Storm of Bells

39. Through Thick and Thin

It is time.

Time.

For the wedding.

It almost felt like a dream as I strode down the corridor with my friends fluttering and twittering around me. The wedding. My wedding. To the man I loved.

I was in love with a man!

My oh my, how the worm turns...

The worm, a.k.a. me, was currently squirming in a little dressing room right next to my bedroom. Luckily, nobody else was there to see me. The others had all gone down, needing to check something or other I'd been too panicky to listen to. I didn't really mind. I needed some time to keep my rivers of sweat from flowing. I didn't know much about wedding fashions, but the sweat-drenched-hag style probably wasn't very much in vogue.

'Calm down, Lilly!' Still breathing hard, I marched over to the window and pressed my heated face against the cool glass. Cool just like him. 'Everything is all right! Everything is all right.'

Behind me, the door opened with a click. 'I wouldn't exactly say that,' came a terribly familiar voice from behind me.

I whirled around—and there he stood. Lord Daniel Eugene Dalgliesh, eyes blazing a dangerous steel-blue. Although his threatening aura was somewhat undercut by the fact he was wobbling on two crutches.

'Feeling better, are you?' I enquired sweetly.

His eyes narrowed into slits. From any other noble, I would have taken this as pompous posturing and shrugged it off. But Lord Dalgliesh was an entirely different matter.

A tiger is most dangerous when it is wounded.

I couldn't help smiling.

Good thing you have a lion on your side, Lilly.

'Smile while you can, Miss Linton.' His oh-so-noble face twisted into an ugly sneer. 'It won't last for long.'

I felt my heart rate picking up again—and, this time, not because of wedding jitters.

'What do you mean?' I demanded.

Although I had already a pretty good idea.

'What do you think?' Taking a wobbling step forward, he jabbed a crutch in my direction. 'Did you really believe you could attack me and get away with it? If you'd been a good little girl and done as I'd said, I might have held back, but now...' His crutch thumped down on the floor, hard, making me jump. 'I'll destroy you. The both of you.'

A cold shiver went down my spine.

So, of course, I instantly raised my chin in defiance! 'You can't! You haven't been able to for years upon years, so how would you do it now?'

He took another step forward. Abruptly, I realized how small this damn room was. 'I might not be able to take his money. I might not be able to take his land. But I can damn well take what matters most to him!'

'What do you mean?' I hissed. But, by the way his steel-blue eyes were piercing me, I already had my suspicions.

'You're leaving,' he hissed. 'Now! Today! He isn't going to get you.'

Instinctively, my chin rose higher. 'And why the heck should I do that? Go to hell!'

'I won't. But he might, if you don't do as I say.' Taking a step towards me, he speared me with his gaze. 'That stupid fool might not care if he's running around with a crossdressing squab, but the rest of the world most certainly will. What do you think will happen when everyone finds out what the two of you have been up to all these years? Do you think any self-respecting man would still want to do business with a joke like Rikkard Ambrose?' Eyes gleaming with triumph, he took another step closer. He was almost close enough to reach out and touch me now. 'If I can't ruin that insolent little upstart's business, I'll take ruining his life as a consolation prize.'