The Vicious Viscount

chapter 23

Chapter twenty-three

She was gone. The statement that his footman told before he dismissed him.

He waited for the feeling of relievement to come, anything to ease the sudden anxiousness In his body. He stared at the splashed hundreth thousand on his desk, she had not taken it. Instead she flew with tears, like he was at fault, for exactly what he wondered, that he didn't let her finish her poor excuses? He had already went against his own words and his pride for her to even appear in front of him. He prowled through his study like a caged tiger, wanting to break free of something... something.. if only he knew what it was. For the past weeks he was accoustmed to her appearance and watching her through his balcony. Yes he did, and he told himself it was to keep an eye on her incase she stole anything. But that was an lie, he wanted to watch her, he wanted to see as she smelled flowers and walk barefoot through the grass. Now the house was the way it had been for years, before she arrived. He expected to fel better any minute now.

As he was about to work on the files that waited on him, his door was flewn open and incame an angry Annabelle, "What did the servants mean that Lady Stephanie was kicked out?" her ice cold voice echoed and he did not lift his gaze from the files, with an uncare he flipped the page, so she had been informed in the forward way had she not? But he wanted to correct her that he did not kick a lady out, but a decieving thief. Who weirdly did not steal anything. He did not want to point that fact, she would done it rather behind his back had she the chance. "So I did" was his bored answer,

Annabelle threw up her hands, "For what reason? You had grew a fond of her and do not deny it because I wont believe you one bit, everyone could tell how besotted you looked at the ball! She is kind and beautiful, everything that could be asked in a viscountess" she said and this time he did lift his gaze with annoyance, the woman did not act towards him but also the whole people involved, now his cousin portrayed him as the devil for throwing such a kind lady out.

"The matter is settled, now if you don't have anything else" he nodded towards the door, signaling her to leave, but she scoffed, "You are the most unbelieavble man I have ever come to know, how bloody hard is It to say what she has done? Tell me, have you caught her smoking a cigar? Was she allowing a gentleman to.. kiss her? Swimming naked in a pond? Was she riding astride?"

He wanted to laugh, that might have been scandalous in her eyes, indeed it was for a lady. But he expected nothing less from a poor cunning one like her, she strode towards him and sat on the leather chair across. "Out with it! I demand you tell me what she done for you to behaving like a madman," she continued, and Malcolm knew she would never leave without an answer. With a close of the files he regarded her, she was watchimg him impatiently,

"There is no Stephanie Hastington"

"What?" her cousin was in disbelief. Her mouth agape and eyes widen, "H—how"

"The woman played a trick, masqureading as a lady, in order to be invited---" he got cut of by her inhale of surprise, "You mean to say she was someone else this whole time? And what was she after"

His muscles tightened, to speak on the past was something he never wanted, but it ended up being it. "Me, it was not her first try. Remember the woman I wanted to introduce you to six years ago? When—" he started but she answered in a heart beat, "I remember.. how could I not? You were so contented and blissful and---" she seemed to head into directions he did not want to go, with a grunt he interrupted her, "Yeah, I believe I was" he muttered.

She frowned back at him, "I am afraid I don't understand, what has it to do with Stephanie"

"She is the same woman six years ago, she.. she was not exactly the same one, because she was a poor orphan, with a maid that worked under my fathers roof, had it not been for your father, I would be comitting the biggest regret of my life." He muttered gritting his teeth in the thought of procceding his plans of marrying her, and just like her mother she would stab him in the back and whoring around.

Annabelle gasped her eyes bulging out, "my heavens! This is absurd, its totally---" she tried finding words for what could explain this bizzare situation, "There must be something else to this story, my father probably find out wrong---" before she could accuse his uncle who practically saved his life from ruination, he cut in, "--- She stole money, from my dead father, uncle saw it himself" he bit out with anger yet again boiling inside of him. That she had played to feel any kind of remorse and kind affection towards his father, and than steal what was inside his drawer was something that till this day he could not forget. Because that had told him everything he needed to know about her. She was here to steal from him, now that he had fortune and became tremendously wealthy she had came back.

A long moment of silence went through, him with a new wave of resentment and anger, Annabelle still looking completely in shock, "I- I am completely speechless, that explains why you looked like you saw a ghost when you first saw her"

He nodded in answer, it had been more than seeing a ghost. It was like a dead person came back into life, he had never in his whole imagination thought to see her, perhaps in the poor side of london or rather a whoring place, where the likes of her existed. Had he got any warning of what was ahead of him it would probably save him a lot of ache, and the wound that never got treated. After she betrayed him he had completely shut everything and everyone out, it had made him a cold beast as the close one of his family would say.

His muscles tightened as he shook his head, "She is gone, and god knows if she is about to swindle another man in this moment" he sneered, being considered beautiful in society was a privilige she had, it could turn a man blind, and she had that power to use, "What is this cash sprawled on your desk," Annabelle gestured to his desk and he scoffed, "What she came for of course, mayhap it was not enough for her, she---" as he continued with his theories Annabelle pounded in,

"Why hasn't she took it?"

"To fool me into believeing she had not come for it, she wanted to steal behind my back, not me putting it in front of her,"

While his words did make sense to Annabelle it seemed like she had a mind of her own, "Or that you could be wrong"

Malcolm took a deep breath, "While I can understand you had grown a fond of her, after all you had accompined her and treated her warmly and welcomingly----"

"Has it occurred to you that she might have her reason"

"I don't care, I don't---- it will never justify for what she had done" the deadly calm in his voice that bursted into nothing but hatred made Annabelle almost shriek back, it seemed like she hit a nerve in him, "For her excuses and reasons I do not care, she had that chance six years ago when I was willing to hear and listen" he did not want to say how desperate he was. How he prayed that it was a lie. She could have not warmed his bed so affeconitaly and in the same time went to another man, it was utterly impossible.

Annabelle nodded, "I am sorry, I should have reconsider your feelings to all of this... I just cant—I just cant believe when she looked at you so lovingly—"

"She Is a master at decieving, you are in no fault, belle. It is my fault for not throwing her out the moment she set her foot in this house"

And he would regret that most.

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