WolfeStrike (De Wolfe Pack Generations #2) - Kathryn Le Veque Page 0,56

truth. She had seen the way Barbara and Lenore had stalked Violet during her visit and although she didn’t see them push her, in her heart, she knew it had been them.

And that’s when she had told her father.

Given that Isabella hadn’t actually seen Barbara and Lenore do any of the heinous deeds, Blayth had to be delicate about approaching Scott with the situation. He wasn’t even sure it was the truth because Barbara and Lenore looked like innocent angels. Therefore, he held off saying anything until a particular incident at mass at Kelso Abbey when the de Wolfe family had attended for Martinmas.

A pretty Scots lass from Clan Scott, the clan of Jordan de Wolfe, had been speaking with Tor after the mass. She had been speaking with Ronan and a couple of others, too, but she seemed to bat her eyelashes mostly at Tor.

It had been her undoing.

When Emma Scott left her de Wolfe cousins and went back into the church to see what was delaying her mother, Barbara and Lenore were nowhere to be found. But they did show themselves, eventually, and the House of de Wolfe returned to Questing only to hear, on Christmas Day, that Emma Scott had met with an unfortunate accident the last time she’d been in Kelso’s abbey. In the hunt for her mother, an entire bank of candles from the nave fell on her and she had been badly burned when part of her clothing had caught fire.

That was when Blayth finally told Scott.

You have vipers in your bosom, Brother.

Given the evidence and circumstances, Scott had been forced to agree that all fingers pointed to the pair. It was made easier by the fact that they had all seen the way they acted towards Tor. Scott didn’t feel it was his place to punish them, but he told his son of their suspicions with the expectation that he would punish them.

That was when the real trouble started.

Tor couldn’t bring himself to punish Barbara and Lenore for one very good reason – no one had seen them commit the crimes and he couldn’t bring himself to punish Jane’s younger sisters based purely on rumor and speculation. It had to be a mistake, he said. Scott never told him where he got his information, so no one knew it had come through Blayth from Isabella.

Which was a good thing. As Isabella watched Barbara and Lenore make sure the dais was perfect in Tor’s great hall, she was glad they didn’t know it was her or she’d find herself shoved down a flight of stairs, too.

The Vipers wouldn’t hesitate.

“I come as often as I can,” she said belatedly, lost to her reflections about the pair. “You must come and visit me at Castle Questing sometime. You have not returned since Tor took command of Blackpool.”

Barbara, who was making her way down the table with the crystal pitchers in-hand, answered. “We are quite busy, Isabella,” she said. “As you can see, there are a thousand things to do. You do not have the responsibilities that we do so you are freer to travel.”

Isabella nodded. “That is true,” she said. “Can I help you with the wine, Barbara?”

Barbara smiled at her, shaking her head. “No, dear Bella,” she said. “This is my task and you are a guest. In fact, I have not had the chance to tell you how sorry I am about your broken betrothal. How heartbroken you must be.”

The focus shifted to Isabella’s recent troubles and Isabella knew she had to be on her guard with Barbara especially. Lenore was a little less devious, but Barbara had a dark streak in her. She was pretty and red-haired, just like her younger sister, and she looked quite innocent and angelic.

But that was where people made a grave mistake with her.

Isabella, however, wasn’t so naïve.

She knew better.

“I suppose I was at the time,” she said, trying not to sound emotional. The truth was that she had been more embarrassed than anything. “But I realize now that Steffan is not a man I wish to be married to. He was not a good man, though it took me some time to realize that.”

Lenore had stopped fussing with the food and was looking at her sadly.

“But… but I heard he compromised you, Bella,” she said, distressed. “What a terrible man to do such a thing and then not marry you!”

Isabella frowned. “He did not compromise me,” she said flatly. “Some servants saw us kiss in the garden