Chapter Seventeen #2
Dane could see Cort moving in his periphery, heading to the door that Adela had just slammed with the intention of blocking her should she try to run.
That gave Dane the confidence to say what he needed to say without her trying to bolt from the chamber.
There was a table behind him. He sat back on it, smiling thinly at Adela’s annoyed face.
“We have not seen each other in several years, Adela,” he said. “You could not even be polite when you greeted me. Why must you act as if I am a stranger? I am your husband’s brother.”
Adela stiffened. “Did he send you here?” she demanded. “What does he want?”
“Trenton?” Dane shrugged lazily. “Nothing from you. He cannot stand the sight of you much as you cannot stand the sight of him. He doesn’t care about you in the least, and I am sure the feeling is mutual. Therefore, Cort and I have come of our own accord with a business proposition.”
Adela’s dark-eyed gaze moved between Dane and Cort. “Clowns, both of you,” she hissed. “What possible business could you have with me?”
Dane cocked an eyebrow. Now he remembered why he hated the woman so much.
“You have an eye for money, like any good whore,” he said.
“And since you are a whore for money, my proposition has to do with paying you a good deal of it. How much would it take for you to leave Penleigh and go back to Breton where you belong?”
Her face turned a deep shade of red. “Swine,” she growled. “How dare you…”
He cut her off. “You only stay with my brother, and at Penleigh, for the money,” he said. He pointed to her dress. “How much did that awful thing cost? You look like a fool in it. So tell me, Adela – how much will it take for you to leave England, and my brother, and never again contact him.”
Adela was so angry, so offended, that she was sweating. She turned to leave the room but saw Cort standing in front of the door, blocking her path. Realizing she was boxed in only made her angrier.
“Get out of my way,” she snarled at Cort.
He grinned at her as Dane spoke. “He is not moving until you tell me your price,” he said. “Everyone has a price.”
Adela turned to him swiftly, backing away from Cort and heading in the direction of the hearth with its gently snapping fire. The first thing she came across was the fire poker, and she lifted it, wielding it like a sword.
“I said get out of my way,” she hissed. “I shall not discuss this with you. I have every right to remain here, as the Countess of Westbury, and you cannot make me leave with your pathetic attempts.”
Dane didn’t move. He remained perched on the table even though he was in range of the fire poker should she decide to swing it at him.
“You married my brother because your father forced you to,” he said. “Much as my father forced Trenton to marry you. It was not your doing, nor was it Trenton’s, but the two of you were unfortunately thrown together. Surely you cannot be happy here.”
Adela was backing away from the men, feeling extremely threatened. “That is none of your affair.”
“It is a simple statement with an obvious answer.”
Adela paused, looking between the two knights.
“Do you truly wish to know how I feel?” she said.
“I cannot stand the stink of the name de Russe on me. I cannot stand the English around me, so I pay my friends to come and stay with me. Even now, I am hosting a grand party for my friends. Do you know what we do? We toast our hatred of the English, and of my husband, as we drink the wine and eat the food that his money has provided. When I saw you had come, I was hoping that you had come to tell me of his death, but I see that I am not so fortunate. Mayhap the next time you come to me, it will be with good news such as that.”
It was a vile thing to say, hatred beyond measure. It was an effort for Dane not to react to it because he would have liked nothing better than to snap the woman’s neck.
“Your husband is alive and healthy,” he said. “But your words tell me just how evil you truly are, Adela. I have never seen anyone with a heart as black as yours.”
Adela threw up her chin. “What do I care what you think? You are interrupting my party.”
Dane lifted a hand. “We do not have to,” he said.
“We can be quickly done with this. We want to know how much we can pay you to disappear. You are a disgrace to the House of de Russe and a shame for my brother to bear. Do you think he does not know about the men you bring to Penleigh? I am sure there are a few whore mongers among those friends you have brought into my brother’s house.
How many will you take to your bed tonight? ”
Adela was turning red again and she lifted the poker in his direction. “You will not say such things to me!”
“Then deny it. I dare you.”
She bared her teeth at him. “You are a swine,” she growled. “Like your older brother, you are a disgusting excuse for a man and I loathe the sight of you. Get out of my house, do you hear? Get out and never return!”
Dane was unimpressed with her anger. “It is not your house,” he said, “and if you do not name your price, you will be very sorry.”
“I said get out!”
“Nay.”
With a furious cry, she took a swipe at him with the poker.
Dane was fast enough to grab it, yanking it from her grip.
Unfortunately, the momentum of her swing, and his grab, caused her to topple over backwards and, with the weight of her dress, she wasn’t able to catch herself.
As Dane and Cort watched, Adela fell back into the hearth, right into the blazing flames.