Page 86 of Impetuous

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“I CANNOT BELIEVE that you would do this to me!” Aunt Ardis moaned. “Your own flesh and blood. After all I have done for you! I have nourished a snake in my bosom.”

“Exactly what have I done to you?” Cassandra asked pragmatically. Her aunt had been carrying on for ten minutes like this, from the moment she and Joanna had walked into the sitting room this morning. This was the first time that Cassandra had been able to get a word in.

“What have you done!” Joanna almost screeched, bouncing up from her chair. “You stole Sir Philip from me!”

“Stole him? Joanna, you talk as if Sir Philip were some knickknack or a piece of furniture. You do not own him.”

“He was interested in me first!”

“For a day or so,” Cassandra replied agreeably. “Until he found out your plans to capture him.”

“Hah! Miss High-and-Mighty! As if you didn’t do exactly the same thing!”

Her cousin’s words stung. Cassandra could think of nothing to say.

“There!” Joanna crowed. “You see! I’m right.”

“It is a far different situation,” Cassandra said fiercely. “Besides, it is none of your business.”

“None of my business? When he was mine to begin with?”

“He was never yours!”

“I took you into my house.” Aunt Ardis shook her head mournfully. “I fed you and clothed you. I even took you with us to Lady Arrabeck’s house party—all because I felt sorry for you. And look how you repaid me.”

Cassandra slammed her fist down onto the arm of the chair and jumped to her feet. “Enough! I have had enough of this! First of all, you did not take us into your house and clothe and feed us. My uncle, my mother’s brother, did that. I am sure if it had been left up to you, my brothers and sister and I would all be in the workhouse by now. Secondly, you showed no kindness taking me to that party. You only wanted another chaperon for Joanna and a foil for her beauty. And last, but not least, I did not steal Sir Philip from Joanna. No one could do that, because he did not have the slightest interest in her. He can barely stand to be in the same room with her, and anyone with even the slightest bit of intelligence would have realized that. How could either of you possibly think he was interested in her when he avoided her presence at every opportunity?”

The other two women gaped at Cassandra, dumbfounded.

“Sir Philip asked me to marry him,” Cassandra continued, gliding over the exact truth, “and that is what I intend to do. There is nothing you can say or do that will change that. The only thing you can do, what you are doing right now, is to infuriate Sir Philip and me so much that you will never receive another invitation to Haverly House. You have the prospect of being related to Lady Neville, and that means entrée into circles full of eligible bachelors. If you have any sense, you will seize the opportunity that offers instead of griping over the loss of something you never had to begin with!”

“Bravo, my dear!”

Cassandra whirled to find Sir Philip standing in the doorway, lightly clapping his hands as if at a play, a sardonic grin on his face. She colored to the roots of her hair.

“Oh. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry. You are quite accurate.” He nodded toward Aunt Ardis and Joanna. “Now, if you ladies will excuse me, I have something I wish to discuss with my future wife. My dear?”

He offered his arm to her, and Cassandra took it gladly, letting him escort her from the room and down the hall to his study.

“Please forgive me for creating a scene back there,” Cassandra apologized. “I am not usually so—”

“How disappointing.” Sir Philip grinned. “I was hoping to see you vanquish your foes in similar manner many more times during our life. It was vastly entertaining.”

Cassandra made a face at him. “I am more interested in what you wanted to discuss with me. What is it?”

“This.” They had reached his office, and as they stepped inside, he pulled a folded sheet of paper from his pocket and handed it to her. “Mr. Bigby replied to my note.”

“Oh.” Cassandra sighed. “I can tell from your face that the news isn’t good.”

“He refuses to sell the prayer book.”

Cassandra began to read the note. “‘It is with regret, blah, blah… But I would account it a great honor if you would visit my home this afternoon to see the Queen Elizabeth prayer book. I would be more than happy to show it to you, as well as my entire collection of books.’” She looked up excitedly. “Philip!”

“Yes, I have already sent back a gracious acceptance of his invitation for both me and my fiancée.” He sighed. “But I’m not sure exactly how we will be able get the map.”