Clover shut her eyes and tried to get her anger under control. She frowned when, after a brief moment of silence, the slamming of the front door echoed through the house. When Ballard did not immediately enter the parlor, Clover opened her eyes and started to rise. She could not believe that Thomas had won the battle, yet she could not besure. The wild-eyed Thomas in the hall was not the man she had thought she knew. Before she could move, Shelton and Lambert dashed out into the hallway, only to return a moment later looking totally confused.
“There isnae anyone out there,” Shelton announced.
“Perhaps they decided to continue the fight outside,” Clover said.
“Nay. We looked out there too.”
A moment later Ballard strode into the parlor, looking only slightly ruffled and quite pleased with himself. He sat down next to her, took his coat to which she still clung, and draped it over the back of the settee. Shelton served him a large tankard of ale and Clover waited a little impatiently as he took a long drink.
“Well?” Clover finally asked, certain that Ballard was dawdling over every tiny drop of ale just to irritate her. “What happened and where is Thomas?”
“I took the mon over to Miss Sarah’s house. I reckoned that she could doctor him since she has been stepping out with him,” Ballard replied.
“Oh. Thomas needed some doctoring, did he?”
“Aye, a wee bit. Now, lassie …” He cocked one finely drawn brow at her. “Dinnae ye think ye ought to tell your husband why the mon was set to beat ye?”
“I believe I may have irritated him,” she replied hesitantly, not wanting to repeat what Thomas had said to her.
Ballard stared at her with one dark brow raised. “Is this the face of a fool? I heard your voices growing louder and angrier. You were arguing about something.”
“Oh, I am sure you are not really interested,” she mumbled, and took a long sip of wine.
“Aye, I am—verra interested. Did he ask ye to marry him again? Did he change his mind and decide that money didnae really matter?”
Now that Thomas was gone, Ballard felt relatively at ease. He had actually felt afraid when Thomas had burst into the room and made it clear that he was opposed to the wedding. His jealousy puzzled him, but Ballard knew he could not ignore it or shrug it away. He had seen Thomas as a threat and had ached to get rid of the man, swiftly and violently. It had taken every ounce of his willpower to do as Clover had asked, to stand back and allow her to talk to the man first, on her own. He had considered it a big risk, had feared that Clover would leave him for Thomas. Now, as Clover took a deep breath and gave him a look of reluctance and exasperation, he centered all his attention on her.
“Money still matters a great deal to Thomas and he did not ask me to marry him.”
Ballard knew she was reluctant to tell him the truth, but he was as determined to hear it as she was to hide it. “That wasnae enough to put him in such a lather. He also wouldnae come here to tell ye something ye already kenned.Whydid he storm in here and try to end our marriage?”
Clover sighed. “He did have plans for me. They concerned a cottage just outside of town.”
A soft curse escaped Ballard and he muttered an apology. He could see by the darkening looks on Shelton’s and Lambert’s faces that they also understood what Clover was saying. Agnes just looked confused and Ballard was a little surprised at the woman’s naivete.
“Do you mean that Thomas has actually been planning to help us?” Agnes asked.
“In a way, Mama,” Clover replied.
“But the price was bloody high, wasnae it?” Ballard snapped, clenching his hands into tight fists as he was swamped with an urge to go next door and bounce Thomas around some more.
“I fear I do not understand,” Agnes said.
“Old Thomas didnae want to marry Clover, but he didnae want to let her go either, if ye catch my meaning, ma’am,” Ballard answered, his fury at Thomas roughening his voice. “He was planning to make Clover the little plaything the wife doesnae ken about.”
Agnes frowned, then blushed a deep red. “Oh dear. Thomas planned such a thing? Are you certain?”
Clover nodded. “Quite certain, Mama. And he was enraged near to madness that I would have the temerity to refuse him.” She touched the ripped sleeve of her gown.
It was easy to see in her mother’s face how abruptly the woman’s faith in Thomas had crumbled. There were no explanations Agnes could dredge up to excuse such an insult. Thomas had become finally, irrevocably tarnished in Agnes’s eyes. This sordid offer was a far worse crime than the act of jilting her. Clover felt a little sorry for her mother, for she knew the woman had already suffered too many disappointments in people.
When no one had any more to say, Clover quietly suggested that they retire to the dining room to enjoy the hearty meal Molly had prepared. Clover began to feel tense the moment she took her seat next to Ballard at the linen-draped table. As she atethe smoked ham, hot buttered vegetables, and plump rolls, she drank a lot more wine than she ever had before. She knew it was not particularly wise, but she could not seem to maintain any control over her actions. The thought of the wedding night to come made her increasingly nervous, which made her mouth dry, which made her drink more. By the time they all returned to the parlor she was feeling decidedly light-headed. She wondered if her mother had guessed at her inebriated state, for Agnes quickly bustled her out of the room for bed, before she had a chance to get settled in her seat.
“Mama?” she asked in what she hoped was a whisper. “Is it not a little early yet?”
“I begin to fear that it may be too late,” Agnes muttered as she urged her slightly unsteady daughter up the stairs to the room she would be sharing with Ballard.
“Too late for what?” Clover asked as she stumbled into the bedroom.
