Silence No More

10. The Perfect Husband

"What?" The word was a hiss that escaped from between my teeth. "What did you just say? That is—!"

"—a marvellous idea!" Lady Samantha exclaimed, clapping her hands, her face lit up by a wide, beaming smile. "Mr Linton is such a sweet, charming young man! And I do seem to remember that Adaira always got along with him swimmingly!"

I opened my mouth once more. "Wait just a mi—"

"Oh yes!" Adaira interrupted, a shit-eating grin instantly replacing the gloomy expression from earlier. "Mr Linton and I are very close! I...I even must admit..."

She blushed!

Why the heck is she blushing? Why—

Then she winked at me. She was faking it! That bloody cheeky chick was faking it!

I was about to give the little vixen a good talking to—when her next words choked me.

"...in fact I must admit that I've always had certain...feelings for Mr Linton. I don't know how to describe it, it's just something I can sense, you know? Whenever I am around him, I can't help but feel we're alike, deep down inside."

"Ah..." Lady Samantha sighed. "How romantic."

Not if it's because we've both got the same equipment downstairs, it's not!

"Linton?" The cold voice of the marquess cut right through his wife's exuberance. "Who on earth is Mr Victor Linton?"

"Don't you remember, Darling?" enquired Lady Samantha with an expression on her face that said You'd better remember, or else you'll be sleeping on the sofa in the foreseeable future! "We've all met Mr Linton before. He came to Battlewood with his sister."

"Sister? What sister?"

"That," Mr Rikkard Ambrose joined in, his voice somehow easily managing to beat his father's in regard to iciness, "would be my wife."

"What?!" The older man's sharp eyes snapped to me. "That nobody? You already disappointed my expectations by tying yourself to such a lowborn individual, and now you want to throw your sister at another wastrel?"

My skin almost frosted over from the flare of icy fury that burst from my husband. He was just about to open his mouth and lay into his father—when my foot smashed down onto his toes.

"You know, I feel your esteemed father is right," I agreed with a cheerful smile while grinding down my foot a little bit harder. "My family is horribly lowborn and uncouth and totally unsuitable to be connected to a highborn lady like Adaira. I couldn't possibly presume—"

"Nonsense, dear!" Lady Samantha was beside me in a blink, pulling me into her arms to try and comfort me. "Your brother is a delightful young man! I'm sure he and Adaira would be very happy together."

Needless to say, her attempts at comforting did not work very well.

"I'm sure as well." Adaira nodded earnestly, the flame of true love shining in her eyes. "I've decided. In this life, there can be no one for me but dear, dear Mr Linton."

That sneaky little...! She should count her lucky stars her mother was hugging me right now, or else she would already have my fingers wrapped around her throat.

Calm, Lilly, calm! I told myself. After all, there's no way that bloody bastard of a father is ever going to consider an unknown, poor and untitled fellow as his son-in-la—

"Preposterous! Do you think I would actually consider accepting such an unknown, poor and untitled fellow as my son-in-law?"

A big, beaming smile spread over my face. Wasn't it amazing to always have people to rely on? Arrogant, self-important men were so amazing! Now all I needed to do was to wait for him to throw us out and—