Page 49 of Historical Hotties
“Are you sure you will not mind?”
He smiled, flashing that smile that had caused many a maiden to swoon. “My lady, I prefer it,” he said. “I’ve noticed you have dimples that would cause most men to fall at your feet.”
The blush was back, ragingly so. She wasn’t very adept at flirtation, or kind words, so she said the first thing that came to mind.
“But not you?” she teased.
In one swift and fluid movement, Cassius took a knee in front of her, reaching out to take one of her hands. Dacia was so startled that she took an instinctive step back, but he held her fast. He was so tall that on one knee, he was nearly eye-level with her. Leaning over, he gently kissed her hand.
“Does that answer your question, Dacia?”
The way he said it made her heart beat painfully against her ribs. She couldn’t seem to catch her breath. Before she could answer, however, they both heard a gasp coming from the stairwell, turning to see Amata standing on the top step.
The woman’s eyes were bulging.
“What is the meaning of this?” she demanded.
Dacia looked at her cousin curiously, having no idea what she was talking about. “The meaning of what?” she asked as Cassius stood up. “What are you talking about?”
Unfortunately, Amata was a woman scorned, a petty and volatile creature, indeed. She looked accusingly between Cassius and her cousin.
“Is this what has happened since I last saw you, Dacia?” she said. “You now permit men to display unrestrained gestures of affection? Now I understand why Sir Cassius rebuffed me. It was because ofyou!”
Dacia was starting to catch on. Truth be told, she was flattered that her cousin thought she was finally doing something scandalous but, in the same breath, she was quickly furious about what the woman was suggesting.
Furious enough to snap back.
“And what if it is?” she said. “Sir Cassius was doing nothing I haven’t seen you permit with twenty different men at twenty different times. In fact, I’ve known you to permit something worse than a simple kiss to the hand, so if you do not want your father to hear about it, I suggest you shut your lips this instant.”
As Cassius stood back and folded his arms across his chest, an approving smile playing on his lips, Amata features flushed with fury and embarrassment.
“I am your cousin,” she hissed. “You cannot say such things to me in front of a stranger. You promised to keep them in confidence!”
Dacia took a few steps in Amata’s direction. “And you used me as an excuse every time you stole away to meet yet one more man in your vast collection of suitors,” she said. “You would tell your father that you were coming to visit me, but you’d go into Doncaster and spend time with any man who caught your fancy. Did you think I did not know this? I have known it for years. And then when you do come to visit me, it is to steal kisses from Darian’s knights or steal pieces of my jewelry, and the fool that I am, I simply looked the other way. I was so happy to have you visit me that I overlooked your lies and your thievery. Therefore, your accusations against me are sadly misplaced, Amata. You saw nothing untoward and you know it. You’re simply angry that it wasn’t your hand Sir Cassius was kissing.”
Amata’s jaw dropped in abject humiliation. “This is how you repay the only person who will talk to you?” she screeched. “No one will talk to you or be your friend because of your ugly spots and this is how you repay me? You ungrateful wench!”
She was hitting Dacia where it hurt. In times past when they fought and Amata brought up Dacia’s freckles, Dacia would usually surrender the argument. She’d taken a beating for so many years about her freckles that, like a whipped dog, she knew when to tuck her tail between her legs and hang her head. That was what she usually did.
But no more.
Thanks to Cassius, Amata didn’t have that power over her anymore.
“I would rather be an ungrateful wench than a whore,” Dacia said in a low voice. “You heard me, Amata–whore.I know you for what you are. I know you gave your innocence to one of my grandfather’s soldiers a few years ago and there have been men between your legs ever since. Everybody knew it; I knew it. But I overlooked it. I will overlook you no longer. Go find another place to sleep tonight. And then tomorrow, you can return to Silverdale. I do not want to see you again, ever.”
Amata was so angry that she was trembling. “I knew it was a mistake to try and help you,” she said. “This is the thanks you give me for my friendship, you ugly, silly chit. I will leave tomorrow and I will never come back. You have made a big mistake this day.Verybig.”
Dacia simply shook her head. “I havefixeda very big mistake today,” she said. “Poor Sabine to have a horrible sister like you. A whore that will bring down the whole family. No wonder she chose to commit herself to a convent– she could not live with the shame of a trollop for a sister.”
Amata’s face contorted with rage and her mouth worked as if she wanted to say something more, but she wisely kept silent. She’d just been humiliated in front of Cassius, horrified that her darkest secrets had a witness.
But this wasn’t going to be the end of it.
She was going to make sure of it.
Gathering her skirts, she headed back down the stairs. Dacia stood there a moment, listening to her footfalls fade away, before returning her attention to Cassius. She smiled weakly, chagrinned that he had witnessed that exchange, but not sorry.
She was definitely not sorry.
