Page 44 of Stolen By the Cruel Duke
“And what if she had returned early?” Phineas demanded, staring incredulously at him. “They might have?—”
He broke off. He was staring at the Constable, but he wasn’t really looking at him. There was a strange look on his face, as if he had just solved a puzzle. As if realization had dawned on him.
There was a moment of silence, then Phineas turned to face Iris. She was expecting him to give her a look of conspiratorial excitement, then grab her, pull her aside, and share with her what he had just realized. Instead, he was looking at her as if hehad only just realized who she really was and did not at all like what he had discovered.
Iris drew back, fear suddenly seizing her. She had never seen her husband look at her like this.
Phineas turned back to the Constable, his body language stiffer and angrier now. “I think you should go.”
The Constable began to splutter at once. “But, Your Grace! I still need to interview the servants! I can’t possibly leave now! This is an open investigation and?—”
“I said,” Phineas growled menacingly, taking a step toward him, “you should go.”
His tone brooked no argument, and the Constable had no choice but to give in. Grumbling, he gathered up his things and showed himself out.
Once the door had swung shut behind the Constable, silence filled the hall. Iris held her breath. She didn’t know what was coming, but she knew it was bad. Phineas wasn’t himself right now, and while she didn’t blame him, it frightened her.
At last, he spoke.
“You planned this,” he murmured. His voice was soft, but it was filled with venom, and to her shock, he was staring directly at her. “You planned this with your father.”
Iris gasped. She almost thought that he was joking, except that the look on his face was so serious. “Phineas!” she cried. “How can you say that? You know I would never plan anything with my father. I despise him as much as you d?—”
“Don’t lie to me!” Phineas shouted.
Spittle flew from his mouth, and his eyes bugged out of his head. He looked absolutely deranged with anger, and Iris took an instinctive step back. Next to her, her mother reached out and touched her arm, as if to offer some support, but Iris could barely feel it. She was so shocked and hurt by her husband’s reaction that she couldn’t think of anything else.
“And do not presume to call me by my Christian name,” Phineas continued. “That familiarity is reserved for those who have earned my trust and respect.”
“Phineas, how can you say that?” Iris gasped. “After all the intimacy we have shared?!”
“It was an intimacy I gave when I thought you were loyal to me!” Phineas yelled. “But you have been deceiving me this whole time, haven’t you?”
“N-no, I haven’t!”
But Phineas wasn’t listening to her at all. “You never stopped working for your father,” he shouted, gesticulating wildly withhis hands. “You have been spying on me this entire time! How else would he have discovered that we had gone to the mines?”
“What?” Iris had no idea what he was talking about.
He laughed ruefully. “At the time, I wondered if perhaps you had let slip to your sisters that we were heading to the mines. But now I see you purposefully relayed the information to your father. How else do you expect me to believe the coincidence of his appearance, just a day and a half later? And how do you expect me to believe this theft was also a coincidence? That the robbers arrived just as you were gone from the house, and only after you had finally discovered the one thing they needed most—evidence of your father’s crimes against my family?”
Iris was shaking her head. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. It was beyond the pale that Phineas should think these things about her. And yet… she knew how untrusting he was. Her mother’s confession earlier must have driven him out of his mind with paranoia.
Instead of shrinking back, therefore, Iris stepped forward, a pleading expression on her face. She had to make him understand. She had to reach him through all his anger and grief and distrust.
“Please, Phineas,” she murmured, “you must know that I would never do these things. I haven’t been working with my father, nor have I been spying on you. I don’t know how my father discovered we were at the mines, but I never told him—or anyone! Even if I had told my sisters, they never would havebetrayed me. As for this theft, I had nothing to do with it! Maybe it seems suspicious that I was out when it happened, but I can only put that down to the cunning of the thieves, not my guilt.”
“Lies!” Phineas shouted.
“Come now, Phineas,” James said, stepping forward at last. His usual warm, easy smile had been replaced by a mix of anger and worry. “Think about what you are saying! Her Grace has only ever been a loyal and loving wife to you. These coincidences are not proof that she was working with Carfield. You do her an injustice by making these accusations!”
Phineas rounded on his friend. The force of his anger was so strong that James also took a step back.
“You don’t know her like I do,” Phineas hissed. “You don’t know how she had me wrapped around her finger. She knew exactly what to say and do to get me to open up to her, to get me to trust her. I’m sure her father told her all about me and my… weaknesses. So she could sink the knife in. But I will not be weak anymore. I will be strong now, for my mother and father, and I will never allow Carfield to win.”
“Please, Phineas…” Tears had welled up in Iris’s eyes, and as she took another step toward her husband, she had to fight to keep from bursting into tears.
“I know what you’re doing,” she pleaded. “You know we’re getting closer, and it terrifies you. And after my mother’s revelation this morning, you are feeling particularly distrustful.But I promise you, I am not who you think I am! I know you know I would never side with my father, after everything he has done to you. To both of us!”
