Chapter Twenty-Four #2
Bile burned the back of her throat as she dashed back up the veranda steps.
Her lungs burned from both the physical exertion and the effort of holding back sobs.
Heedless of onlookers, she ran back toward the doors leading into the house.
She didn’t know where she planned to go, only that she needed to be as far away from Rafe as possible.
Her heart was bleeding within her breast; her head throbbed with confusion and pain.
She was nearly to the door when a strong hand suddenly closed around her upper arm. The first of the fireworks display began to ignite and ripple the air around them with their colorful explosions, but her tear-blurred vision obscured her sight even more.
“Where are you going in such a hurry?” She would know that voice anywhere. “Has something happened? Is everything alright?” Luke asked her above the din of whistles, pops, and booms when he saw her stricken expression.
All she had to do was shake her head, and her brother swiftly maneuvered them back inside the house, through the ballroom, and into a quiet corridor leading to the foyer and front entryway.
Victoria finally allowed the tears to spill over when her brother pulled her into his arms and wrapped her in a hug every bit as warm and comforting as their father’s.
She threw her arms around him and sobbed against his chest. She cried for her broken heart, her shattered illusions about what she’d thought had been blossoming between her and her husband, and the downfall of the family she’d believed they were building.
How could she have believed herself in love with a man who could so easily and callously admit that he felt nothing for her?
Because she’d believed him to be different, she had thought Rafe was capable of so much more than he believed he was. She’d felt he hadn’t given himself enough credit; now she feared she’d given him too much.
“What has happened?” Luke asked in a tone that was both at once gentle and firm. He was a man who had a depth of sympathy for his sister’s pain, but he was also someone who liked to solve problems.
“You were right,” Victoria said with a sniff. “I should have listened to you about marrying Blackwood.”
“What?” Luke reared back. “You seemed fine earlier. What has he done? I’ll kill the bastard, lord or not. I’ll—”
Victoria shook her head. “I only wish to go home—to The Cottage. Please.”
This did not seem to please her brother in the least. “Why don’t you stay here for the evening, and you can accompany me to the coast in the morning? I am certain there is enough room in this veritable castle for one more guest, and we can have some of your things sent for.”
“Absolutely not!” Victoria snapped. If Lady Dallow was their hostess’s cousin, then the chances were good that she and her malicious friend were staying there as well.
The last thing she wished to do was sleep beneath the same roof as the women who would gladly see her marriage crumble.
It mattered not that Rafe had rejected the woman; Victoria would not weather her mortification in her vicinity.
No.
She needed to go home.
As much as she did not desire to face her husband, she had nowhere else to go that night. She would sort it out and come up with a plan to enact in the morning. She doubted she’d sleep much that night anyway.
Jaw clenched grimly, Luke nodded in agreement and propped her up as they walked toward the doorway and the drive where the carriages were lined up awaiting their passengers. He exchanged a few words with one of the grooms to have her carriage summoned and her cloak retrieved.
Victoria was numb and cold; her chest and throat burned with the same rage consuming her heart.
All these unpleasant sensations vied for her attention as the horses were roused and the carriages in the drive began to shift to make way for hers.
Luckily, much of the party was still gathered in the rear of the house for the ongoing fireworks display, so they had no audience.
The sky came alight with the pinwheels of light and, several times, horses shied from the unfamiliar assault upon their senses.
“Christ, Almighty…” Luke cursed gruffly, his hands balling into fists.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Rafe’s familiar figure.
His long legs were eating up the hallway between them.
Her heart began to pound so hard she no longer heard the fireworks.
She was so close to escape. She steadfastly turned back toward the drive, tapping her foot and willing the carriages to move more quickly.
Then, to her horror, Luke left her side and stormed toward Rafe and intercepted him…but not before he called out to her.
“Victoria!” he shouted, and every one of her muscles tensed.
She felt a new fissure open up upon her heart.
A fresh wave of tears stung her eyes and blurred her vision.
No matter how she tried, she could not prevent herself from tilting her head to watch over her shoulder as Luke shoved him, and he staggered back.
She felt as if she were crumbling from the inside-out.