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“I believe I shall take this room for my own,” she mused. “I am sure we could pay you for your furnishings, I actually quite like them.”

“Like you could afford them,” Sophia retorted, taking the opportunity to strike, “Your husband inherited more than just his father’s blackened, numb heart. He shares his debt.”

A slow, evil grin spread across Sophia’s face as she glowered at Lydia, “Or has he not shared that with you? You must be careful with these Fernside men. They can only pretend to love.”

“Ezra is not his father any more than he is you,” Lydia stated flatly. “You know nothing about him and from this moment onward I will make sure you never will.”

Finished with the conversation, Lydia nodded to the others, and they turned to leave.

“My family’s courtesy will only extend so far!” Sophia yelled, panic entering her voice. “I have not…my older brother oversees the accounts, and he is not fond of me.”

Lydia slowly turned.

“How is that my problem?” she asked.

“It will be,” Sophia warned, her rage turning into something more evil. “If you stay with Ezra, you will be exactly where I am in just a few years. You think you know him, but you do not. I birthed the monster, and I swear to you that the man you think you are protecting is not who he seems.”

“You will watch your tongue when you speak of our brother,” Alice warned, her voice grave as she stepped next to Lydia.

Sophia took a startled step back as all five women glared at her.

“You are all fools then,” she hissed. “Stupid, simpering, little fools. They will use you, mark my words. Ezra’s father and his friends were not good men. Their sons will surely be the same. I know mine will. You will be cursed like me. All of you!”

“That is enough of that,” Lydia sighed, snapping her fingers.

Terrence strode forward then, his pace so quick that Sophia stumbled back when he abruptly stopped and bowed to her.

“By order of Her Grace, the Duchess of Frampton, I offer you a small team of men and services to coordinate your eviction,” Terrence said, his voice stern but polite, “As commanded, all of your personal items and staff shall be gone by the end of the week.”

“This is outrageous!” Sophia yelled as Lydia and the others turned once more.

Out of the corner of her eye, Lydia caught Sophia lunging at her.

“I would not, my lady,” Terrence warned politely, stepping protectively between Sophia and Lydia.

“Listen to me,” Sophia hissed, demanding Lydia’s attention, “You will pay for this. Do you hear me?”

Ignoring Sophia’s tantrum, Lydia continued out the door, her friends and Colter following closely behind.

“What a wretched woman,” Barbara seethed as they settled into the carriage.

“I tried to warn you,” Lydia replied.

She shared a weary but grateful smile with them all as their carriage began to take them home.

“You think she will actually leave?” Juliet asked.

“Legally she has no choice,” Lydia replied, “According to Ezra’s solicitor, everything I just told her was true. The house belongs to the Frampton heir, not Ezra’s mother.”

“Enough of her,” Alice insisted, clearly over the subject. “We need to focus on our husbands. We are about to walk into a lion’s den, my darlings.”

“Not I,” Juliet piped up, “You are dropping me off at Father’s before you return, yes? I am meeting Edmund’s mother tomorrow morning for a shopping trip.”

“I shall be going with you,” Helena said as their carriage drew up to the Knight house. “I want no part of what the three of you are about to pay for. Tell my brother where I am, though, so he does not pop a blood vessel.”

“What do you think they’re going to do to us when they find out what we were up to?” Barbara mused as the three of them continued back to Frampton.

“Well, we took Colter and Terrence, so it is not as if we went unprotected,” Alice offered, though there was no hope in her voice.