Nerissa came in, gently reproachful. “Portia, my dear cousin, the servants say you are behaving most strangely.”
“It is not strange to want to leave the house.”
“But where would you wish to go, alone?”
“Nerissa, enough of this. If I am free to leave, let me leave.”
“We are merely seeking to keep you safe—”
“Spare me. Tell me the real reason for this imprisonment.”
Nerissa cocked her head then sat. Portia’s nerves tightened. Her cousin looked so very pleased with herself.
“You cannot leave just yet, Portia, because you are prostrate with shock and injuries.”
“What?”
“After the vicious way Bryght Malloren treated you, the way he almost raped you…or perhaps he did. The stories aresoconfused….”
“Nerissa! Youcannot—”
Her cousin’s eyes shone with satisfaction. “Oh, but I can! The whole town is abuzz with it. And, of course, now that he has refused to marry you the matter looks even worse.”
Portia shook her head. “No, you cannot. This is wicked. He will be ruined.”
Nerissa laughed. “Ruined? A Malloren ruined by the ravishing of a creature like you? Lud! No, with any luck, he will be dead.”
Portia’s breath caught. “What?”
“I sought merely to sully his name, but it works out better than I’d thought. Your neighbor, Lord Walgrave, has challenged him. They meet tomorrow.”
“They must not!”
“Ah, but they must.”
“But what ifFortdies? He is entirely innocent!”
“Fort Ware? He hasn’t been innocent since the day he was breeched. If he dies, it will still serve. Bryght’s name will be tarnished forever. Don’t you wish you could witness the event? See the blood flow, watch the dying grimace…?”
“Nerissa, you are truly wicked. I will tell the world everything.”
“Will you? Including that you were Hippolyta?”
“Yes.”
“What good would it do, when Bryght is dead?”
“Revenge,” said Portia coldly.
Nerissa just smiled. “Ah, at last you see. Revenge is sweet. And at last I see. You poor fool. You don’t hate him. You love him.” She rose to her feet. “In that case, it is rather pleasant to make you the means of his destruction. Heather tells me Lord Walgrave has been working hard with his sword, learning clever ways to kill and maim.”
With that she left and Portia stared at the door with loathing.
Never. She would never give Nerissa the victory in this. She flung open the window again and eyed the sheets. Then she saw the silver cords that held back the curtains and were draped and knotted all over the bed-hangings. They were not very thick but there was plenty of them.
Portia took her scissors out of her needlework case and began to unpick the stitches that held the cord in its ornamental position. Soon she had a substantial pile of it on the carpet. But was it strong enough to support even such a light creature as herself?
She pulled at it, and it seemed sturdy.
