“Sally! You shouldn’t be here,” Aaron snapped, as he moved swiftly across the room toward her.
“I’ll ask again, what are you doing here?” She was determined not to let her discomfort show. This was her house, and he was merely a guest. He stopped a few steps away and raised his hands.
“I need to look for some papers for ... bus... business,” he replied, the words coming out slurred.
“Why not ask Leonard? Shall I fetch him?” she said and turned, pretending to walk out of the door when he set into motion again.
“No! There is no need. Look, Sally. There is no need to bother him, let us ... just ... I’ll go back to the ball, and you do too, and I’ll speak to him in the morning,” he said, his eyes wide. Somewhere inside Sally, a wave of terror built as she looked at him in the dim light. There was something about him that made her even more uncomfortable than usual. Something about him wasn’t right... Sally’s spine stiffened with resolve as she met his gaze head-on, her own eyes narrowing with suspicion. Her eyes darted around the room, taking in the chaos of scattered papers and open ledgers that littered Leonard’s desk. A sense of dread washed over her as she realized the gravity of the situation.
“What have you been doing?” she demanded.
“Nothing, I told you. It’s business matter. Why are you so difficult?” Aaron spat, his breath hot against her face as he leaned in close. The stench of his breath sent a shudder down her as it added to the wave of panic within. Why did he make her feel this way? In the flickering light of the candle, Sally caught a glimpse of his face, illuminated by a sliver of moonlight streaming through the window.
But it was the unmistakable scent of wine on his breath that sent a chill down her spine, a sinking feeling settling in the pit of her stomach. She knew that smell, this unique mix of wine, sweat, and lye soap - Suddenly, as if a dam had burst open, memories flooded Sally’s mind with overwhelming clarity.
It was him.
The man from three years ago. The man who had jumped out at her in the garden where she’d gone to catch the air. Her ankle panged with pain as if it, too, remembered the initial injury that had caused her trouble ever since. It was him, the man who’d held her down, not some vagrant. She was finally face to face with the drunkard who had tried to assault her. Staring into Aaron’s cold, calculating eyes, she was certain beyond a shadow of a doubt.
“You,” she whispered. “I remember you.”
“Took you long enough,” he replied, his laughter echoed off the walls of the study, a chilling sound that sent shivers down Sally’s spine. She wasn’t going to let him intimidate her. He wasn’t getting away with this. Not again.
“So you admit it? You tried to assault me back then.”
“Assault you,” he said in a snide tone. “I was trying to ... have a good time. But you are so rigid and stiff, and it’s no fun at all. It’s no wonder Leonard can’t stand to be around you.”
It was as if he’d run her through with a sword. Had Leonard said this? No, she could not believe a man like this, someone who’d prey on women.
“I dare say Leonard will not be happy when he hears what you did to me. He knows the story, you know,” she said, and the surprise of this information was registered on the man’s face. He hadn’t known. Good. “I always knew there was something wrong with you,” she declared boldly. “And now, I’ll make sure everyone knows the truth.”
Alas, Aaron merely sneered, his lips twisting into a cruel smile. “No one will believe you,” he spat with venomous disdain. “Even if you told him, clearly you didn’t know it was me. I will make sure they doubt you. Besides, I am a viscount. What are you?”
“I am the Duchess of Chester, I outrank you, everyone will believe me,” she fired back and squared her shoulders as she met his icy stare with a steely resolve. “I’ll make them believe,” she vowed. “I’ll make sure Leonard knows exactly who you are, and what you’ve done.”
“You are a woman. A woman in an unhappy marriage willing to do anything for attention,” he replied, suddenly sounding a lot more sober than before. “Nobody will care.”
“We will see about that,” she replied. With that, she turned on her heel and stormed out of the room, leaving Aaron’s laughter echoing in her wake. “You go on then, you tell your husband. But let me ask you, what do you really know about Leonard?” He called after her. This stopped her in her tracks, and she looked back, head dipped to the side.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean that you know nothing about Leonard. Nothing at all.”
Aaron’s voice cut through the silence like a jagged shard of glass, stopping her dead in her tracks. She froze, her heart pounding in her chest as she turned to face him once more, a sense of dread creeping over her like a suffocating fog. Her feet carried her back toward the man she’d wanted to get away from a second before. He was close to Leonard, so he had to know things she did not.
“What do you mean?” she demanded again, struggling to comprehend the gravity of Aaron’s words. Aaron’s expression darkened, his features twisted with bitterness and resentment as he spoke.
“All this back and forth between you and him. One minute he wants to be a husband then he wants you to get away from him... That’s the real Leonard. It’s not indecision. It’s cruelty. He likes playing with people.”
Sally inhaled because she’d feared to hear just this, that there wasn’t a great secret to Leonard’s managerial ways but that it was simply how he was. But this man was a monster who’d assaulted her, so why should she listen to him?
“But there’s so much more,” he said. “Your husband hasn’t been preoccupied with his duties as a Duke, either. And his trip coming up? It’s not to look after the vineyards and the workers. Anyone could do that, surely even you know that.” he began.
This she knew to be true., No noble traveled to vineyards to see his workers. She’d put it down to Leonard being diligent in the wake of his father’s passing. Was there more to it?
“Then why would he go?” she asked, fearing the answer.
“He’s been continuing his father’s illegal activities.” Aaron shrugged, a look of disgust crossing his face.
