Page 94 of The Unfortunate Debutante
“When I was ten?” she asked, furrowing her brow. “Please tell me that you are not in earnest.”
“We made a vow to each other,” he declared.
“We were children. It was a silly game.”
His face grew expressionless. “To you, perhaps, but to me, it was a promise.”
“Peter, I am sorry…”
“Enough!” he shouted. “It matters not. We will ride out and be wed tomorrow.”
She shook her head. “No, Peter. I will not marry you.”
“You would rather marry a Bow Street Runner than me?” Peter scoffed as he began to pace back and forth. “You want to struggle for the rest of your days?”
With a fleeting glance at Simeon, she replied, “Yes, with all of my heart.”
“You’re a fool!” Peter shouted. “You would be nothing without me.”
“I beg your pardon?”
Peter stopped pacing. “It was I that contacted your grandfather after your mother’s death and began receiving money for your tuition.” He pointed at her. “Without your fancy boarding school, you would have been working at the shop.”
“Perhaps,” she responded reflectively. “But I never desired to go to boarding school.”
He scoffed. “You are Sir Alymer’s only grandchild, and he intends to make you his heir. When that happens, you will be worth so much more than you are now, and I intend to possess all he plans to leave you.”
Emma stared at him in shock as reality set in. “Regardless, you killed my father and Luke to achieve your nefarious purposes,” she asserted, her voice rising in anger.
“Luke isn’t dead,” Simeon whispered behind her.
A great feeling of relief washed over her. At least Luke was still alive.
“You ungrateful chit,” Peter said. “I negotiated this all on your behalf.”
She shook her head. “No,youdid this for yourself. You murdered, cheated, and stole. For what?” She met his gaze unflinchingly. “I could never love you after what you have done.”
Peter sneered at her. “You became awfully self-important once the Marquess of Downshire became your guardian.” He took another step closer to her. “But you will always be just a constable’s daughter.”
Emma took a moment to consider her words. “You are right,” she finally answered. “I am a constable’s daughter, but I am also so much more.” She tilted her chin defiantly. “I have a family, friends, and I’m stronger than you know.”
“You don’t have a family, they’re just using you,” Peter pressed.
“For what?” she declared, tossing up her hands. “I used to think I didn’t deserve their love, that I was somehow unworthy of it because I never earned it. But I was wrong. They’ve loved me without restraint, and Iamworthy of being loved.”
“You’re spouting nonsense,” Peter proclaimed. “You don’t belong in their world. You belong with me.”
She gave him a look filled with pity. “I belong in whatever world that I want to be in. And I will carve my own path from here on out.”
“You will love me,” Peter growled, pointing his pistol over her shoulder at Simeon, “once this man is out of the way.”
Reaching back, Emma grabbed Simeon’s hand and brought it up to her pocket of her gown. She felt him fingering the pistol and removing it from her pocket.
“It has nothing to do with Simeon,” Emma said calmly. “This is between you and me.”
Simeon’s authoritative voice came from behind her. “It’s over, Lockhart. Put the pistol down and walk away with your life.”
Lockhart let out a dry laugh. “You’re not in a position to be giving orders.”
