Lady Whittaker Wages War

Chapter 1: Cassius

"She has been what?!" Cassius demanded with a voice bordering on a snarl. When he had received an urgent missive from Honoria's school, he had been afraid she was hurt, or ill. He had ridden North like the devil had been on his heels, only to find this. "She did what?"

The woman in front of him, to her credit, remained entirely unimpressed with his snapping.

"Suspended," Miss Heartwood, one of Honoria's teachers, replied with an infuriating matter-of-factness that made his hackles rise. "I was able to talk Mrs. Pinehurst down from an expulsion, sir, on the grounds that she is still mourning her mother. But I must warn you that Lady Honoria has quite exhausted our principal's goodwill. Sneaking off the premises is a severe offense, and Lady Honoria is lucky that she was not hurt. Or worse."

Cassius wanted to rip into the teacher, the headmistress, anyone for their astonishing lack of security regarding their students. How did one even lose an eleven-year-old?

He wanted to tussle and yell. If only Honoria's English teacher would stop being so damned calm. He wished she would give him reason to snap and thunder, but instead, she had defended his daughter and saved her from expulsion. He raked a hand through his hair in an impatient, frustrated gesture.

He needed an outlet for the surfeit of pent-up emotions of the last few days, the fear, the exhaustion, the frustration. But the poor teacher would not bear the brunt of his displeasure when all she had done was do him a favor.

"If I may be so bold, My Lord?"

"You haven't yet held back, Miss Heartwood," he replied through grit teeth.

"She is waiting for you in the next chamber, through this door," she nodded toward the direction of the second chamber. "I would ask that you recall that losing a parent for one as young as she, even though she acts so mature for her age, is a difficult time."

He nodded tightly in thanks, even though he bristled at yet another woman who thought she could dictate how he ought to treat his daughter. He wanted to do what was best for her, he wanted for her to feel safe and cared for and yet it seemed everyone he met doubted he could ever measure up.

It rankled, it hurt.

He took a fortifying sigh and stepped through the connecting doorway. His daughter sat, facing away from him.

He waited for her to get up and greet him. He wondered if she would mind if he hugged her. He so dearly wanted to.

When she refused to acknowledge him, he decided to take the first step.

"Hello, Honoria."

Silence.

No loving hugs, then, he presumed. He took a step toward her but she sidled even further away from him. He was not going to pretend that it did not sting.

"I am glad you are unhurt."

You could hear a pin drop in the room.

"I have come to take you home. But we must talk about your behavior. And you must apologize to Mrs. Pinehurst."

She scoffed, but made no other reply.

"So," Cassius' grip on his walking stick tightened as his daughter refused to make eye contact with him. She stared pointedly out of the window refusing to speak to him, "nothing to say for yourself, then?"

More silence.

"You ran off with village boys to the fair, reducing your matron to a fainting spell. Your headmistress and your teachers spent hours looking for you. And this is only the latest stunt in just this term. You threw paint at another class fellow, you threw food at your teacher, you purposefully stepped on your dance master's toes, and you have intentionally not filled in your tests and assignments. What has possessed you?"