Ghost of Christmas Past (17 page)

In that
moment, Thea felt a wave of anger so deep, so intense, that she
physically shook with the need to lash out in some way. She wasn’t
a violent person; never had been and never would be, but the weeks
of relentless harassment, in addition to the knowledge that
Rupert’s heart would always belong to his mistress, Barbara,
suddenly made her want to rail at the unfairness of it
all.

“
I have said I will go through with it,” Thea snapped as she
cast her mother a derisive look that made Frances stare back in
shock. It was the first time that Thea had ever shown any backbone,
and it was enough to stem the tide of scorn that Frances had
intended to pour upon her daughter. “That’s fine. To save your
ridiculous estates, and your grasping socializing, I will sacrifice
my life.” She ignored her mother’s outraged gasp. “However, I shall
bloody well do so in my own good time; with or without your
approval.” She emphasised her statement with a dour look and turned
her back on her mother in a quite deliberate snub that made the
older woman swear, however Thea didn’t bother to wait for Frances
to speak, and merely swept out of the room with her chin held
high.

“
Thea! Come back here this instant. I demand an apology. How
dare you speak to me like that?”

Thea was
half way down the hallway when her elbow was grabbed in her
mother’s cruel fingers that squeezed too tight, but Thea,
heartbroken and bruised, was not about to be bullied any more. She
yanked arm away from her mother and looked her up and down with a
look of hatred on her face. “I will speak to you any way I choose.
I am no longer the child you can bully and push around. I have no
interest in your opinion of my character or worth. I am only
grateful that I am nothing like you.”

Whatever
else she was about to say was stopped by the sharp slap that stung
her cheek. Rather than let the tears fall, she blinked them away
with a proud smile of defiance. The spiteful look on her mother’s
face reminded her of the numerous occasions when Frances had
taunted her that she would never be pretty or appealing to anyone.
That memory, and the knowledge that she had a church full of people
waiting to watch her get married, were enough to give her the
courage to turn wintry eyes on Frances.

“
Careful mother, you don’t want to have to explain to the
groom why you have seen fit to bruise his bride before the wedding.
After all, what would the congregation think if I appeared with
your finger marks on my cheek?”

She knew
she had hit home when her mother’s mouth closed with a snap. She
was about to turn away only to pause and glare back at the woman
who had been so unnecessarily cruel throughout Thea’s four and
twenty years of life. “That is the last time you will ever lay a
finger on me. Do it again and I shall ensure that everyone knows
how cold, grasping and cruel you really are. See if your face fits
in the society you aspire to then. After all, I will have a husband
on my side to ensure that you and yours are kept well away from
anyone who is civilised and proper.”

“
Don’t you dare speak to me that way,” her mother
snarled.

All of
the disgust and hatred Frances held for her daughter was there in
her eyes. A small part Thea broke away and, whether it was because
of the tenderness Rupert had shown her last night or not she
couldn’t be sure but, for the first time ever she felt strong. Not
helpless and vulnerable, but confident and determined. A gulf of
difference a mile wide opened up between her and the source of her
lifelong torment as they stood in the upper hallway of Bainbridge
Hall, the Samuels family residence, and glared hatefully at each
other. To Thea it felt as though she was finally leaving her old
life behind and it had nothing to do with the forthcoming
wedding.

“
I will speak to you in any way I choose,” she declared coldly
and turned away with a sniff. Although Thea hadn’t heard her,
Frances had followed her down the corridor and now stood directly
behind her.

“
I wouldn’t get so cocky if I were you. Once I tell your
husband about your selfishness, he will endeavour to put you in
your place. After all, we know you far better than he does. He
needs a few words of advice from your father on how to handle you.
If your father doesn’t tell him how spoilt and wayward you are,
then I will.”

Thea
knew her mother would take great delight in filling Rupert’s head
with all sorts of nonsense and she wondered how she could ever be
related to such a callous and conniving individual.

“
Oh, I think that you will be barking up the wrong tree there.
Rupert won’t believe your lies for one second because he can see
you exactly for what you are. I am sure that what I have to tell my
husband about your own grasping ways is more than adequately
confirmed by the sorry state of your finances. After all, you have
bled the Weatherby family dry for years and given nothing back.”
Thea glanced down at the grasping fingers of Frances’ right hand
and knew that her mother was just itching to strike her again and
would have, if Thea’s earlier words of caution didn’t still ring in
her ears. “Of course, I shall ensure that my husband sees that your
spending is kept within your limits,” Thea drawled, and watched a
deep, crimson blush steel over her mother’s face. “After all, he
holds the purse strings now, doesn’t he?”

“
You callous bitch. How I could ever have given you life,
heaven only knows,” Frances spat. For once, the false aristocratic
tones had a hint of Somerset accent to them that Francis had spent
years trying to get rid of.

“
I don’t know either. I hate to think that I could be related
to someone like you. I can only be glad of my marriage to darling
Rupert. I can finally have the future I have been waiting
for.”

“
You will have no future by the time I have done with you. See
how your husband feels about you when I have told him a few home
truths about you.”

“
My husband will close his ears to your malice, of that I have
no doubt.”

“
Why on earth we are allowing you to marry into such a
splendid family as the Samuels I have no idea.”

“
Money, of course,” Thea snapped. “Why else do you ever do
anything?”

“
Your husband will listen to me.”

“
Oh I am afraid not, mother dear,” Thea sighed. She knew that
they would stand in the upper hallway arguing for the next hour
because neither of them was going to back down.

She knew
that if she didn’t stop her mother from spilling her malice into
Rupert’s ears, her marriage would be doomed to failure even more
than it already was. Luckily, Frances didn’t appear to have gotten
wind of Rupert’s heart belonging to another or Thea would have been
tormented with that little nugget of scorn too. “Last night, I had
more than a few things to tell him about you and, after what
happened between us, I am sure that my husband will support my wish
never to see you again, especially if he wants to sleep in my bed
again. After all, that is what lovers are for, to support each
other. He does have the Samuels family name to take into
consideration after all and, well, as his wife he will have to
listen to me. He can hardly fill the nurseries by himself now can
he?”

She
ignored her mother’s horrified gasp and turned on her heel. Silence
settled in her wake as she made her way to the top of the
stairs.

********

John
lifted his brows and turned to look at Rupert who appeared
completely unrepentant.

“
I make no apology for what happened but, in my defence, I had
imbibed far too much the night before the wedding.”

“
It isn’t important right now. I did what I did because I
wanted a small measure of control in a world that had spiralled
into confusion and fear. For the first time in my life I was
completely selfish and don’t regret that I did for one moment.” She
turned defiant eyes on her uncle that dared him to object to her
wanton behaviour. However he remained silent and had such a look of
sadness in his eyes that she felt the sharp sting of tears once
more.

“
Even in the carriage on the way to the church I didn’t know
if I was going to go through with it. I wanted to but then I
didn’t. Do you know what though? I think that I would have
preferred to be destitute than marry someone who didn’t want me
just so that I could provide Frances and Isaiah with the life of
luxury that their grasping ways demanded.”

She
couldn’t find the words to say anything else and swiped a hand down
her cheeks as she stalked across the room toward the door. She got
no further than the place where Rupert was standing. The hand that
grabbed her was not cruel but held her firm enough to assure her
that she wasn’t going anywhere until she had heard him
out.

“
I can assure you here and now Thea that I did not want
Barbara. I told you last night that I had finished with her the
night of the Abernathy’s ball. As soon as I saw you I knew that it
was you that I wanted. That is the truth. Once we were married I
would have had no reason to come to London other than for social
engagements, to which you would have come too. Ours was to have
been a love match.”

The
harshness in his voice made her turn to stare at him with wide
eyes. It was the first time he had ever made any reference to
holding any affection for her. In the short time she had gotten to
know him before the wedding he had never once declared any feelings
for her. Now she wasn’t sure what to think.

Emotion
charged the atmosphere and held them all silent while they tried to
come to terms with their own personal mistakes and
misunderstandings.

“
We all got it wrong,” John whispered. “I genuinely thought
that I was doing what was best but the only way we could get Isaiah
to agree to the contract was to allow him to remain at the Dower
house as part of the bargain. He simply refused to leave the
estate.”

“
I have to confess here and now Thea, that I seriously did not
like either of your parents, especially your mother. Her
domineering mannerisms really antagonise me and the first thing I
would have done, even back then, was ensure that the woman knew her
place in our lives was very firmly at the bottom of the
garden.”

Her
anger began to wane a little and left her feeling more than a
little washed out. Ignoring John, who sat in the bed watching them,
Rupert turned her toward him and gently wiped her tears away before
tipping her face up. When she continued to look at his chest he
bent down until he captured her gaze with his.

“
I had no idea, darling, I really didn’t, but I want you to
know here and now that even back then, as selfish as I was, I took
marriage vows seriously. They are not something that should be
entered into lightly. As soon as I got to know you I realised that
marriage was something I wanted. At no point did my father force me
into anything I didn’t want.” She couldn’t speak and made no
attempt to object when he drew her into his arms. They stood in
silence for several moments while the wounds of the past slowly
began to heal. “I would also never have allowed your mother to pour
scorn into my ears. She is a horrid woman and nobody of any
significance in our lives would have paid her spiteful comments any
attention at all. Instead, I rather think that she would just have
proven to everyone just how awful she really was – is.” He frowned
at that and glanced at John.

“
Whatever did happen to Frances?” Thea asked several minutes
later when Rupert had settled them both onto one of the window
seats. She was a little surprised that he still held her hand and
didn’t seem inclined to relinquish it but even that simple gesture
helped her to steady her emotions.

In all
reality she didn’t want to know what had happened to Frances, and
didn’t really care where she was or what she was doing, but had to
put the matter to rest so she could move on and forget about the
woman forever.

“
I assured her that she was a Weatherby in name only and had
no right to assume that the house and estate would provide for her.
She was most displeased about it, I can tell you, but I eventually
forced her to move out of Weatherby. I have a duty to ensure she is
provided for but there is nothing to say that she has to receive a
generous settlement. I have ensured that she has what she needs: it
may not be what she wants, but that is her problem.” His lips
twisted and he gave Thea a wry look. “Although I don’t mind you
living in the hunting lodge in Leicestershire, Weatherby is your
birth right and you should feel at liberty to live there whenever
you choose to. When Isaiah died everything was handed to
me.”

“
Including the debts.”

“
Including the debts,” he confirmed with a nod. “I didn’t mind
really because it gave me the leverage to use against her to get
her to move out.”

Rupert
wanted to applaud the man’s intuitiveness and determination to
force the woman out. He was also relieved that Thea had such a
stalwart guardian as John who, regardless of the outcome at the
time, had endeavoured to do his very best for her.

John
glanced ruefully from Thea to Rupert and back again. “There are few
people in society who bother with her now to be honest with you. I
understand that those who do still correspond with her have been
told that she is grief stricken and has retired to the coast for
‘sea air’ to recuperate.”