As he walked towards the door, Andrew looked back at the other young men.
“Bloody women, eh? You know how they are.”
“No, Sir. I’m afraid I do not,” Edmund said coldly. “I have the greatest respect for the women in my life. I’m very sorry for you if you do not.”
“Edmund!” Jacob hissed warningly. But with his rhinoceros-thick hide, Andrew was oblivious to the implied criticism of his behavior and continued out into the hall without further comment.
Diana still stood behind her chair and looked after the departing figure of her cousin, still in two minds about whether or not to follow him.
“You’d better go with him, Diana,” Percy said after a short pause. “Mother is upset enough already today.”
Leaving the room, she stood in front of the door for a moment with her eyes closed to gather her thoughts. Through the wood, Diana could make out muffled snatches of Edmund coolly berating Percy.
“… your own sister… speak to her like that. What kind of man… should be horsewhipped…”
The fact that Edmund found Andrew’s behavior as objectionable as she did was some comfort. But Diana knew it wasn’t enough to make any difference. Her fate lay in the hands of her family, not her brother’s handsome friend. She went to find her coat.
As she passed her father’s sick room, she found her mother and aunt in animated conversation. Evidently, Lady Birks would again be staying at the Fernside Dower House at both Lady Templeton’s request and her own inclination. She apologized profusely to Diana’s mother for not having returned in the carriage with the younger family members last night.
“I don’t know what I was thinking, Esther. I should have been here at Fernside to support you and Diana right until… well, as long as you need me. The poor child is clearly overwrought, and you are exhausted.”
Overwrought and exhausted Diana certainly was, but not for any reason that she could possibly expect Henrietta to understand.
ChapterTen
“Horses, whiskey and cigars are the only things worth investing in, as far as I can see…” Andrew opined confidently, going on to reflect extensively on some of the best of each he had encountered in recent years.
During the hour they had walked around the paths of Fernside, Diana had gradually ceased to be angry or resentful and become merely bored. As far as she could determine, Andrew’s sole interests in life were horse racing, gambling, drinking, smoking, and of course, himself. He could talk indefinitely about any of these subjects. Like his mother, diverting him from his set conversational path was almost impossible.
His interest in women in general, and Diana in particular, appeared extremely limited, regarding them as only decoration or breeding stock. She was glad that it had not yet occurred to him to offer his arm as they strolled around the gardens. She might not have been able to summon the politeness to take it.
Now at the furthest extent of the formal gardens, Diana hoped that reaching the hedges here would be excuse enough to turn back for the house.
“They were the finest batch of cigars I ever smoked. From Havana, and costing a pretty penny, I can tell you. But worth it. Rolled on the thighs of virgins, to make them all the tastier, so they say.”
“Do they?” Diana said coolly, finding the remark as distasteful as the man.
“God only knows where they find them from what I’ve heard about Cuban women…” He guffawed, not needing any encouragement to continue in the same vein. “Do you reckon you could roll a cigar on your thighs, Diana?”
“Cousin Andrew!” she exclaimed now, alarmed by the personal turn of the conversation. “I do not find that an appropriate remark.”
“Why the hell not? You are a virgin, aren’t you?” he asked, and he laughed out loud at the redness and discomfort on her face. “Of course you are. Only a virgin could be quite so prim. Unless, of course, you’re merely an excellent actress…”
Without warning, he grabbed her arm roughly and pulled her close enough towards him that she could smell his whiskey-sodden breath.
“Maybe I should investigate further.” He laughed as she struggled, reminding her again of the bully he had once been. “A little taste before our wedding, what do you say?”
“Let go of my arm or I’ll scream,” Diana said as calmly as she could, suspecting that Andrew wanted to get some reaction from her, not much caring if it were only fear or tears rather than enthusiasm.
“Scream? Why would you? You’re going to be my wife in a few weeks,” he said, both impatient and baffled. “I can’t see that it would much matter to anyone if I tupped you early. Anyway, no one can hear you from here.”
“Get off me!” she exclaimed, panicked by his statements, and beginning to struggle against him with all her strength.
Andrew seemed even more amused by her resistance.
“I was only joking you know, but now I think I do deserve at least a kiss for all your earlier coldness, don’t I?”
He pulled her even closer against him. Flailing her head to avoid his disgusting lips, Diana’s forehead inadvertently made a smart impact with his nose, causing him to clasp both his hands to his face in pain and release her.