Total pages in book: 89
Estimated words: 82982 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 415(@200wpm)___ 332(@250wpm)___ 277(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82982 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 415(@200wpm)___ 332(@250wpm)___ 277(@300wpm)
Interesting.
I saw Lydia stumble, then pause, saying something to Edward, who turned back in my direction and hurried to my side.
“I have Lydia and Geraldine who will both swear my word is true,” I announced.
“Servants,” he spat.
“As is yours.”
“Mine is trustworthy. That girl—” he pointed to Lydia “—disappeared from my household without a trace. Several items went missing at the same time. She is a thief and a liar.”
“I am not a thief! I took nothing!” she protested.
Edward hushed her, his words low. “We are aware of that, Liddy. Calm yourself.”
She huffed an angry sigh but remained quiet.
“And the old woman is mad!” he continued. “Not to be trusted!” Then, in a total turnaround, he shouted again. “I demand her return as well!”
I was weary of his gesturing. His ugly words and his outrageous demands. He was giving me a headache, and I was worried about Maddie. She couldn’t hear what was being said, but she would be upset nonetheless by his presence.
“Leave my estate. You are not welcome here.”
“I demand to see Madeleine. She will speak the truth once I am allowed to see her.”
I stepped forward, furious and wanting to kill him. “You demand? You demand? You forget your place. Do you really believe I would allow you to see her? Are you of sound mind? You truly think that I would leave you with my wife so you can beat her again? Make her pick the reeds and the rose to bleed on so you can strike her for your own sick pleasure? Threaten her so often and scare her so she does as you say?”
He paled and stepped back, and I kept going.
“Allow you to take her and lock her away? Work as a servant in her own home? Listen to your berating and insults?” I shook my head in anger.
“You will never see her again. You will never be allowed to touch her, hurt, or frighten her again. I will see you dead first.”
“Is that a threat?”
“I will do whatever it takes to protect my wife. You, Barnett, have forgotten your place. You no longer have authority over her. I am her husband, and she stays with me.”
“Which is exactly where I want to be.” Maddie spoke from behind me.
Spinning on my heel, I saw her approaching, clutching Geraldine’s hand. I had neglected to look past Geraldine in the wagon, and Maddie must have been beside her, hidden by Geraldine’s larger frame. Maddie was pale, and I could see her trembling even from where I stood. But her head was high, and although I could hear the tremor in her pitch, I doubted anyone else could.
“I will not leave my husband or the life I have here. I have no wish to speak with you, nor be alone in a room where you are.”
She stopped next to me, and I slipped my arm around her, holding her tightly to my side. I knew I should be angry with her for disobeying my order to stay in the house. For risking herself by being close to that awful excuse for a father. But I also felt a grudging admiration that she was standing up for herself—against the man who caused her so much pain and torment.
I squeezed her hip, letting her know I wasn’t angry.
She lifted her head higher. “You are not welcome here. Lord Wheaton speaks the truth. I was in the room that night, and I am neither a servant nor an old woman. You gave me away. Treated me like an animal after my mother died. My life was nothing but toil and pain. There is nary a thing you could say or do that would persuade me to leave my husband’s side.”
I was proud of her. I felt her strength and saw her grace—the traits he had tried to break but failed.
Geraldine spoke. “My senses are perfectly fine. I know what I saw and heard.” She paused. “And witnessed over the years. I will speak the truth to anyone who asks.”
Barnett whitened further at her barely concealed threat.
“I believe my wife has spoken. Leave or I will be forced to make you.”
He glared at me and Maddie, his eyebrows pulled down, a sneer on his face.
“Trained you well, has he?”
I felt her anger growing. “Unlike you, he has shown me nothing but kindness and love.”
The breeze stirred her skirts, and his eyes widened. “Bred you like an animal too,” he mocked.
I was finished with him and his words. I wanted him nowhere near my wife and unborn child. I lifted my arm, pointing my gun. “You dare, sir. Be gone and do not return.”
“I demand satisfaction.”
“What is it you seek?” I roared, startling Maddie, who tensed beside me.
“A duel,” Barnett announced.
Maddie gasped softly, her trepidation getting the best of her.
I wanted to roll my eyes and scoff. The coward wanted his minute of satisfaction. Another lie to add to his story. How he defended his name. He expected me to refuse, to give him the chance to smear my name even more. I refused to give him that gratification.