“Eoin? You call himEoin?” Mr. Wick bellowed at his daughter. Eoin tensed, ready to jump up and place himself between them, but Hannah did not seem at all perturbed by her father’s shout. Or at least she didn’t look cowed. She seemed exasperated. Exasperation, that was good, right? Perhaps it was common for her father to bluster at Hannah’s suitors.
“You should listen to your daughter, Mr. Wick, and regain your composure. Elsewise, you will be the one being taught a lesson by me.” Lizzie stepped forward and smacked her right fist against her open left palm. Eoin suppressed a groan. Although he appreciated his older sister’s immediate and unquestioning support, her assistance was the exact opposite of helpful.
“This is a family matter. I ask that you stay out of it.” Mr. Wick didn’t even bother to turn toward Lizzie. His angry glare was apparently reserved just for Eoin.
“As Eoin is my brother, this farce does very much involve me.” Lizzie’s left hand also formed into an ominous ball.
“As much as I appreciate your support, this is something I must handle myself,” Eoin said quietly just as their mother whispered loudly, “Lizzie, do not interfere unless Eoin specifically asks us.”
“I don’t bloody care how you’re related,” Mr. Wick thunderedas he stomped closer to Eoin. “I just want this nob to stand up and let go of my daughter.”
Punctuating his words, Mr. Wick bent over and grabbed Eoin’s lapels. He started to yank, but Méibh took violent umbrage to the fact that someone was touching her human. She attacked in a flurry of feathers and rage.
“Owwww!” Mr. Wick leaped backward, and Méibh followed, her beak striking furiously. Mr. Wick tried to sidestep her, but she was intent on wreaking the most amount of damage.
“Owwww!” Mr. Wick grabbed his left ankle and hopped on his other foot. “Ye gads! How can such a tiny bird inflict more damage than Pan? Its beak is flat. Pan’s is sharp.”
Hannah shrugged, seeming entirely unconcerned about her father’s predicament. “Pan is vicious but lazy. Méibh pecks with more zeal.”
“Owwwwww! Can you call off your attack goose?” Mr. Wick gripped his other leg now, and Méibh fluttered her stub-wings as she assaulted whatever her beak could reach.
“She doesn’t listen to my commands,” Eoin said as he bent down to catch the battle fowl. When he cradled her in his arms, she calmed slightly. Yet her neck still moved furiously, and she landed a few strikes against Eoin’s arms.
With the gosling secured, Hannah turned toward her father, her arms akimbo. “Why you here? How are you even here?”
“I am the one who should be asking the questions. I walk in to find you with an Aucourte—”
As Eoin’s initial shock began to ebb, it struck him that Hannah’s father seemed particularly obsessed with the Aucourte name. But why? Had Eoin’s family harmed Hannah’s in the past? But if that were true, why hadn’t Hannah told Eoin? Maybe she simply did not know.
“You interrupted my proposal, so I think that entitles me toa few inquiries.” Hannah marched over to her father, her stride almost identical to his.
“Your mother and I sent a letter ahead, but we must have arrived before it,” Mr. Wick snapped. “We thought we were overdue for a visit, and seeing what trouble you’ve gotten yourself into, I daresay that we were right.”
“I am exactly where I wish to be, Papa,” Hannah said.
Eoin should have felt comforted by her words, but he didn’t. There was something in her intense expression, like she was trying to send her father a wordless message. Eoin could not help but think that he was missing something critical.
“No! I won’t have you putting yourself in danger for a revenge that should be mine.” Mr. Wick was no longer shouting, and his earnest worry was apparent now that his volume was lower. “You need to end this ruse.”
Revenge? Ruse? A sick feeling twisted through Eoin, mixing with the anxiousness that he already felt at meeting Hannah’s father. The man clearly despised him or at least his family.
“Papa, this isn’t the time to—” Hannah began to say, but Lizzie out-shouted her.
“What is this about retribution and schemes?” Lizzie stormed toward Hannah. “What is your father talking about? Were you using my brother? You promised me that you wouldn’t hurt him.”
“Oh, do not act as if your family is the victim in this!” Mr. Wick was once again roaring as he rounded on Lizzie. “I return home to hear that my daughter was not only attacked by a bear, but that she was cavorting with the new Duke of Foxglen.”
“She’s the one who installed herself as my brother’s fake mistress!” Lizzie shouted right back. “I was worried that shewas after his money, but she assured me she was not. Perhaps she was plotting something else!”
Eoin’s head was spinning so furiously that he could not extract one single logical thought. Or perhaps too many facts were hitting him at once, preventing him from putting them in a proper order. He could grasp only one at a time. “Lizzie, what are you talking about? When did you talk to Hannah about me?”
“That is between us women,” Lizzie said succinctly.
“Did you threaten my daughter?” Mr. Wick snapped.
“Papa—” Hannah tried to interject, but her father talked right over her.
“Was she not good enough for your precious family? Because she was the daughter of pirates? You Aucourtes are nothing but a family of thieves. Your grandfather stole the land that my family had tilled for generations and hid behind the law. And then when my brother and I snared a few rabbits to help feed our families, the damn duke used his connections to have us sent to the Colonies as indentured servants. My brother was fourteen, and I was but twelve. We were locked up with hardened criminals for over a month before Sophia’s grandfather rescued us. And you—you have the audacity to claim that my daughter could hurt your brother!”
