“Oh, so you finally deem her worthy of a visit?” Harry said, crossing his arms. “How long has it been? A year?”
“It is none of your concern, Harry. I thought we had an understanding.” He then turned toward Arabella, pointing a finger at her, his arm outstretched. “It is her, isn’t it? I should have known nothing good could come out of the house of Hayward! Lord Worcester and his family, the lowest of the low!”
“I will not have you speak this way about my wife,” Harry warned, stepping forward. “As for my cousin, I have taken her in, and I will not return her. She does not wish to return, and you have done nothing but mistreat her.”
“She is not yours to take! The law will see me right. I will have her returned post-haste, and you would do well to avoid that, wouldn’t you?”
“The law will not care,” Hanna interjected, and Arabella stared at her sister in surprise. “You abandoned Helen long ago, and there are many witnesses to this. You told everyone your daughter was dead. There is no judge anywhere in the realm who would return her to you.”
“My sister is correct,” Arabella added. “Especially not over the desires of a duke. For you are nothing but a knight, and even that knighthood was ill-gotten, I hear.”
Though Arabella had heard no such thing, she could easily imagine it, given the man’s character. And evidently, she was not entirely wrong, for Sir Richard paled at her words.
“Harry, do you allow women to speak this way to your relatives? How far have you fallen? It is a disgrace! Where is my daughter? Give her to me at once, or I will tell the entire ton what you have done. I am not the only one who has been keeping secrets!”
“What was that?” Harry asked sarcastically, clicking his fingers. “I supposedly caused the accident that killed my aunt and Helen? Something I have since discovered was not true at all. Iwasn’t even there. Did you bribe the coachman to keep up the lie, or did you threaten him? It was the latter, wasn’t it? You threatened to ruin him if he ever told the truth.”
“What truth?” his uncle spat.
Arabella watched the exchange as if she were captivated by a thrilling game of shuttlecock.
“That it was you who was responsible for my aunt’s death. That it was you who forced her and Helen to ride with a drunk coachman. And for what? To teach her a lesson? Yes, that would be just like you, always working on teaching lessons, weren’t you? You blamed me—a child! You are pitiful. Pitiful!”
“You do not know what you are talking about,” Sir Richard seethed. “I will not let you spread lies about me.”
“But they are not lies, are they?” Arabella asked, her voice strong and unwavering. “It is the truth—all of it. You hid behind a drunken coachman and a young boy to alleviate your guilt.”
The power of speaking out was intoxicating, and as she continued, she realized she was not just addressing Sir Richard, but also her own father—men who had caused so much misery. With every word, she felt her anger rise, fueled by the injustices both men had inflicted on those they claimed to care for.
“How dare you speak to me like this!” Sir Richard bellowed.
Harry swiftly stepped beside Arabella, positioning himself next to her—not in front of her—something she deeply appreciated. He was close enough to protect her physically but allowed her the autonomy to stand up for herself, for him, and for Helen.
“My wife will speak her mind in her own home,” Harry said firmly. “I have already told you this. Go ahead, tell all of the ton that you’ve been blaming a child for an accident and that you’ve been holding it over me all this time. Go ahead and see what they say. You may find yourself surprised that they already know, for I have shared the news. I have also shared the truth that it was your responsibility and that you were merely hiding.”
“Speaking of hiding,” Arabella piped up, “everyone knows what you did to Helen.Everyone.”
She could see the man falter, his hands clenching and unclenching as though he were a trapped animal with no escape.
“I will tell Helen the truth—the real truth,” he threatened, but the wobble in his voice betrayed him. He knew it was an empty threat.
“I know the truth,” came Helen’s voice from above.
Arabella, her sisters, and Harry all turned around, as did their unwelcome guest. There was Helen, cradled in Brandon’s arms.
“Arabella, I know you told me to stay in your chamber, but I cannot. I must see my father’s face. He threatens to tell me thetruth? Go on, then. Tell me. But do not expect I will believe a word of it. You have mistreated me all my life. I believe nothing you say.”
“You wretched girl!” Sir Richard hissed. “How I wish it had been you who died that day and not my wife! It should have been you—useless as you are to me now.”
“Helen is worth fifty of you,” Arabella snapped.
“A hundred,” Emma corrected.
“A thousand!” Hanna shouted from the top of the stairs.
Harry chuckled beside Arabella. “Well, we can agree that she is worth a multitude of you, Uncle Richard. I like to think that time was on our side, and your trip to Scotland gave us the opportunity to do our work. You will find you have been removed from anything connecting you to the estate. All of my business partners know that I am their contact, not you. You will find that when you return to Society, you will no longer be welcomed. You do not have the Duke of Sheffield behind you, and your transgressions against my cousin are known to the world.”
“This will not stand! I will make sure all of you are ruined!” Sir Richard shouted, his face red with fury.
