Ten Things I Hate About the Duke - Loretta Chase Page 0,114

all. Cassandra was in no state to interpret.

She watched her father’s expression darken as he read it. He started to crumple the note, then thought better of it, and passed it to her mother.

“Oh, my,” said Mama. “Really, Cassandra.”

Her father had his hand to his temple.

At that, Cassandra, who never gave way to tears, even when bullies harassed her, felt her throat close up and her chest heave, and then she was sobbing violently. In front of everybody.

Ashmont moved to her.

“No,” Papa said. “If you touch my daughter, I cannot answer for the consequences.”

Ashmont put his arms about Cassandra and held her. “It’s all right,” he murmured. “We’ll make it right.”

Before Papa could explode or throw something heavy at him, Cassandra’s mother spoke. “Mr. Morris, a small glass of brandy for my daughter, if you will be so kind.”

Hyacinth’s would-be beau leapt to act. Ashmont pressed the glass into Cassandra’s hands. She took a sip, then started to rub away the humiliating tears. He gave her his handkerchief.

She wiped her eyes and collected herself.

“I beg your pardon, Papa,” she said. “Excess of emotion. Not a bid for pity, I assure you. The note is true. I did what it said. I do not regret the actions themselves.”

“Good grief, Cassandra.”

“I would convey a false impression if I said otherwise. However, I very much regret not considering the consequences for my family. As you told me some weeks ago, my behavior reflects on everybody.”

“You remembered but you didn’t heed me.”

“No, I didn’t. Still, we took great precautions not to be caught, and it was only the worst possible luck that a spy was in the vicinity. Why that person was there I cannot say. It makes no sense to me. It cannot be a coincidence. On that night of all nights, to have somebody watching. I thought perhaps it was one of the newspaper people. They have the most to gain by spying on Ashmont. But why then give their discovery to another instead of going straight to the press?”

“At present, the whys of the matter do not concern me,” Papa said. “Except the one to do with you. Ashmont—”

“You are not to suppose he lured me,” Cassandra said. “In fact, he was trying to get away from me. But I couldn’t let him go before—before I made my feelings clear.”

“For heaven’s sake, Cassandra, could you not wait? You are too impulsive.”

“Yes, I am impulsive. But to wait? For how long? We had come to an impasse, and he was going away, and he might be gone for months. Perhaps you can wait months in such a case, to learn whether your feelings are understood and then whether they are returned. I could not.”

Her father shook his head and turned to her sister. “And you, child? I know your sister could not have managed all this skullduggery without your help.”

“Yes, I helped, Papa,” Hyacinth said. “I should have done more if I could. I did not like to let her go alone, but I should only be in the way if I went with her.”

Their father appeared as close as she’d ever seen him to wild-eyed. “Did it not occur to you that this was wrong?”

Hyacinth shook her head. “It seemed wrong for them to be kept apart because of a misunderstanding. If I’d believed it was wrong, I shouldn’t have helped. I believed it was right.”

Papa sat down. He closed his eyes, then opened them. Apparently, the view did not improve in the interval. He was trying to remain composed, Cassandra understood, but the way his fingers curled and the light in his eye when his gaze fell upon Ashmont told what a struggle that was.

Hyacinth shifted her attention to Humphrey Morris who, clearly, was trying desperately to understand what had happened.

“I helped my sister disguise herself and sneak out of this house in order to visit the Duke of Ashmont last night,” she said.

Mr. Morris’s mouth formed an O.

“She was dressed in my brother Anselm’s clothes,” Hyacinth went on. “They were seen. The witness informed your mother, who has offered to expose them.”

“Wh-what? My mother?” Mr. Morris blinked several times. “Miss Hyacinth, my abject apologies. I will speak to her immediately. This is—”

“Don’t recommend it,” Ashmont said. “Might make matters worse, accidentally. She might take it ill, you know.”

“Take it ill! Take it ill! I shall damn—dashed well take it ill. Lord deGriffith, I assure you—”

“Pray do not assure me. You underestimate my intelligence if you suppose I should for