“He wants a wife and I need a husband. There seemed to be a sudden dearth of prospective husbands in the area.” She was not surprised that Thomas was not embarrassed by her reference to his shabby treatment of her.
“You know why I had to end our engagement, Clover, but that was hardly reason to leap into the arms of the first man who ambled by. And one who has just been cast off by Sarah Marsten!” He grasped her gently by the shoulders. “I had no intention of putting you aside completely. You must have known that.”
“You jilted me, Thomas. I cannot see what else that could have meant.” His abrupt shift from fury to cajolery unsettled her, especially when she noticed how the hard, cold look in his eyes differed so dramatically from the soothing tone of his voice.
“I had to do that, Clover.” Thomas winced and briefly rubbed at his temples. “I have my future to consider. It did not, however, mean that I had stopped caring about you. I am truly sorry if my actions led you to believe that.”
Clover began to get the sinking feeling that Thomas was leading up to something that not only would be very insulting, but would make her furious as well. “I misunderstood, did I?” she said.
“Yes, love, you did. I felt you needed some time to understand fully why I had to end our engagement, but I was not idle during that time. I have been arranging for us to be together. As soon as you are evicted from this house, you can move into a cottage I have secured just outside of town. Of course,it would be best if you did not take your family with you, but I can understand your sense of loyalty.”
“How kind.” She could see that her sarcasm eluded him.
Thomas nodded and briefly smiled at her. “It will not be very fancy in the beginning, and I regret that. When I am wed to Sarah and much plumper in the pocket, however, I will be able to do very well by you. So you see, Clover, you must put an end to this farce immediately. You were not meant to be shackled to some rough backwoodsman. Given some time, I can provide you with a very comfortable life. Do you understand?”
“Very well, Thomas.” She wondered how she could sound so calm when she was shaking with fury.
He gave her a brief kiss. “Then it is all settled. Now go and talk to that ruffian. The marriage can be annulled. Would you like me to talk to him with you?”
“Oh no, Thomas. I can say what must be said quite easily without your kind assistance. In truth, we do not need to trouble Ballard at all.” She took a deep breath to hold on to her facade of calm. “I do not believe I have ever been so thoroughly insulted. This makes your dishonorable jilting of me pale in comparison.”
“What are you saying?”
“Was some part of what I just said unclear?” Clover knew her anger was sharpening her voice but did not care. “You call me a whore for marrying Ballard so quickly, yet you have no qualms about treating me like one. I might grasp at some scrap of understanding if this nefarious offer was made because you thought I had acted shamefully, but ‘tis clearyou have been planning this arrangement for quite awhile.”
“I but tried to think of a way to help you in your time of need.”
“Oh, do not pretend that any sense of nobility prompted you. You played the genteel beau so well, I was kept blissfully ignorant of your true despicable nature. I begin to understand why Papa was so adamant that we never be left alone together. He must have suspected what a cad you really are, but being a fair man, he dared not act against you without proof. I am glad he is not alive to see your true colors now.”
“Now wait just a blasted minute,” Thomas snapped, raising the riding crop he clutched tightly in his right hand. “You forget to whom you are speaking, Clover Sherwood.”
“No, I do not. I should probably thank you for curing me of my incredible naivete. I now know exactly what sort of low, lying cur you are.” Clover cried out as Thomas suddenly grasped her arm tightly and raised the riding crop as if to strike her.
“You are a very stupid girl,” hissed Thomas. “You would choose that illiterate backwoods fool overme?”
“I would choose honorable marriage over being your whore.”
“You little bitch!”
Clover cried out as Thomas struck her with his riding crop. She ducked in time to avoid the worst of the blow, but the rawhide tore through the sleeve of her dress, stinging her arm. Thomas jerked her back toward him and was about to strike again when the parlor door was flung open and Ballard was there, tearing the riding crop from Thomas’s hand.Clover slumped against the wall, stunned by Thomas’s violence.
“Are ye all right, lass?” Ballard asked her.
Before Clover could reply, Thomas lunged at Ballard. She pressed herself hard against the wall to get out of the way of the ensuing fight. Horrified by a nasty fight in her front hall on her wedding day, Clover required a moment to find her voice.
“Stop this immediately!” she cried.
After throwing Thomas off, Ballard prepared for another attack from the man. “I would like to oblige ye, wee Clover, but it appears your old beau is of a different turn of mind,” he said as he hastily removed his coat and tossed it at her. “Get in the parlor, lass, and shut the door.”
She was about to argue when Thomas charged Ballard again. As both men slammed up against the stair rails, she ducked into the parlor and shut the door. Clutching Ballard’s coat to her chest, she faced the others in the room, who all gaped at her. Clover sighed and moved shakily to sit on the settee.
“My dear, what is going on out there?” Agnes asked, her wide gaze fixed upon the parlor door as she twisted a lacy white handkerchief in her hands.
“Ballard is thumping Thomas,” Clover replied.
“Good heavens—why?”
“I really do not wish to talk about it now, Mama.”
