Hearts Entwined (Victorian Love #3) - M.A. Nichols Page 0,103

and Hettie. “I did what a friend ought to do.”

“I have said again and again that there is no need to defend my honor. There is no need for retaliation. I hold no ill will towards any of the Kingsleys,” replied Victoria, barely holding back a juvenile stomp of her foot. But this whole conversation felt entirely too childish.

“Perhaps we might take a moment to calm ourselves—” began Hettie, but Phyllis spoke over the top of her.

“If not for your sake, then for Hettie’s, they deserve to be put in their place,” said Phyllis, setting her fists on her hips. “To have caused such a scandal—”

“Not that old discussion yet again,” said Victoria. “This is not the first time we have spoken of this, but I hope it will be the last. There is no scandal. There is no heartbreak. There is no need for retribution!”

Phyllis dropped her arms, her spine straightening as she looked down her nose at Victoria. “How can you speak to me in such a fashion? I have only ever been the best of friends to you, and you are repaying that by siding with that irritating pig of a woman—”

“Do not speak of Lily like that!” Victoria clenched her jaw tight, speaking through her teeth to keep from shouting.

Leaning back, Phyllis looked at Victoria with a sneer, though her brows were pulled tight together in confusion. When she spoke, her voice was low, her words barely audible above the music and chatter.

“How can you speak to me like that? We’ve been friends for years.”

Victoria’s shoulders dropped. Some of the fire and fury dimmed, leaving her feeling quite empty. “Yes, we have, but can you not see that your actions were aimed at someone wholly undeserving of such maliciousness? And even if Lily had earned your ire, your retaliation was beyond cruel.”

“She was only doing what she thought best, Victoria,” said Hettie, taking Phyllis by the arm. “Perhaps it was a little severe, but would you punish loyalty?”

“Certainly not, but neither can I remain silent when faced with such maliciousness,” said Victoria.

Phyllis’s lips pinched together, and she sucked in a deep breath that had her neck straining. “That is what you think of me?”

Victoria sent her a pleading gaze to give strength to her words. “You orchestrated a punishment intended to humiliate Lily, using the knowledge you gained as her confidant and friend to torture her. That is the definition of malicious, Phyllis. But you can undo some of the damage done if you will simply acknowledge it and apologize to Lily. Prove yourself better than this.”

Phyllis stiffened and her expression hardened, her eyes narrowing on Victoria. Hettie’s gaze was wide and pained as she continued to glance between the ladies, though her hold on Phyllis never slackened.

“Lily Kingsley was never my friend,” said Phyllis, her words clipped and hard. “And now, I think you may not have been, either.”

With a raised chin, Phyllis gave Victoria a hard look down her nose before turning and dragging Hettie away.

***

“I do wish I could stand up with you, dear sister,” said Graham as the pair watched their spouses gliding across the dance floor together.

Taking her brother by the arm, Mina smiled. “Though I love to dance, I find it doesn’t agree with me as much as it once did. I fear we are growing old, Graham.”

He grimaced. “I cannot seem to rise from a chair without a groan, and my bones creak like the timbers of a ship.”

The pair stood together for several long moments, and Mina enjoyed the whirl of colors as the dancers sped around the dance floor. Their vibrancy and liveliness never failed to fill her with an equal measure of the sentiments, stripping away the decades until she felt as young as her daughter.

“I’ve been meaning to ask how married life is treating Gabrielle,” said Mina.

“My eldest is a dear girl but a terrible correspondent,” said Graham. “Only made worse by the fact that she is wrapped up in the bliss of being Mrs. Ezra Brisbane. We do get the occasional missive, and the latest said his family’s medical practice is thriving. Horatio has expressed an interest in medicine, and I can only hope that the Brisbanes might provide some assistance in helping him get established when the time comes.”

Mina’s brows rose. “That is fortunate, but what of Will?”

“He has not the slightest idea of what to pursue,” he replied with a shake of his head. “He is still young, so there is time,