“You forget, I have denied your accusation in every way.”
“Then allow me to remind you that I do not believe any of what you have told me in your attempt to deny it.” Mr Knight levelled a gaze at her. She was not frightened of him, but she understood for the first time the strength this man could have in an argument. She rather imagined whichever lady he married, in the end, would find herself losing most of the arguments they had. “I do not want to speak of what I suspect, but I fear someone must know.”
“What are you saying, Mr Knight?” Annie sat forward, suddenly terrified of what he was about to say. He fidgeted in his seat, sitting back so far that the wood creaked beneath him, breaking the silence that had opened up. That sound stirred Annie to speak again. “You do not know my life. Surely you would not intend to speak of your imaginings with anyone?”
“Stop speaking of it as if it is all in my imagination,” Mr Knight insisted, moving to his feet once again and walking away from her. “I know what I saw, and I saw Lord Yeatman following you out of that ballroom.”
“So we happened to leave at the same time? What does that mean? Nothing.” Annie could hear her own voice growing wild again. It angered Mr Knight, making him turn around in a quick circle, then he froze, just as Annie did.
The unmistakable sound of the door opening had disturbed them. Annie flicked her head toward the door, her eyes widening when she saw who stepped through the gap.
“Oh my, what an incident this is,” the Duchess of Bannerman said, her dark eyes flicking between the two of them. “Mr Knight? And Miss Storey? Two such proper people, always concerned with doing what’s right, caught alone in a room together unchaperoned.” She appeared delighted at what she had found, clasping her hands together as a businessman would do when he had a fine deal to make.
“Your Grace, believe me, this is not how it looks,” Mr Knight said, his face still angled toward Annie, for he was so trapped in his anger.
Annie could say nothing. She gripped the cushion of the seat beneath her and looked between Mr Knight and the Duchess in alarm. The very thing Mr Knight feared, the ruin of her own name, could be about to happen, for she had been caught unchaperoned withhim.
“No? Two people alone? Dear, dear, Mr Knight, I am not a fool,” the Duchess said, her smile never-ending. “There is surely only one reason why a lady and a gentleman would wish to be alone together.” She stepped further into the room, looking between the two of them.
“I have had enough of this.” Mr Knight walked away. He headed straight past the Duchess and reached for the door. “What you saw, your Grace, was nothing more than a conversation and a gentleman trying to help a lady, even though she clearly does not wish for my help.” He flung the door open again and stepped through.
“Where are you going?” Annie called to him, aware that they had not finished their conversation. He had threatened to tell someone of what it was that he suspected she was doing, and she was frightened of who that person was.
“Back to the ball.” Mr Knight said no more and closed the door, leaving Annie alone in the room with the Duchess of Bannerman. That ever-present smile of delight was still in place as she gazed at Annie.
“Well, well, quite mischievous after all, are you not? I never expected you capable of such a thing as this, Miss Storey.” The Duchess’s words stirred Annie to her feet, her body moving sharply in her feat and anger.
“I am sorry to disappoint you, but what you really witnessed was merely a conversation. I am very aware that you have no liking for me, but if you wish to see my name ruined, then this is not the way to do it.”
“I do not want to ruin your name.” At the Duchess’s calm tone, Annie faltered. Her steps toward the door came to a stop, and she slowly turned to face the Duchess. “Ah, I see I surprise you. Just because you and I have no liking for each other, that does not make me an especially cruel person. I would have no pleasure in seeing a young lady’s good name ruined.”
“Then pray, tell me this, why have you not stopped smiling since you have walked into this room, your Grace? You appear thrilled at the prospect of me meeting with any wrongdoing.”
“My thrill is not something I can hide, I confess,” the Duchess said, her glee still evident. She walked toward Annie, with a sway in her step and her chin lifted, looking every bit the superior Duchess who looked down on other ladies around her.
“Care to share why you are so thrilled?” Annie asked through gritted teeth.
“Trying to prize a secret out of a duchess? How improper, Miss Storey,” the Duchess said in a teasing tone. “But very well, I will tell you. I am happy because I see a way to draw our meetings with each other to a close.”
“A thrill for both of us,” Annie said drily, looking toward the door again, eager for her escape. She had to pray now that Luke would not come back this way. As much as she wanted to see him, the risk was too great. They would be seen together by the Duchess, and for all she knew, Mr Knight could be watching the room.
“As I said, I will keep your secret for you, Miss Storey. To do so, I will make you a deal.” The Duchess walked toward Annie a little more and stopped in front of her, looking down her long nose. “Your good name will be safe if you make me a promise.”
“What is that?”
“That you will stay away from my Luke.”
“YourLuke?” Annie was feeling so tender and angry after the confrontation with Mr Knight that these words made a fury pump through her body. “He is a man. He is not a possession of yours.”
“He is mine, Miss Storey. We were together for a while, and we will be again. You wish for my secrecy? Then you have it! You will stay away from him. Whatever the connection that is between you, it comes to an end. Tonight.”
“You would do such a thing?” Annie said, shaking her head. “You are so obsessed by the idea of him that you would attempt to control him in this way?”
“You are not denying this connection with him.”
“Neither am I confirming it,” Annie snapped the words out, backing away closer to the door.
“We are a better match, Miss Storey. That is something you must acknowledge.” The Duchess’s call to her made her stop at the door, with her hand curling around the cold brass handle. “In what way are you a good match for him, really? The proper lady and the rake, the two do not particularly go together, do they?”
Annie said nothing. Her tongue had gone dry, and no words would come.
“Think about it, Miss Storey. Keep to your end of the bargain, and I will keep to mine. Your secret meeting with Mr Knight is safe with me. For now.” She added the latter two words with another smile, making Annie shiver with a kind of fear. The more Annie gazed at the Duchess, the more she began to realise she didn’t know the lady at all.
She likes life under her control, that much is certain, for us all to dance to her will.
Now she and Luke were the two puppets she was attempting to control.
Annie flung open the door before any more angry words could be passed between them. She hurried out with no real sense of where she was going or what she was doing. All she had in her mind was the need to escape. She had to escape the Duchess of Bannerman and Mr Knight, for fear of seeing either of them again would make the last thread of the control she had over her own temper snap completely.
I must find a way out of this!