Still wary of her mother, Clara sidled closer to Shannon and took her hand. Shannon’s heart hammered as she realized that whatever had angered Aurora was only exacerbated by Clara’s alliance.
“Yes,” Shannon answered, giving Clara a nudge toward Aurora. “This is Rainbow. Come, Clara, show your mother your pony.” She glanced at Aurora. “I’m not very good with horses. I don’t even take Clara out in the paddock without a groom.”
“Or Brandon?”
Shannon flinched at Aurora’s stinging tone. What was wrong? This was not the same woman who had confided in her last evening. “Sometimes Mr. Fleming or Cody is there.”
Aurora gave her head a toss, her lip curled derisively. “Mr. Fleming? How provincial. Is that what you call him when you’re wrapped in his arms?”
Shannon paled. Clara, who had seen her mother had not the least interest in her or her pony, retreated to Shannon’s side, partially hiding herself in the folds of Shannon’s blue linen skirt. “Clara, go to the house,” she said.
“No, let her stay. I want her to hear what sort of woman you are, using her to find a place in her father’s affections.”
“You are mistaken.” She tried to disengage Clara from her leg, but the child refused to budge.
“Mistaken? Not likely.” The crop at Aurora’s side snapped once, then resumed its steady rhythm against her leg. “Shall I tell you what I saw as I approached the stables this morning? No. I can see by your expression that you know quite well what sight greeted me. Imagine my shock to see my own sister in my husband’s arms. I had to remove myself from the area, afraid I would be sickened by the tender scene.” She continued to fix her eyes on Shannon’s pale face. “And after being so kind to me last evening, so willing to listen as I poured out my misery. How you must have laughed!”
“No, you’re wrong.”
“What? Are you going to tell me that I cannot trust my own eyes?” She laughed without humor. “They are the only things Icantrust at the folly! You have shown me that. Mayhap you would like me to think Brandon mistook us, but allow me to say I would not be so foolish as to believe that. You are naught but a spineless, whey-faced creature. Look at you! Cowering behind my daughter as if she were a shield.”
Shannon prodded Clara again, beseeching the child to move. Clara remained caught in her skirts very much like the barnacle Cody had once likened her to. “You are frightening her,” she said steadily. “Can we not speak of this at another time? There is much you don’t understand.”
“Are you denying what I saw ever happened?”
“No.”
Tears of outrage glittered in Aurora’s eyes. “How could you do this to me? How could you let me go on last night, knowing all the while you wanted my husband? What sort of woman are you?”
Shannon reached out to touch Aurora’s arm and found her hand slapped away. “Aurora, please. Let us talk in private. There is nothing to be gained by quarreling in front of Clara.”
Aurora ignored her. “I cannot believe how you tried to deceive me, using my own daughter as an excuse to stay in my home while you coveted my husband! He doesn’t love you! He is using you to revenge himself on me. The Flemings are good at that. Didn’t you listen to anything I told you about Parker? Brandon is more than his brother’s equal when he imagines himself the injured party! He would do anything to hurt me, including seducing my own sister!” Aurora’s chin jutted forward. “Or mayhap he did not seduce you. Perhaps you did the seducing, using your resemblance to me to play on his hurt.”
“It was not that way, Aurora. You are twisting everything.”
“How dare you speak of twisting things to me! You have my daughter and you want my husband! Did you go to him last night after you solicitously put me to bed?”
Shannon was genuinely horrified by Aurora’s vulgar accusation. “No!”
“Tell me, does he call you by my name when he makes love to you?”
“Aurora! Stop it!”
“Don’t tell me what to do!” She raised her hand gripping the riding crop and slashed it viciously in Shannon’s direction.
Shannon tore Clara from her and pushed the terrified child toward the stable door. “Go to the house, Clara!” And when she hesitated, “Now!” Clara stumbled as she turned, but she followed Shannon’s order, running past the restless horses, unconcerned by their pawing and snorting. When she had cleared the stable door, Shannon faced Aurora. “Don’t ever raise your hand to me,” she said stiffly.
“Oh? And what would you do? Kill me? Tell the world it was an accident? That line of reasoning should be familiar to you.”
Shannon’s hands trembled at her sides and she clenched them into fists, as if it would stop her from giving voice to her thoughts. “Excuse me.” She turned to go.
Aurora extended her hand and the riding crop, blocking Shannon’s exit. “You’d like to kill me, wouldn’t you? How simple it would be for you to have my husband then.”
“You don’t know what you’re saying, Aurora. In deference to your anger, I am going to forget this conversation ever took place.”
“Forget it! I want you to remember my every word! And I want none of your insipid, self-righteous airs! How dare you pretend to be my friend.” Aurora’s hand lifted and she snapped her riding crop across Shannon’s shoulder. “Murderess!” The crop lifted and descended again, this time striking the exposed curve of Shannon’s neck. “Whore!”
Shannon raised her hands to protect herself as Aurora prepared to strike again. The crop stung her palms. She wanted to wrest the weapon from her sister, but Aurora’s words thundered in her brain.You’d like to kill me, wouldn’t you? How simple it would be to have my husband then.It was a lie, yet it made Shannon powerless to act. She staggered backward under the force of Aurora’s next blow and fell against Rainbow. The pony pranced nervously, placing its right hoof squarely on Shannon’s foot.
