“Let me rephrase,” she said quickly, before I could even attempt an answer. “Were you with the duke just now?”
“I—”
“Never mind answering; there’s guilt written all over your face. I should have known.” She shook her head and waved her arms about. In all our years together, I’d never seen her so upset. “This is my fault; I should have put a stop to it sooner. Your flirtation with him ends now.”
She’d set me on edge, and a small bark of a laugh escaped me. I cleared my throat, in no mood to brook a tongue-thrashing. I was tired of her endless parade of expectations I could never quite live up to. “Yes, how disconcerting it must be to have someone find me interesting. I know you won’t believe it, but I had no intention of anything happening between us.”
Her eyes narrowed into wary slits, almost as if she could see the emotions Halstead had ignited within me. “Yes, but that’s changed, hasn’t it? Which makes it all the more imperative for you to know how things stand.”
I gulped down some air, bracing myself for whatever she might say.
“I know Robert has made his intentions clear, so let me be as well, since you seem inclined to squander the one offer you would be lucky to get. I took you in all those years ago, and my dear son befriended you. You, who had not a friend in the world. From that moment on you did very little to maintain proper boundaries.”
Everything within me wanted to protest, but she gave me no opportunity.
“You gave Robert every indication you loved him, and now that he returns your love, you spurn him. Ha! More likely you have gotten above yourself and think you are now too good for him. Allow me to tell you that until you turn twenty-one, I still have full power over you and over Harry’s future.”
My hands clenched into fists, a swell of defensiveness rising up inside me at her mention of my brother. “Perhaps it is my turn to do the reminding for once. I turn twenty-one in six short weeks. At that point my inheritance will be at my disposal. As I know what a burden we’ve been to you these past years, I shall gladly relieve you of responsibility. Harry and I will make other arrangements for the future.”
An almost wicked look crept over my aunt’s face. Her manner calmed. “Ah, Juliet, if only it were that simple. Whatever you may think, I did not take in my sister and her children out of charity, and I don’t intend to be so poorly rewarded. Not when Hugh’s engagement with Lady Ellen hangs in the balance.”
I clenched my teeth. Was this about my inheritance?
“No, you will marry Robert. I took a necessary precaution this morning. I’d hoped you would not push me so far, but I can see the wisdom in my actions now.”
Precaution? Whatever did she mean?
“This morning I sent off a missive to the headmaster of Harrow, with explicit instructions for him to have Harry escorted to the docks and signed on as a cabinboy aboard a merchant ship two days hence.”
The note I’d watched her hand off to one of the footmen this morning. I inhaled sharply, yet the air brought no relief. My lungs had ceased to function.
“The only thing that will stop him is a note of deterrence—from me. I can only hope this will help you see Robert’s offer in a new light.”
“You are trying to force me to accept your son’s hand?” I sputtered. Her words shocked me, for despite all of my worst fears about Aunt Agnes, I would never have thought her capable of something like this.
A glint of calculation entered her eyes; she knew she had my full attention. “I see we finally understand each other. Despite your father’s status, you have a mother from a respectable background and you have a sizable dowry, which every second son needs. Don’t pretend you would be unhappy with Robert. The two of you have been inseparable for the past nine years.”
True as that was, it did not mean I wanted to marry him.
But Harry. I could feel within my bones that Aunt Agnes meant every one of the words she’d just spoken, and I feared for him. My gut wrenched as that horrible night came back to me, the memory of holding Harry in my arms as the storm raged, promising myself I would protect him, whatever the cost. And I would.
My future with Halstead began to fade away. Despair plunged through me.
Aunt Agnes’s mouth pulled into a hard and unyielding line, and the firelight accentuated her wrinkles. “For once you have no impertinent response, nor a thousand questions. I expect Hugh and Lady Ellen to make an announcement of their betrothal tonight, and while it would not be proper for you to overshadow their declaration, we can make your engagement to Robert public right after they are married. A second son does not marry before a first, but you must go to Robert now and accept his proposal.”
I grasped desperately, searching for any way to fight against what Aunt Agnes had thrown at me. “And what will Robert think of your threats? He wants my love, not my unwilling hand in marriage.”
She raised her brows. “Robert wants you, and I expect you to go to him willingly, without breathing a word of this to him or to anyone else. If you defy me, you have no one but yourself to blame when your brother boards that ship.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
I stood there for several moments after Aunt Agnes made her exit. Denial, shock, and confusion all surged through me. Aunt Agnes must be much more desperate for money than even I’d guessed. My hands trembled against my skirts, and I wanted nothing more than to run after her and rage against the
