Chapter 21
“Mr Knight,” Annie spoke slowly, clearing her throat in the hope of bringing some sense to this moment. “I do not know by what right you feel you can accost me in this way or accuse me of things I have not done.” She lifted her chin higher, refusing to be cowed by this man in conversation. “But this conversation ends now. What you suspect me of is merely in your mind and nothing more, and I must beg you not to spread gossip about something youfeelto be real when it is not.”
“You persist with these lies then?” Mr Knight asked, his voice so calm that it shook Annie as much as his anger did. She stepped back, increasing the distance between the two of them. She stumbled away from her place at the globe and reached for a nearby chair, sitting hurriedly in the seat.
“Stop accusing me of lying.”
“I must, for your own sake, I must.” Mr Knight crossed the room toward her. He only faltered when she flinched in her seat, leaning away from him. He made a point of stepping back then and straightening his tailcoat as if desperate to improve the impression he was making. “I am not a monster, Miss Storey. You must know that.”
“You are accusing me of things I have not done, in a room alone unchaperoned. Can you blame me for my unease?” Annie asked, gesturing to the closed door. “You are not acting like the reserved man I have come to know who dances with barely uttering a word.”
“I am not like myself?” He scoffed as he repeated the words, shaking his head. “You are the one who is not themself, Miss Storey. In this moment, I find you unrecognisable as the lady that was first introduced to me.”
Annie was shaken to her very core. She sat perfectly still in the chair, with her hands curling around the arms of the armrests.
Have I been myself?
She was beginning to wonder if she knew who that was anymore.
“Who do you think I am exactly, Mr Knight? Who was the lady you no longer see before you?”
“The lady who was always so proper.” He flung his hand in her direction, one that was almost derisive. “You were polite, so ladylike that you drew admiration from all corners of a room. I admired you along with every other gentleman there. Now you are sneaking off at night during a ball? Skulking in a room alone? The Miss Storey I first met would have known that is not a wise thing to do for any lady.”
Annie baulked, for he was right. Her posture slumped a little in the chair, and she sat back further. She had changed. No longer did she observe her mother’s rules and her own sense of propriety to such a degree, yet it was something she had embraced. Had she not been happy since she and Luke had started spending so much time together? Had she not enjoyed life, sneaking off with him?
I have, but that doesn’t necessarily make it right.
She felt as if her soul had parted into two warring factions. One part of her clung onto the happiness that she had felt with Luke, not wanting to let it go. The other part knew that there was something in what Mr Knight had said. She had changed, and she was risking her good name in order to taste that happiness with Luke.
“You have fallen quiet,” Mr Knight said as he took another step back from her. “Is there nothing more you wish to say? No other argument you wish to give?”
“You have formed an opinion on who you think I am, sir. Evidently, I could not change it, even speaking in my own defence, it has done nothing to make you think less ill of me.” Annie was so busy staring at her hands and the white skin across her knuckles as she gripped the chair, that she didn’t notice Mr Knight advancing toward her, not until she heard sounds beside her.
He grabbed a second chair and sat down, perching on the very edge and leaning toward her. “You should move away. Or is this not improper? Is this not the very thing you accuse me of?”
“I am trying to help you, Miss Storey. I am here not to think ill of you, as you think, nor to chastise you.”
“That is what you are doing!” she accused, waving a hand toward him.
“So it is.” He sighed, as if in anger at himself and scratched his face. “In my own poor attempt, I suppose I am trying to protect you. I am failing miserably in that regard. I can see that. Please, Miss Storey, I pray you will listen to me.” He lowered his hand and caught her gaze another time. “Whatever it is that is occurring between you and Lord Yeatman, you must put it to an end. If anyone suspected what I suspect...If thetonknew of it—”
“Is that a threat?” Annie asked, her voice just a whisper.
“No! You misunderstand.” He shook his head emphatically. “I am warning you what the fallout from this horrendous mistake of yours could be.”
Was it a mistake?
She couldn’t agree. She could only think of Luke and each smile they had shared together, each stolen touch.
“My god,” Mr Knight continued, his voice held a tremor. “I most of all fear what your family would think if they suspected the truth of it. What would your mother think?”
My mother….
Annie feared too what her reaction would be. She imagined there would be a stern reprimand, but what else could occur? She had never betrayed her mother’s rules in such a way before. Would her mother deem her an outcast? Would she be locked in her room? Or sent from the house entirely?
Annie capitulated, slumping back in her chair and covering her face with her hands. A small part of her hoped that if she continued to hide there, Mr Knight would desist with his questions and leave.
“We must keep what has passed a secret,” Mr Knight continued.