Kate went scarlet. “Is it disgusting to dress like other
teenagers, to learn to dance, to enjoy herself?” She found it
hard to find the words to say what she wanted to say, under
the steely and contemptuous gaze of this man.
“You would like me to believe, I suppose, that her money
had nothing to do with it?” he asked coldly.
“Of course it didn’t! I was sorry for her!”
His lips twitched mirthlessly. “Sorry for her? Envied her,
you mean. Let me make some facts clear. Pallas is my ward.
Her money is tied up in a trust. If she married without my
consent she gets not a penny of that money. Do you
understand?”
A tidal wave of rage swept over her as she listened. She
drew a deep breath and launched into a flood of angry words.
“If you are implying that my brother might try to marry
her for her money then let me tell you a few facts about
him—he’s proud, hard-working and kind-hearted, and far too
busy trying to date much sexier girls to be aware of Pallas as
anything other than a kid sister. Like me, he was sorry for
her, as he would be for any girl who wears square, old-
fashioned clothes, has no fun and feels it would be better to
be dead. You’ve stifled Pallas all her life. You buy her safe,
dull, expensive clothes which she hates and which make her
look ridiculous to her own generation. You shut her away in
safe, dull, expensive schools rather than let her find out what
life is really like. I suppose you’ll take her away from
Cheddall now, and put her in another tidy little box where
she’ll die from lack of air.”
Her blue eyes shot flames at him. “Well, Mr. Lillitos, sir,
your money doesn’t interest us.” She curtsied exaggeratedly.