mother’s marriage, her fading away, and Sir Frederick’s anger. She told about his misappropriating of her inheritance and stealing her dowry, and how she was relegated to a poor companion in the house.
Daniel asked, “Why did you not leave? My aunt would have taken you in.”
“And left little Elaine to face her father’s rages, his skimping on her clothes and education and even simple entertainments? I could not abandon her when she was so young.”
“Admirable, I am sure,” Lord Rexford said, “but then she grew up enough to enter the Marriage Mart.”
“Yes, her father wanted her to marry a title. She liked the idea of becoming a marchioness or a duchess.”
“Not likely, a filly coming from that stable.”
Rex frowned at his cousin’s interruption. “Go on.”
“With Elaine grown and her father attending to her future, I hoped to marry myself. Sir Frederick swore none of my suitors was good enough. In fact, that very afternoon he admitted that he would never part with my dowry. I was not of age yet, and he would see it diminished to nothing by my twenty-fifth birthday. My inheritance was already gone, he said, for my upkeep.” She ignored Daniel Stamfield’s angry mutterings and watched Lord Rexford add another note to his list. When he looked up, she continued. “I thought a particular gentleman of my acquaintance would not care about the money. He was well-off, and had expressed his interest.”
“Did you speak with him that night at Almack’s? Was that why you left so precipitously?”
“Yes, and yes.” Amanda bit her lip while the two gentlemen waited. She told them about Mr. Charles Ashway and her expectations. Her voice trembled when she spoke of receiving the cut direct from him.
Amanda swore the floorboards shivered when Mr. Stamfield jumped to his feet. “That cad. I shall call him out for you, Miss Carville. No gentleman leads a lady to await an offer, and then treats her so abysmally.”
“He had his reasons. I demanded an explanation, you see.” She blushed and stared at her hands, but she managed to whisper the slander Sir Frederick had told Charles.
“And he believed your stepfather’s lies? Anyone can tell you are a lady, not any barque of frailty. I will not bother challenging the mawworm, then, I shall just pound him into the ground. Dueling is illegal anyway.”
Amanda had to smile. “I thank you for the thought, Mr. Stamfield. I wished to hit him myself.”
Rex wanted to wring the dastard’s neck, but that was for another time. “You must have been furious.”
“Oh, I was worse than angry. I wanted to shout and stamp my foot and throw that insipid orgeat they serve right at him. But there was Elaine to consider. Besides, I knew Mr. Ashway was not the culprit. He simply did not trust me, and he cared more for his family name than he did for me.”
Daniel sat back down. “That whole family is a bunch of bobbing blocks. You are better off without him.”
Rex thought so, too. “Go on.”
In firmer tones, Amanda told them, “My stepfather was entirely to blame. So I went home, alone, to confront him once and for all. I was going to go to the solicitor’s in the morning, and the bank. And I intended to write to Lady Royce in Bath, asking her advice and assistance. I hated Sir Frederick more than I thought possible at that moment, and I did wish him dead.”
“Perhaps you ought to keep that thought to yourself from now on,” Rex warned. “Not that wishes equate to deeds, but it looks bad.” He asked the name of her bank and which solicitor handled the family’s affairs, then brought her attention back to Sir Frederick. “He must have been upset when you said you were going to expose his thievery. That would not have helped his daughter make an advantageous match.”
“I did not get the chance to threaten him. He was already dead.”
“So there was no struggle, no physical violence on his part?”
“No.” In a voice as thin as a thread, she
Daniel asked, “Why did you not leave? My aunt would have taken you in.”
“And left little Elaine to face her father’s rages, his skimping on her clothes and education and even simple entertainments? I could not abandon her when she was so young.”
“Admirable, I am sure,” Lord Rexford said, “but then she grew up enough to enter the Marriage Mart.”
“Yes, her father wanted her to marry a title. She liked the idea of becoming a marchioness or a duchess.”
“Not likely, a filly coming from that stable.”
Rex frowned at his cousin’s interruption. “Go on.”
“With Elaine grown and her father attending to her future, I hoped to marry myself. Sir Frederick swore none of my suitors was good enough. In fact, that very afternoon he admitted that he would never part with my dowry. I was not of age yet, and he would see it diminished to nothing by my twenty-fifth birthday. My inheritance was already gone, he said, for my upkeep.” She ignored Daniel Stamfield’s angry mutterings and watched Lord Rexford add another note to his list. When he looked up, she continued. “I thought a particular gentleman of my acquaintance would not care about the money. He was well-off, and had expressed his interest.”
“Did you speak with him that night at Almack’s? Was that why you left so precipitously?”
“Yes, and yes.” Amanda bit her lip while the two gentlemen waited. She told them about Mr. Charles Ashway and her expectations. Her voice trembled when she spoke of receiving the cut direct from him.
Amanda swore the floorboards shivered when Mr. Stamfield jumped to his feet. “That cad. I shall call him out for you, Miss Carville. No gentleman leads a lady to await an offer, and then treats her so abysmally.”
“He had his reasons. I demanded an explanation, you see.” She blushed and stared at her hands, but she managed to whisper the slander Sir Frederick had told Charles.
“And he believed your stepfather’s lies? Anyone can tell you are a lady, not any barque of frailty. I will not bother challenging the mawworm, then, I shall just pound him into the ground. Dueling is illegal anyway.”
Amanda had to smile. “I thank you for the thought, Mr. Stamfield. I wished to hit him myself.”
Rex wanted to wring the dastard’s neck, but that was for another time. “You must have been furious.”
“Oh, I was worse than angry. I wanted to shout and stamp my foot and throw that insipid orgeat they serve right at him. But there was Elaine to consider. Besides, I knew Mr. Ashway was not the culprit. He simply did not trust me, and he cared more for his family name than he did for me.”
Daniel sat back down. “That whole family is a bunch of bobbing blocks. You are better off without him.”
Rex thought so, too. “Go on.”
In firmer tones, Amanda told them, “My stepfather was entirely to blame. So I went home, alone, to confront him once and for all. I was going to go to the solicitor’s in the morning, and the bank. And I intended to write to Lady Royce in Bath, asking her advice and assistance. I hated Sir Frederick more than I thought possible at that moment, and I did wish him dead.”
“Perhaps you ought to keep that thought to yourself from now on,” Rex warned. “Not that wishes equate to deeds, but it looks bad.” He asked the name of her bank and which solicitor handled the family’s affairs, then brought her attention back to Sir Frederick. “He must have been upset when you said you were going to expose his thievery. That would not have helped his daughter make an advantageous match.”
“I did not get the chance to threaten him. He was already dead.”
“So there was no struggle, no physical violence on his part?”
“No.” In a voice as thin as a thread, she
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