Page 108 of Miss Vincent’s Vow

“No.”

“Then what will you do?” Eugenia asked, as Xander grew paler. Why wouldn’t the wretched woman leave him alone?

“I don’t know.”

“Will you be stuck with a limp forever?”

“Probably.”

“What a shame—you were such a graceful dancer.”

Cassandra wanted to slap her. How dare she taunt her brother like that? Why did Xander just sit there and take it? Why didn’t he rage and shout as he had before? The lack of reaction was as distressing to observe as his ranting had been.

“Look on the bright side,” Eugenia said, her mouth dripping with poisonous honey. “At least you do not have a wife to maintain. Consider how much worse it would be if I had married you before you sailed like you wanted me to. I didn’t know then what a mercy my caution would be for us both.”

Cassandra gasped, but Xander merely laid a hand over hers and squeezed it. “Mrs Frampton is correct,” he said. “She is far better off without me.”

“There, see? You should not have fretted when I broke off the engagement, Cassandra. It has all worked out for the best. I am not saddled with a husband who can barely walk, and Xander does not have the burden of an extravagant wife he cannot afford to support.”

Mr Wade and Mr Frampton stood at a distance, engaged in a separate conversation, seemingly oblivious to Eugenia’s spiteful words. As Cassandra glanced in their direction, the two men shook hands.

Her heart sank. So much for her suspicion that Mr Wade had some connection with Jethro’s mother. Perhaps now she had passed away, he felt no obligation to keep supporting her son.

It looked as if the entire evening was going to be a disaster.

She shot a glance at Jethro, but he didn’t appear to have noticed the other men shaking hands. His gaze was fixed on Eugenia, and the dark expression in his eyes did not bode well.

“I have an idea,” Mrs Frampton continued. “Perhaps if I ask my husband, he could find you a position in his warehouse. There may be something that a man with your…um…disadvantages can do.”

Cassandra shuffled uncomfortably in her seat. Why was Eugenia so determined to taunt her brother?

Although Xander said nothing in response, Cassandra knew he was affected by her words. The sofa began to jiggle up and down as a muscle in Xander’s injured leg went into spasm.

She couldn’t bear to listen to Eugenia humiliating him anymore. Not trusting herself to counter the woman’s spite without losing her temper, there was only one option.

They had to leave before Eugenia pushed her over the edge—which was, Cassandra realised, exactly what the woman wanted. For her or Jethro or Xander to embarrass themselves, thus raising the Framptons in Mr Wade’s esteem.

She twisted around to face her husband and cast him a look of anguish before rising from the sofa.

Jethro caught her arm with his hand. “Stay a little longer, my dear. I am not ready to leave yet.”

What was Jethro planning? His expression was ominous, as if he had been as stirred by Eugenia’s words as she had.

She wished she could stop him, but if she flouted his request, she was in as much danger of making a scene as he was.

With a sinking heart, Cassandra did as she was bid and retook her seat, praying all the while that her husband was not about to say something he would later regret.

Chapter 58

Jethro was not blind to the look of sheer panic on his wife’s face as he urged her to sit down again, but there were times when a man had to stand up for what was right, no matter what the personal cost.

On this occasion, he could not fault Alexander’s behaviour. There was no doubt his brother-in-law was hurting, but whether through lethargy or self-control, he did not rise to a single taunt.

Cassandra’s heightened colour suggested it was otherwise with her, and she wanted to escape. Jethro hated to go against her wishes, but he refused to let them retreat. He must not. Mrs Frampton should not be allowed to get away with such cruelty unchallenged.

He glanced across the room at Mr Wade. Was he listening? Jethro believed so, but that didn’t change his mind. Unless he was mistaken, the older man had been paying attention throughout, despite appearing to be lost in conversation with Eugenia’s husband.

Did Frampton not hear what his wife was saying? Or was that why he was talking to Mr Wade so assiduously—to cover over his wife’s malice?