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“Oh, I will take Stephen alright.”

Diana’s cheeks flushed, but one touch from Elizabeth and the couple was out of the room. Now, she could focus on the problem at hand.

“I should have let him make good on his promise, Selina. Maybe I might.”

“May I speak?” Selina smiled.

“I think you said enough. Humiliating me like that was necessary, then?”

“It was! You were wasting away, and I was not prepared to sit back and watch it happen.”

Diana gasped. Her fire turned cold.

Selina spoke a hard truth. She wasn’t here to mock her or just dismiss the whole thing. She was going to tell her something she didn’t want to hear.

“It’s not about marriage, Diana.” Selina risked it all and took her hand. “I couldn’t care less if you got married or not. If that made you truly happy, I would be right there beside you. But to allow you to wither away because of something that happened years ago? No, my sweet sister. I had to do something.”

“And that something was degrading me without my consent?”

Selina looked down with embarrassment. She was indeed feeling guilty. She indeed took it too far.

“The auction was my idea,” Herbert spoke up, leaning in.

“You had better keep your mouth shut, or I am calling Stephen back in.”

“I am sure that as long those sleeves are rolled up, he is thoroughly occupied.”

“Herbert!” both sisters exclaimed in shock.

“There, I got you to agree on something.” Herbert smirked.

“Diana.” Selina drew her sister’s attention to spare Herbert from finding out how much damage a pair of scissors could do. “I know it was too… drastic.”

Diana frowned, and Selina swallowed.

“I am not shying away from saying it was wrong.”

“And yet you do.” Diana smiled that fake, dangerous smile.

“Fine, it was wrong. But I would do it again.”

“I thought survival instinct was ingrained in all creatures, yet you seem to lack that ability that has kept our species flourishing. I am sure killing you might be calleddrasticbutnecessary.”

“It got you out of that endless loop of nothingness, did it not?”

“Being visited by all the bachelors and hearing their empty comments and empty compliments constitutes a good thing for you?”

“Perhaps not, but going out there, being forced to put down the books and threads and simply promenade is something more.”

The reminder that the auction came with an offer made Diana’s jaw clench.

Was he part of the scheme?

It was logical to think so. He was Richard’s best friend, and her brother-in-law was known to bend over backward to keep her sister happy. Asking his best friend to bid in the auction, knowing the reaction that would follow, was something he would gladly do.

Oh, the betrayal runs deep.

“Of course, I never expected Lord Crawford to bid. Especially that obscene amount that made everyone back down. Except for that thickhead brother of ours. It made the plan even better.”