this morning! Do you think anyone in their right mind would have braved last night’s storm to deliver a simple message?” Vincent whirled on Austin. “And you! Surely you should have known better than to house an unmarried lady without a chaperone overnight?”
Austin raised a brow at him as he asked, “What would you have had me do? Send her home in the storm?”
“Vincent, please,” Lavender stepped in before Vincent could think of a response. She stood, putting a placating hand on her brother’s arm. “It was my fault. I was the one who decided to come here without warning and Austin only did what he thought was best at the moment.”
