Page 15 of The Viscount's Diamond Bride
“You do not have all the facts, Papa,” she heard herself say, her own voice seeming to come from far away.
“Oh? And what is it that I do not know?” he snarled, rounding on her. His pallid face was red with fury, and it occurred to Ursula, not for the first time, that she did not know her father very much at all.
Fathers have put their daughters in asylums for less than this.
Swallowing her fear, Ursula forced herself to meet Papa’s eye.
“Sir Roderick Black tried to force himself upon me, Papa.”
Mama gave a low groan. “Ursula, please. Do not speak so vulgarly.”
“What am I to say, then?” Ursula snapped. “I was trying to escape him! I did nothing wrong. And Lord Sinclair came along, just as he said, and rescued me from him. Nothing occurred. Nothing!”
“It does not matter,” Papa responded, shaking his head. “Your life is over, Ursula. You’ll never wed now. Even a merchants’ son would turn up his nose at your lowly state now. Nobody wants to buy soiled goods. You areruined.”
Ursula flinched, her cheeks turning crimson.
Soiled goods. As if I were an item for sale.
“Why did you go into the gardens in the first place, you foolish girl?” Mama spoke up, glaring at her daughter.
“I wasn’t alone,” Ursula answered, her teeth gritted. “I was with Georgie.”
“Georgiana says that you were not with her.”
Ursula flinched again at this, glancing down at her mother to see if she were joking. Apparently not.
“Georgiewaswith me, Mama. She was the one who wanted to walk in the gardens. I was content to stay on the terrace. You must believe me. I swear to you, I am telling the truth.”
Mama eyed her for a long moment, then sighed, shaking her head.
“It doesn’t matter in the slightest. Nobody would believe you. Accusing your cousin of… well, I am not sure what you are accusing her of, but it will only blacken your name further.”
“Blacken her name further?” Papa snorted. “That is not possible. Ursula, you are to stay in your room until we decide what to do with you. You are not to leave the house. You are to restrict your activities to the drawing room and the library. No, not the library, as it is likely your hunger for books which has led us here. If, by a miraculous chance, we have visitors, you willstrictlystay away from them. Do you understand?”
Ursula stared at her father until her eyes blurred with tears.
“Yes, Papa,” she said softly. “Papa, I… Will I be obliged to marry Sir Roderick?”
“He hasn’t offered for you,” Papa spat. “You aren’t rich enough for him. He’s weathered scandals before, and I imagine he will weather this one, too. Now, get out of my sight. I have had quite enough of you.”
He dismissed his daughter with a flick of his hand, and Ursula turned, humiliated, towards the door. She heard Papa speak to Mama next.
“This would not have happened if you’d given me a son, you useless creature.”
The sofa creaked as Mama rose to her feet.
“You might have avoided any semblance of fatherly duties when it came to bringing upourdaughter,” Mama snarled back, “But as you can see, you’ll still share in her shame nonetheless.”
Her face burning, Ursula hurried out of the room, pressing her hand across her mouth. Her stomach roiled. She hadn’t eaten much last night, and nothing at all this morning, and bile burned the back of her tongue.
Sharp, clipped footsteps followed her, and Ursula turned to find Mama storming out of the room, tight-lipped.
“You heard your father,” Mama snapped. “Go to your room.”
“Mama, I…”
“Be quiet. You will listen to me, now. While I am heartily ashamed of the disgrace you have brought upon this family, I am not quite ready to write you off yet, as your father seems willing to do.”
