father, even considering they will carry our blood.”
“Another one? How interesting that it appears only you four are in possession of all your wits, when so many are not.” There was a definite snap to her words now.
“We just know better than you.” Zach looked smug.
“You can’t even do up your shirt buttons correctly, so please tell me how it’s possible you know better than me?” She smiled sweetly as he looked down. Of course they were not crooked, but she’d enjoyed the reaction nonetheless.
“Please pass the plum conserve, Michael,” Abby said. Arguing with them got her nowhere. They believed love should come in the form of wrapping her up tight in a swaddling blanket. As yet she had been unable to break free—unless she broke the rules and left the house undetected.
Thinking of Daniel calmed her. How she wished she could see him again.
“We love you. Is it a crime that we’re protective because of that?” Gabe asked.
“Love is not meant to be stifling,” Abby muttered.
“That sounds like something your piano teacher would say and likely has.” He scowled. “That woman is trouble, and I’m seriously reconsidering hiring her. She refuses to acknowledge her place in this household, of which incidentally there is not one!”
Abby rose. This was getting her nowhere. If she stayed, she’d continue arguing. Placing her hands on the table, she gave each of her brothers a steady look, finishing with Gabe.
“If you dismiss Dimity, then I will make your life hell. I will do everything in my power to destroy my reputation, which, incidentally, you hold in higher esteem than I, and I will run naked through the streets if I must.”
Each face paled. They’d pushed her before, and she’d put stinging nettles in their beds. However, she was no longer ten years old; she would have to find another way to deal with them.
“You are no longer a child. Perhaps you should behave like the adult you profess to be,” Gabe said.
She had to be careful around him; he had a devilishly tricky way with words and often turned a conversation before she realized what he was about.
“I will not be moved in this. Dimity is the only friend I have ever had or you’ve allowed in my life. I will not have her taken from me.”
“Only friend,” Nathan scoffed. “I’ve seen you surrounded by ladies.”
“All demanding information about you four under the disguise of friendship. Not one of them is sincere. They pretend to be my friend because of you lot,” Abby said.
That shocked them.
“I don’t think—”
“Exactly,” Abby cut Gabe off. “You don’t think… none of you do. You spend your days out in the world and your nights whoring, drinking, and gambling!”
The disbelief that she had spoken that way was written on their faces and would have made her laugh if her insides were not boiling.
“Now if you will excuse me, I will have a tray in my room. Suddenly my appetite has gone. I wish to compose myself before Dimity arrives for my lesson.”
“Abby, wait. How dare you speak that way!” Gabe got to his feet. “I demand you apologize at once!”
“For what?”
“Saying what you did about our activities.”
“Is it not true, then?”
He didn’t lower his eyes, but she saw the guilt.
“Be warned, Gabriel. If you remove Dimity from my life, I will make you pay.” The words hung ominously in the air as she left the room, closing the door softly behind her.
Chapter 6
“Why am I escorting you around the park when you have a husband who is perfectly capable, Thea? Your note said you had urgent news, which I may add is the only reason I am now seated beside you promenading, which I assure you I loathe.”
He was in an open carriage in the park at the time of day everyone was trying to be seen. It was his worst nightmare. Yet his sister-in-law’s words had a desperate ring to them, even on paper, so of course he’d come. She was someone he respected greatly. Not many could tame the beast that had been his brother, but this woman had achieved that and more.
Oliver, or Ace, depending on how you had become acquainted with him, had been a man determined to leave the poverty of his childhood behind. He’d worked himself hard, believing that was his lot in life. Thea had convinced him otherwise. Oliver had fought against the love he felt for her simply because he believed he wasn’t worthy. She’d won. So his eldest brother was