Ollie raised his brows and said nothing. He didn’t have to answer to anyone. He owned Lady Emeline. No matter what Evan or Miss Stanton thought about his conduct. Ollie was reminding them of that fact without saying a word.
“Why?” Miss Stanton choked out again. “She already—she doesn’t have—”
“Turns out,” the servant said with a malicious glance at his mistress, “milady’s a screamer.”
Evan’s blood froze.
“Doesn’t like her punishments much.” The servant smirked at the cowering woman. “Do you, milady?”
“She—She—” Miss Stanton gasped, clutching the handkerchief to her chest. “It wasn’t her fault! I made her go! I’m the one who—the one who—”
Ollie crossed the room and plucked the dirty cloth from her fingers. He turned to his wife. “You weren’t making noises again, were you, love?”
Lady Emeline shook her head and shrank farther into the corner.
“No? In that case...” He straightened and turned toward Miss Stanton.
Almost as a reflex, Evan reached out and latched on to her wrist, tugging her close. He released his grip once he realized what he’d done. But she remained at his side, pale and trembling.
Ollie seemed to double in size. “If you didn’t hear anything that required investigation, Miss Stanton, I have to assume you came down here entirely on your own. In direct violation of my... suggestion... to the contrary. Have you changed your mind as to where you preferred to have your own living quarters?”
It was Miss Stanton’s turn to shake her head frantically.
Evan’s jaw dropped.
“In that case,” Ollie continued as if nothing were amiss, “I suggest you retake your quarters immediately. Or I will provide you with alternate accommodation.”
She swayed, and for a second Evan thought she would slump against him in a dead faint. But then she gasped for air, gave a final anguished glance at the woman in the corner, and fled up the stairs.
“And now Bothwick,” Ollie drawled. The blackness of his full beard couldn’t hide the fury of his expression. “Shouldn’t you be on your way, too?”
Yes, yes, of course he should. He had no pistols handy, no legal recourse, and no way of winning no matter which moment he chose to fight this battle. Yet the thought of inaction nauseated him.
“Do not terrorize Miss Stanton.”
“Terrorize?” Ollie repeated mildly, toying with the chain that led down to his wife’s ankle. “I merely suggested she not spend her time so far below stairs, that’s all.”
Evan cast another frustrated glance at the trembling young lady in the corner.
“Repugnant as it is, I can’t prevent you from treating your wife as you wish,” he bit out at last. “But no matter what incomprehensible motives drive you to cage your wife in the cellar, surely the occasional visit from a friendly face cannot hurt.”
“Don’t misunderstand me.” Ollie’s black eyes glittered in the candlelight. “I couldn’t agree more. In fact, I informed Miss Stanton I’d be more than happy to let her stay with Emeline. Indefinitely.”
The pointed arch to Ollie’s thick black brows left no doubt as to what, precisely, he was threatening.Bothwomen were in danger. From a man who could do whatever he damn well pleased with either one.
Lady Emeline let out a whimper, then clapped both hands over her mouth as if to trap the tiny noise from escaping. A twitch of Ollie’s brow indicated the sound had not gone unnoticed. Nor would the infraction go unpunished. His lapdog’s self-satisfied grin hinted he got just as much pleasure from the power to bedevil his mistress as he did from Evan’s powerlessness to stop him.
Damn it all. There was absolutely nothing Evan could do to protect Lady EmelineorMiss Stanton.
Nothing.
Chapter 33
Even with Timothy’s ivory-handled knife in her pocket, Susan was afraid to unlock the bedchamber door the next morning.
She glared at her self-imposed cage and swore beneath her breath. For a sociable young lady who’d been (unfairly) confined to her room for the better part of a year as punishment for spreading a devastating piece of (verifiably true) gossip, one might think the last thing she would voluntarily do was remain locked in her bedroom.
Particularly in a place like Moonseed Manor.
