The Taming of Victoria Colton

Chapter Two

Chapter Two

Neither should private vexations be allowed to act upon her [the young lady’s] manners, either in her own house or in those of others. If unfit for society, let her refrain from entering it.

~ The Habits of Good Society: A Handbook for Ladies and Gentlemen (The Last London Editor; 1860)

 

“This is all your fault,” Vicky snapped as she practically flew down the steps of the townhouse out onto the busy streets of London. A footman lurched out of her way and stumbled into the wrought iron railing flanking them on either side. “If you hadn’t flaunted your mistresses under their noses-”

“Victoria,” Gabriel warned in a voice so icy cold it almost stopped her dead in her tracks.

Almost.

Irate and furious, she shuddered to a halt before the carriage bearing the ducal emblem of Hawthorne and waited impatiently for another footman to throw open the door for them to clamber inside. “I could have been in Africa next month,” she went on furiously, blithely unaware of the danger behind her. “But you- Ow!”

She looked down at the strong hand biting into her upper arm with agonizing force. “You’re hurting me,” she ground out, raising her eyes to meet the man who was holding her so painfully.

“Nothing short of what you deserve,” he clipped before thrusting her inside the carriage rather brutally.

Victoria stumbled over the hem of her gown before plunking herself petulantly on the comfortable cushioned seats of the carriage, indignant. The carriage tilted as Gabriel hefted his solid weight into it and planted himself opposite her, his face one of cold indifference. The fact that she couldn’t read him, couldn’t even begin to understand what his thoughts on their predicament were, irked her more. With sharp movements, he closed the carriage door and knocked on the roof, indicating that they were ready to move. After a moment, the carriage began to roll over the cobbled streets. 

Victoria stared out the window and endeavoured to ignore his unsavoury presence in the small confined area with her, instead focusing blearily on the bustle in the streets outside her window. Oh, it just wasn’t fair. Why should she be denied the right to travel when men of a lower status than her went to Africa, to the Americas- to Asia!- everyday? Yes, she was unreasonable at times but surely Delores could see that England didn’t make her happy? Her life was lacking, her curiosity unabated and there was a dark, empty longing within her soul that she knew travel could cure. She had felt the urge ever since her mother had perished due to an infectious lung ailment, passed along unwittingly by Gabriel’s father. 

It had been a trying time. At eleven years old, Victoria had become solely dependent on her mother especially after her father had died a mere two years earlier. She knew that Penelope Colton had become fond of Gabriel’s father and the two had endured a brief courtship before he had offered for her. But a mere two weeks before their wedding Edward Sinclair had come into contact with a highly contagious illness which he then unconsciously passed onto Penelope. They passed away within weeks of each other. It had broken Victoria’s heart.

Delores and Henry had been named guardians of both Vicky, eleven at the time, and Gabriel, twenty one at the time. Finishing his studies at Eton, Gabriel had made a brief appearance at the funeral and Victoria hated him on sight. She hadn’t met him previously but the coldly aloof young man barely acknowledged her and when he did it was merely to send her up to her quarters for a clean. It pricked on her young pride at the time and set up ten years of bitterness and barbed words between two people who had come so close to being related. Thank God, Vicky thought, they weren’t.