Page 14 of An Inconvenient Vow

When he averted his face so quickly, she glanced down, thinking she must have slipped out of her shift. But no, she was still decently covered. He was just hugely prudish.

“Have you not finished that yet?” he shouted suddenly, making Sabina jump. She had practically forgotten all about the dallying servants. “Get out!”

Footsteps scuffed across the floor as they hurried out, shutting the door behind them.

“Are you always so unfailingly rude to everyone?” she asked, though deep down she already knew the answer. Of course, he was.

Clearly, Sir Jeffree thought the question beneath contempt, for he ignored it, rolling out of bed, and stalking into the next room where she supposed one or more of the many cabinets were stuffed with his clothes. He slammed the door behind him, and Sabina sat there, in the middle of his huge bed, wondering what she was supposed to do now.

She was just debating climbing out of the bed and starting her own ablutions when he marched back into the room carrying a pile of fresh clothes. He seemed annoyed by the sight of her still in the bed, but as she was quite convinced, he would have been just as put out to find her stood in the center of the room. She turned a blind eye to this and slid out of bed. Seizing one of the pitchers of warm water to her chest, she made her way gingerly into the next room.

Sabina took her time over her wash, re-braiding her hair and pinning it into place, then donning her best dress and wimple once again. She almost felt armored when she had the severe white headdress in place. She knew it made her look older and a good deal more formidable. Sat with her braids down in that massive expanse of blue brocade she probably looked a nervous little fool.

Now she beheld herself in one of the mirrored cabinet doors and thought she looked practically middle-aged. She primmed up her mouth and looked severe. If she was to face a legion of De Crecys again, it was just as well she felt fortified. She was going into battle after all, and she certainly wasn’t going to meekly lie down and take their snubbing, rude behavior, however much they might expect it as their due.

When she could delay no longer, she rapped on Sir Jeffree’s door and walked in to find him once more gazing out of the window, resplendent in a tunic of scarlet decorated on the sleeves with seed pearls. Sabina blinked at him, wondering what the occasion was. Then again, maybe he always dressed like that. Yesterday’s outfit had been a more sober color, a subdued plum with gold threadwork, though now she thought about it, it had been just as sumptuous in its own way.

He turned and frowned at her, but in an abstracted fashion. “How far is your father’s abode from here?” he asked.

“Don’t you remember?” she asked waspishly. “From our midnight trysts. Not very thorough of you to neglect that detail when you were cooking up your nasty little story.”

“My nasty little story?” he snapped. “You were the one who labeled yourself my whore!” He turned redder at these words than she did, she noticed as she marched over to the carved wooden settle and plumped herself down. “I would have refuted Sir Leland’s claim,” he said stiffly. “Had you but given me half a chance.”

“You said nothing!” she flung at him. “While your good friend Leland Ellis maligned my sister in the foulest way!”

“God’s teeth, madam!” he shouted back at her. “I was in shock that Leland could even think to utter such a depraved thing! Not everyone’s tongue is so ready as yours!”

“I do not believe you,” she answered woodenly. “So much did you hate the thought of being disinherited that you would have swallowed that wicked lie and let my family fall into ruination.”

He stepped forward hastily at that, his fists clenched. “You shall not say so!” he seethed.

“I heard what you’ve all been saying about us even before the wedding!” she responded angrily. “What jumped-up bumpkins we Burrells are. How dare we presume to aim as high as the noble family of De Crecy! Looking down your long noses. But you soon stopped being so aloof when Ellis started with his sordid little tale. Then you were all rubbing your hands together with glee and lapping up it up, thrilled to your cores!”

Sir Jeffree’s face froze, and Sabina could see he was both shocked and struggling to find a response. Good gods, had no one challenged him to his face before? From his flummoxed expression, it appeared not. He turned his face aside a moment, and when he spoke, his voice was low and gruff. “I own we were less than gracious. Saying such things was… beneath our dignity.”

Silence reigned for a moment, and when he spoke again, his voice had returned to its former formality. “My only defense is my bitter disappointment in the match. Even you must see how it affects my expectations. I was… venting my spleen. Whatever I thought and said of the match… it was not my place to judge His Grace’s decision.” Every word seemed to be dragged from his unwilling lips.

Noticing Sir Jeffree had fallen short of begging her pardon, Sabina snorted and folded her arms. “You insulted my family,” she responded coldly. “Why in hells should I care now about making reparation to your sainted reputation?” She noticed with satisfaction how shocked he looked at her use of the word “hells.” Good!

“Because,” Sir Jeffree countered, practically gnashing his teeth by this point. “Can’t you see? I was angry and resentful, speaking poison about your family was the only means I had to relieve my feelings! If I had known there was some nefarious plot afoot, wouldn’t I have been reconciled to the wedding and speaking fair? Wouldn’t I have been biding my time and making it widely known that I bore no malice?”

Sabina shrugged a shoulder. “How should I know? I should think that ‘speaking fair’ would have alerted everyone you were up to something. From what I can make out, you have never ‘spoken fair’ to anyone in your life!”

Sir Jeffree looked incensed. “Madam,” he said stiffly. “You scarcely know me. And I have not acted so very poorly toward you despite the fact you would have wriggled out of your obligation to me if you could have.”

“What obligation?” Sabina asked.

“After blackening my name, need I remind you, you had the temerity to turn down my proposal of marriage in front of witnesses?”

Sabina snorted. “What of it? I cannot see that I have done anything so wicked as to deserve such a punishment as marriage to you!”

“You ruined my reputation!” he flung at her.

“No,” she replied steadily. “You did that when you agreed to go along with Leland Ellis’s scheme!”

“I? Agree?” He seemed to have difficulty catching his breath for a minute. “I agreed to no such thing!” he all but roared.

Sabina clapped her hands to her ears. “He was the one who named you in his work of fiction, not I!”