His smile turned genuine. “Within reason,” he repeated her words, mockingly, as he rose to stretch his long legs. Slowly, he paced toward the lancet window, pausing after a moment to face her. His eyes mirrored the evil within his soul. “You will help me destroy St. Cloven.”
Thia’s eyes widened. “What? I cannot….”
He held up a quieting finger, his voice loud enough to stop her protests. “I will relinquish my claim to you and you can frolic with the serving wenches happily for the rest of your life if you assist me in destroying St. Cloven.”
Thia’s face was white. Her first reaction was to condemn him, to deny him, but the prospect of finding a way out of the horrifying future her father had chosen for her was appealing. Too appealing. Gripping the arms of the chair with white-knuckled intensity, she eyed Colin warily.
“I will not destroy my brother.”
“I did not ask you to. I merely asked for your assistance in destroying St. Cloven.”
“St. Cloven is my brother’s keep.”
Colin fixed her with a look of such sinister proportions that it made her skin tingle. “It is only his property through his wife. I know you hold little love for Lady Peyton.”
Thia relaxed somewhat, regaining a measure of composure. “She is a sly bitch and I hate her.”
Colin sat on the edge of the desk, gazing down at her. “Enough to be rid of her?”
Thia’s mind began to swirl, remembering the time when the very same thoughts had filled her mind. Good lord, she recalled plainly the very day in which she had sat in the grand hall listening to Nigel and her father tear at each other because of Alec and Peyton’s marriage.
She recollected well the hatred she harbored for Peyton for causing such dissention by coercing Alec into marrying her. It was Peyton who had turned Blackstone into a battleground and the repercussions were still going on.
“Do you want her?”
Colin shrugged. “Not really. ’Tis the keep I want, but I have to be rid its mistress first. With his wife gone, your brother will most likely return to Blackstone and thereby leave the fortified manor vacant. My father will, in turn, petition for my supervision.”
Thia sat back in her chair. “Why would Alec vacate the keep simply if his wife is no longer there? It’s his keep now, not his wife’s.”
Colin gave her a condescending look. “Do you know nothing of the human character? ’Tis obvious your brother holds a good deal of affection for his wife and I would wager a great deal on the fact that he would not remain at the fortress simply because it would remind him of his dead wife at every turn. To be free of her memory, he would return to Blackstone to forget his grief.”
Thia looked at him a moment. “It appears to me that there is more to this than merely being rid of Lady Peyton to obtain St. Cloven. I would venture that you are attempting to gain a measure of revenge against my brother for taking what you believe to be rightfully yours. That is your contention, is it not?”
“It is mine!” he suddenly spat. “It’s always been mine and your brother had no right to take what was not his!”
Thia sighed, far calmer than she should have been. Clearly, she did not like the fact that she would be contributing to Alec’s grief. She loved her big brother, but she was thoroughly convinced that he would be better off without the influence of his wife.
His grief would fade in time and he would marry again and forget all about the first wife who had alienated him from his family. Aye, he might even thank her someday for loving him enough to rid him of the red-headed leech.
It did not matter that Peyton had defended her against Colin’s marriage demands. His brother’s wife had led a strong opposition against Colin and, together, they had proved to be a most powerful force to reckon with. They had defended each other against the Warrington bastard as if they had truly been sisters and in spite of her hatred, Thia had felt a strange bond with Peyton. The bond went beyond mere words or feelings. It cut deep. Peyton knew her secret.
Thia hated her for knowing her secret, a secret Colin was also privy to. Peyton had been presented with the opportunity to publicly admit Thia’s private lusts, but she hadn’t. Unlike Colin, she had tactfully kept silent.
She saw the opportunity to be free of her unwanted betrothal. That reality alone was enough to cause her to consider her priorities over Alec’s. She did not want to be married to a man who took delight in humiliating her, who would force her to submit to his will in the bedchamber. That component in itself sent bolts of disgust racing up her spine; as reluctant as she was to harm Alec, she was selfishly thinking of her own needs. She almost did not care about her brother’s feelings anymore, so long as she was free of Colin.
Her guilt was forgotten. But it was nonetheless difficult to spit out her agreement.
“What is it that you would have me do?”
Colin smiled, a genuine gesture. “Listen carefully.”
Out in the hall, someone else was listening carefully, too. Paul Summerlin hovered near the door, listening to every word spoken. He knew he wasn’t supposed to listen to the conversation of others; his parents had long chastised him for his bad habit. But it was part of his natural curiosity, an element of his pre-pubescent intelligence over which he had no control.
He had heard the words. Even with his limited capacity, he knew what Colin Warrington was suggesting was evil. And Thia was very bad for agreeing.
They were both very, very bad.
*
