Page 44 of A Wallflower to Win the Viscount

‘Jasper, just accept it. This house legally belonged to Aunt Clemmie. She bequeathed it to me, and now it is mine,’ she said, in a surprisingly calm manner.

It had to be as obvious to him as it was to her that he could not win. But his presence here today suggested he was still hoping he could intimidate her into handing over the house.

His lips curled at the edges, a familiar warning he was about to become particularly loathsome. ‘You really are pathetic, aren’t you? An old maid living alone with her animals.’

She shrugged off his insult. Was that the worst he could do? He had also described Aunt Clemmie as an old maid, and she was the nicest person Primrose had ever met. And now that Primrose had been kissed senseless by an attractive, virile man, could that moniker still be applied to her?

Primrose did not know, but it was an interesting question to contemplate, just as that kiss was always interesting and extremely pleasant to revisit.

‘I could make things very difficult for you, you know,’ Jasper hissed. ‘So stop grinning like an imbecile.’

Primrose continued to smile, even though she knew it would only further irritate Jasper. Or was she doing it because she knew it would? That, too, was an interesting question.

‘There must be some rules about keeping your precious animals in a neighbourhood like this,’ he said in that slow, precise manner he always used when making threats. ‘If I encouraged the neighbours to put in a formal complaint, you’d have to get rid of them, but I’m sure one of the slaughterhouses would happily dispose of them.’

Primrose’s heart pounded faster, and she was tempted to beg her cousin, just as she’d done as a child whenever he’d threatened to harm an animal. Then Lucian’s words came back to her.

You are no longer that child he once bullied. You are a woman of independent means.

He was right. She was. So instead of cowering or begging as her cousin expected her to, she stared him straight in the eye. ‘If you do anything to harm any of my animals, I will report you to the RSPCA. They have the power to prosecute such cruelty. As for contacting my neighbours, they have raised no objections, even though I have been living in this house for some time. Viscount Westhaven has even made it clear he has no objections to my animals wandering into his garden.’

Or, more accurately, he didn’t anymore, but her cousin did not need to know of any past altercations over Hamish and Clawdia’s behaviour, or the other geese, or the goat and the bunnies, for that matter.

His eyes narrowed. ‘Yes, that was the other thing I wanted to say to you. I don’t like your association with Viscount Westhaven.’

‘I don’t see what it has to do with you.’ She could add that right now there was unfortunately no association, but Jasper didn’t need to know that either.

He glared at her for a moment longer, then attempted to morph his scowl into a smile, something that appeared to cause him a great deal of difficulty. ‘Primrose, you must realise that any association with a man such as him could be detrimental to your reputation.’

Primrose laughed. She actually laughed at her cousin. That was also something she had never done before, and he looked just as surprised as she felt.

‘Really, Jasper? You just told me I’m an old maid, and you spent a great deal of time during my Season convincing every man you knew that I was a born spinster. Now you’re worried I’m in danger of getting a bad reputation. So what am I? An old maid or a wanton hussy? I do believe you should make up your mind.’

His strained smile died, replaced by the more natural scowl. He leant in and pointed a finger at her, inches from her face. ‘Is this the viscount’s influence? Has he made you behave like a disrespectful, ungrateful wench?’

Primrose thought about that. Lucian’s words of encouragement regarding standing up to Jasper had helped, as had his support in challenging the claim to her house. On the day they’d visited his solicitor she had felt so strong and had thought she could do anything with him at her side.

Except he wasn’t at her side anymore and would soon be gone from her life.

As if sensing her vulnerability, Jasper sneered. ‘You haven’t got aspirations regarding Viscount Westhaven, have you?’

‘Don’t be ridiculous,’ she said, the annoying heat on her cheeks intensifying.

‘Oh, my goodness, you do, don’t you?’ He laughed loudly, in that familiar mocking style.

Primrose lifted her head higher, determined not to be undermined, even if his laughter had shaken her new-found confidence.

‘A man like him would never be interested in someone like you. Miss Prim and Proper and Primrose Fairburning Cheeks. Wasn’t that what the men called you during the Season? Or, that was what they called you at least, on the rare occasions they even noticed you. Most of the time you were sitting in the wallflowers’ corner, ignored and abandoned.’

Primrose wanted to tell him that he was wrong. In this very room, Lucian had kissed her. He had shown in an undeniable manner that he was interested in her.

Jasper’s snarl further distorted his lips. ‘There’s only one thing a man like him would want from a woman like you, and I hope you haven’t been foolish enough to give it to him.’

‘You’re wrong. Lucian is a good man,’ she said, then instantly regretted it. She did not need to defend Lucian or herself to her odious cousin.

‘Lucian, is it?’ Jasper jeered. ‘You really are gormless, aren’t you?’ Then he smiled at her, but his eyes remained hard and taunting. It was the self-satisfied smile she had seen countless times during their childhood, the one that appeared whenever he sensed victory. ‘I can see things have already gone too far, and it is now up to me to ensure no more harm is done.’

He shook his head slowly as if in disappointment, all the while that cruel smile curling the edges of his lips. ‘Primrose, you are such a naive child, and you should not be living alone in this house where any scoundrel could take advantage of you,’ he said, his voice dripping with condescension. ‘It’s not that I want to take possession of your house. It’s simply that you are a young, unmarried girl, one who quite obviously lacks sound judgement. It is obvious you need the protection of a man, so I will start the process to become your legal guardian. Then I can care for you.’