Page 55 of Her Devil of a Duke
Peter entered and looked around, clearly startled to have found Kitty standing there at all.
“What are you all talking about?” Peter’s eyes darted between them. “God’s wounds, I hope you are not seeking to make my daughters as depraved and as disgraced as you are.”
“Pa!” Hester said, stepping in front of Evelyn. “Language, please. Do not talk about my cousin in such a manner.”
“I shall talk about her in the manner that she deserves.” Peter walked forward. “Out of the way, Hester.” He didn’t wait for her to move but took Hester’s elbow and pulled her away. He reached for Evelyn’s wrist next and dragged her forward.
“Ow. That hurts,” Evelyn said, though he hardly seemed to care.
“Where are you taking her?” Hester followed behind, holding up the hem of her gown.
“To her chamber. Clearly, I cannot trust her walking free. God only knows what she does with freedom,” Peter muttered darkly.
Evelyn felt her breath catch in her throat as she realized what her uncle intended to do.
“Do not lock me in my chamber,” she pleaded, trying to wriggle out of her Uncle’s grasp. They came to an ungainly stop before the stairs. As Peter jerked her forward, Evelyn was in danger of falling down those steps. It was only because Hester was behind her and caught her waist that she was able to stay standing.
“You cannot keep her locked up like a prisoner,” Hester demanded, following them down as Evelyn was towed away again.
“She will do as she’s ordered to,” Peter said simply, reaching the landing. His fingers now gripped her wrist so tightly that they cut into the very spot where Mr. Windham had grazed her earlier that day when forcing her out of Rafe’s house.
As they reached the chamber Evelyn shared with Kitty, she tried to stop herself from being thrust in. She drove her foot against the doorframe, holding herself still.
“Inside, you insolent child.” Peter shoved hard in her back, forcing her into the room.
“Ah!” she screamed in surprise as she was forced onto her knees.
“You cannot treat her like this.” Hester pushed past her uncle, moving under his arm. She dropped to her knees with Evelyn and took her hands, helping her up again. “She’s our blood, our family, yet you disparage her as if she is an ornament under your roof, to do with as you wish.”
“She should be grateful we have taken care of her at all when I could have given her up for adoption after her parents died.”
Evelyn hung her head as she stood behind Hester, thinking of that awful day when her uncle had broken down the door of her locked chamber and found her as a crying and trembling child. He’d never cared for her, clearly not once. All he cared about now was the fact she had risked the family’s good name.
I am sorry for that.
It sounded awful, but it was truly something she had not intended. If her letter to her aunt and uncle had just been believed, none of this would have happened. No one needed to ever know about what passed between her and Rafe.
“I never intended to hurt you,” Evelyn found her voice. “It was not my intention. I just wanted some freedom from this house.”
“An understandable goal, is it not, Father?” Hester insisted.
Evelyn peered over her cousin’s shoulder to see Peter shaking his head.
“What sort of mad and idealistic world are you two living in?” He rounded on them both. “Let me make myself perfectly plain. Hester, if you continue to protect your cousin in this way, you will be confined in your own chamber too.”
“You cannot do that–!”
“And Evelyn,” he cut his own daughter off. “You shall stay in this chamber, completely alone, until we take you to Sussex. You shall not speak to anyone, you shall have no company, nothing at all. And if you behave, I might well consider extending some privileges when we arrive at Sussex.”
“I am no prisoner,” Evelyn’s voice grew louder. “You cannot make me one.”
Peter raised his eyebrows. He didn’t need to say anything to show the power he had.
He reached forward and took Hester’s wrist, dragging her away from Evelyn.
“No. No!” Hester kicked against him, but futilely. “You cannot do this to her. I won’t let you!” Yet Hester was as powerless as Evelyn.
She followed her cousin and uncle to the door, but as Hester was snatched through the gap, the door was slammed shut in Evelyn’s face.
