Page 32 of One Forbidden Kiss with the Laird (The Cinderella Shepherd Sisters #2)

M ore than anything Selina wished to slip into Taigh Blath undetected and run up the stairs to her room. The morning had been emotionally exhausting and the last thing she needed was to have to pretend to her stepmother or half-sister that everything was well.

As the front door was opened by a footman Selina’s heart sank. Catherine was walking through the hall and she paused as Selina stepped inside.

‘Oh, good, Mother has been looking for you. It is time for lunch.’

‘I might just go and change first,’ Selina said, aware her dress was crumpled from being put back on damp.

‘No need,’ Catherine said sharply, taking Selina’s arm.

‘You never look nice anyway.’ She marched Selina to the dining room and pushed her in through the door.

Selina wondered at Catherine’s behaviour, but it had been such a strange day she thought perhaps she was making too much of her half-sister’s coldness.

‘Good afternoon,’ she said quietly as she entered the dining room.

She glanced at her father, aware that her recent actions were not going to enhance her relationship with the man.

She had made her peace with moving on, had decided to give up on seeking his affection, but she could not completely let go of the hope that he might tell her she mattered to him.

‘You look terrible,’ Lady Kingsley announced, pushing her chair back from the table. ‘I do hope you are not getting ill. You’re rather a sickly young woman and I do not wish to catch anything from you.’

Selina gave a bland smile. Lady Kingsley’s sharp tongue was spiteful, but she now let the words just bounce off her.

‘I don’t think that’s why she is looking exhausted,’ Catherine said, pouring herself a cup of tea.

‘She can hardly claim her days are filled with exertion or hard labour. An honest day’s work would be a shock to her.’ Lady Kingsley chuckled at the idea.

Sir William raised a hand, frowning. He did not normally intervene when his wife and daughter were sniping at Selina, but he did not like conflict at the dining table.

‘Let us enjoy this meal in peace. It will be one of the last we have all together, with Catherine leaving us for Lord Leven’s table in a few short weeks. ’

‘You have finalised the contract?’ Lady Kingsley said, her interest piqued. Although she clearly loved Catherine, she had ambition like her husband. She wanted her daughter to marry well and would leverage any advantage that brought her to climb a few rungs further up the social ladder.

‘Nearly.’

‘What do you think of the marriage, Selina?’ Catherine said, her voice sharp. ‘Surely you must have something to say about it all as my wedding day draws closer.’

The question came as a surprise. Catherine normally did her utmost to avoid having to talk to Selina and this morning she seemed especially prickly, so Selina couldn’t work out what her motivation for engaging was.

Taking a long sip of tea, Selina tried to buy herself some time.

She did not want to be disingenuous, but equally she could not tell the truth.

Announcing she had spent a wonderfully intimate morning with the man Catherine was going to marry would hardly be a good way to ensure Sir William gave her the money she needed to travel south.

‘I want you to be happy,’ Selina said, choosing her words carefully. It was not a lie. She did not hate Catherine and could sympathise with the difficult position she was in, a pawn in her father’s machinations to climb higher in Society, even if she did share those ambitions.

‘That is sweet. You want me to be happy with Lord Leven?’

Selina glanced at her half-sister, trying to ascertain the motive behind the words.

‘I want you to be happy whatever your future holds.’

‘Surely you think my future holds a marriage to Lord Leven?’

‘Of course.’

‘A long and happy marriage to Lord Leven?’

Selina swallowed hard, bringing her eyes up to meet Catherine’s and as their gaze met it was clear that Catherine knew. There was a simmering hatred in her eyes along with a sliver of hurt.

‘Tell me,’ Catherine said, her nose crinkling in disdain.

‘You’ve always craved a position in this family.

I’ve always thought it pathetic how you paw and fawn at my father, acting as though he owes you something just because twenty-two years ago your whore of a mother couldn’t keep her legs closed… ’

‘Catherine,’ Lady Kingsley exclaimed, a hand flying to her mouth. Sir William was silent, his eyes narrowed, as if aware there was something deeper, something important, going on here. He was an observant man and he merely shifted in his seat, watching how things would play out.

‘Did you think committing the ultimate betrayal would be a good way to earn my father’s affection?’

‘Catherine…’ Selina said, her expression pleading. Desperately she tried to work out how Catherine could know what had happened in the woods. Surely no one had seen them.

‘You do know he has only tolerated you for this long because of the damage you could do to his reputation if you were to make your sordid claims about your parenthood public. You are nothing more than a dirty little secret that doesn’t have the good sense to see when she is not wanted. You are worthless in this world.’

Selina felt the tears prick at her eyes, but refused to let these people see her cry. This past year she had felt worthless, like a dirty little secret.

She stood, thinking it best to remove herself from this situation. She would go upstairs and pack a bag and then perhaps find a way to speak to her father alone. No more did she want to be a pawn in other people’s lives, moved around without a say in what her future held.

‘Sit down,’ Sir William said, his tone brooking no argument.

Selina hesitated but then retook her seat.

‘I think you had better tell us what is going on, Catherine,’ Sir William said, his eyes fixed on Selina.

‘Ever since we arrived in Scotland she has been scheming. I’ve seen her acting inappropriately with Lord Leven, touching his arm as she giggles at whatever amusing thing he has to say.’

Selina opened her mouth to protest, but was silenced by a warning hand from her father.

‘It was horrible to watch, but I told myself it didn’t really matter. Lord Leven is an earl. He knows breeding. A nobody like Selina is fine for a flirtation, but he would not taint his bloodline with her.’

‘I told you we should have pushed her back in the gutter the very day she came begging at our door,’ Lady Kingsley said, looking at Selina with pure hatred in her eyes.

‘A noise in the middle of the night woke me from sleep and I could not settle. I rose and thought I might get some milk from the kitchens. As I was going downstairs I saw Lord Leven sneaking out. He hadn’t been visiting me in the middle of the night, so there was only one possible place he could have come from.

’ She cleared her throat. ‘And this is after I saw him sneaking from the house after the ball. Selina assured me he had escorted her home, nothing more, but that was clearly a lie.’

Selina felt the awful irony of the situation. Last night she had sent Callum away with nothing more than a kiss. Yet it had been that indiscretion that caught them out, not the one in the woods.

‘See, she does not deny it. The little whore has been caught entertaining my future husband in the middle of the night.’

Out of the corner of her eye Selina watched her father. For half a minute he remained very still, not even blinking. He looked like a statue, although not one Selina would want in her home. Then slowly he rose to his feet, his eyes still fixed on her, but his top lip quivering with rage.

‘Is this true?’

The sensible thing to do would be to flee.

Sir William was angrier than she had ever seen him before and all of that anger was directed towards her.

Yet Selina could not have moved if a hundred petrified elephants were stampeding her way.

She felt mesmerised, frozen to the spot, unable to do anything except wait and see how things unfolded.

‘Is. This. True?’ His words were clipped, each syllable filled with rage, and a cold trickle of fear ran through her. She wondered if she was in physical danger. Sir William could lash out and no one in this room would be inclined to stop him.

With a quick glance to the door, she stood and then squared her shoulders as she faced her father.

‘Yes.’

The room was completely silent, each second stretching out for an eternity.

‘After everything I have done for you. The months of housing you, feeding you, clothing you. Bringing you to Scotland with my family.’ He stalked out around the table so he was standing directly in front of her, towering over her petite form.

Selina stood firm, despite her instinct to run.

For months she had suffered the emotional manipulation at the hands of this man.

Every so often there would be a glimmer of affection or appreciation, always when she was close to giving up her aim of becoming closer to her father.

It had been a horrible cycle, always keeping her hanging on, driving her away and then pulling her back.

‘I am your daughter,’ she said, raising her chin. Inside her chest her heart was beating so fast she was afraid it might give out and she was having to take shallow, shaky breaths, but she did not back away from her father.

‘You knew I existed all those years, but you never gave my poor mother any assistance. You let her raise two children by herself, disgraced and driven away from her family. She might have been a foolish young girl when you met her, ready to believe your promises, your lies, but you knew what you were doing.’ She poked a finger in his chest, surprised at her own bravery. ‘I owe you nothing, Sir William.’

He spluttered and blustered before rallying and gripping her by the arm, his fingers digging into her flesh.

‘You will get nothing more from me. Not a single penny, not anything to help towards your journey home. I do not care if you starve on the streets or die in a ditch. Leave here and never come back.’

He thrust her in front of him, pushing her out of the dining room and into the hall. Catherine and Lady Kingsley watched with a mixture of horror and satisfaction on their faces. Sir William wrenched open the front door and pushed her bodily outside.

‘You have five minutes to get off my property or I will send every single one of my servants and employees to chase you off.’

‘What about my things?’

‘I will burn them for you.’

Selina swallowed hard, thinking of the letters from Sarah and the few personal possessions she had accumulated over the time she had spent with the Kingsleys. She cared not about the clothes, other than to realise it might be a while before she was able to change out of her current dress.

With as much dignity as she could muster Selina turned and began to walk steadily away from the house. More than anything she wanted to break out into a run, but she could feel her father’s eyes on her back and she did not want to give him the satisfaction of seeing her affected so much.