CHAPTER 29
As the sleek black stallion galloped wildly down the driveway, frothing at the mouth, Henry strode forward with fury in his heart. He could not abide the mistreatment of animals, least of all those as intelligent and noble as horses.
“Ho, I said!” Gibbs screamed at the horse, yanking hard on the reins. “Ho!”
The stallion slowed, his eyes wild as he tossed his proud head.
Henry approached, holding out his hand to the horse. “You cannot ride like that,” he said coldly to Gibbs, who was making a mess of getting down from the saddle. “You will tear his poor mouth to shreds, and he will not hesitate to throw and trample you.”
“I have been sold a worthless nag!” Gibbs snapped, dusting himself off. “I have never ridden such an undisciplined beast in all my life!”
Henry glowered at the man. “You were hurting him, and you ride poorly.” He moved closer to the stallion and bristled with fresh anger as he saw the milky-colored sweat covering the beast’s body. “He will remain with me. Consider it some recompense for all the money I have given to you.”
The older man froze, his expression that of a man who had just been struck in the face. “I beg your pardon?”
“The stallion remains with me,” Henry snarled. “You are not fit to ride him.”
Gibbs began to huff and puff, puce with rage. “You think you cantakemy horse? You speak of recompense, when you have given me nothing for at least a year? Your wife is your recompense! I owe you nothing!”
“And I have asked for nothing until now,” Henry fired back.
“Well,Iam asking—nay, demanding—the reinstatement of my monthly payments! It is the least you can do, after the worry you put me through,” Gibbs barked. “You were supposed to keep my daughter safe. She almost died in your care. Perhaps,Ishall takeherback if you do not pay what I ask! What do you say to that?”
A cold sort of wrath moved slowly through Henry’s veins as he stalked toward his father-in-law, an eerie calm that he had only experienced a few times in his life. And as he towered over the weaselly Gibbs, there was a deep satisfaction in watching fear flicker in the older man’s eyes.
“You make no demands of me, Gibbs,” Henry said, menacingly quiet. “My wife nearly died four years ago because of you. My wife was nearly harmed because you could not control your vices. If you even attempted to remove her from this manor,” he leaned in closer, “I would break your arms like twigs andletthis stallion trample you. A terrible accident.”
A sharp intake of breath rasped from Gibbs’ thin lips.
“You get nothing,” Henry continued. “If you have buried yourself in debt again, there will be no one to save you. Not me, not my wife. If I hear you have asked her for money, I will find you at Farhampton, and you will not like my response.”
Gibbs quaked and, for a moment, Henry thought the man might faint.
“Dorothy will be taken care of. Kenneth too, within reason. But you—never you. You are never welcome here again,” Henry added, tempted to give his father-in-law a slight push to see if he would topple entirely.
Instead, he stepped back.
For what seemed like an eternity, Gibbs did not move; he stood there shaking, growing redder and redder by the second. An effervescent outrage that would undoubtedly explode.
“I have never… been so… insulted in all my life,” Gibbs choked at last. “Do not worry; I would never want to set foot in that… manor again. Send my children out to me. I am leaving in five minutes, whether they are… in the carriage or not.”
Henry gave the man a hard stare. “I told you, you do not make demands of me. Ask me nicely, or fetch them yourself.”
It appeared that Gibbs had lost the ability to speak, erupting in a series of splutters and garbled nonsense. With clenched fists and a vein throbbing in his temple, the older man turned and stomped toward the manor.
Taking the stallion gently by the reins, Henry followed, passing the exhausted beast into the care of a startled stable boy who evidently had not wanted to intrude on the argument.
“This tyrant has commandeered my horse!” Thalia’s father spluttered as he burst into the drawing room. “I am leaving, and if you are not in the carriage when it departs, you shall have to walk!”
Alarmed, Thalia drew apart from her siblings. “What has happened?”
“That is none of your concern!” her father snapped, running a hand through his hair. “Your husband is a… a… terrible man! Why I ever allowed you to marry him is beyond me.”
Kenneth rose to his feet. “Because you had brought us to the brink of ruination with your gambling, your speculations, your ridiculous parties and purchases, and he offered to save us all.”
“What?” Gibbs spat. “How… how dare you!”
“How dare I tell the truth?” Kenneth rolled his eyes and extended a hand to Dorothy. “Come on, dear sister, before our father finally pops that vein in his forehead.”
