Angelica’s face burned. She’d ruined everything. The Neill family would never accept her now. “I never encouraged him.”
“No, you didn’t have to, did you? You’re so beautiful that every man in the room falls to his knees for you.” The young woman laughed, maniacally. “You can’t help it. You’re just poor, blind, pitiful Angelica Grey. Look at that frock!” She grabbed at it, catching a piece of delicate net. Black beads peppered the floor. “Brody bought it for you on my account. First, you seduce my beau. Now, you are wearing my dress!”
Mary Rose Neill was out of her mind with drunken, misplaced jealousy. Angelica hadn’t seduced anybody, and if the girl objected to their shopping at Grocott’s on her account, she ought to take that up with Captain Neill.
Angelica wanted desperately to explain that it had been Peter who cornered her. Peter who’d assaulted her. But she could not find the words to voice what she never wanted to relive again. Instead, she stood in dumb, mute horror.
“If you ever lay another finger on my Peter,” Mary Rose continued, “I’ll rip your worthless eyes out of your head!”
Captain Neill scoffed. “Angelica doesn’t give a shit about your Peter. Where is he, by the way? Nowhere to be found. Probably off fucking one of your friends!”
At that, the girl shook, sputtered, and then stumbled forward, right into Angelica’s arms. Rather than drop the girl at her feet, Angelica held her as Mary Rose slurred a stream of vicious curses.
Thankfully, Marcus scooped his sister up. “I’ll get her sober. Brody, you take Angelica upstairs.” Before he disappeared into the crowd, he added, “I am sorry, Miss Grey. She won’t remember any of this in the morning.”
What sort of apology was that? Their sister had ruined her dress. Their sister had humiliated her in front of hundreds of strangers. No wonder Captain Neill turned to morphine—his family was enough to drive one mad!
“Come on,” he said, stroking her elbow. “We’ll take the servants’ way.”
Angelica was tempted to jerk from his touch. Did he too intend to sweep the entire wretched scene under the rug? “What about Peter? He’s telling people that he and I… Oh, God, that we… And now your sister… Aren’t you going to do something?”
“The best we can do for now is disappear,” Captain Neill said. “Between M.R. and me, Markie is used to this sort of thing. He’ll handle it.”
She shook her head. “But…my frock.”
“Done for, I’m afraid. And, unless you want everyone to see it, we’d better get you out of here.”
CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
Angelica cried all the way upstairs. She’d never been in such a situation before, and did not know how to handle it. She felt embarrassed, sad, and angry all at once. She wept for Mary Rose, who was surely troubled, and for Marcus, who somehow held the family together while the parents couldn’t be bothered to care.
Captain Neill brought her to her room, and closed the door behind them. He stood there for a moment without saying a word. He let her get it all out of her system. Then, he asked, “Shall I ring for Bessie?”
“No. I don’t want her.”
“What do you want, then?”
She sniffled. “An apology.”
“From Mary Rose? Because, you won’t get—”
“No. From you.”
He stepped forward, touching her. “Why me? What have I done?”
“You brought me here, to this place where no one is kind. Where everyone hates me, and are always trying to trip me up. No one here is good, Brody. These people are all rotten.”
“I know,” he said, sadly. “Sometimes I think you’re the only good thing left in this world.”
She turned to him. “Then can we leave?”
“Angelica…”
Now, she understood—he intended them to stay here with his family. That’s why he’d brought her to his home, because they didn’t have money to go anywhere else. Oh, God. How long did he expect her to go on living like this?
Captain Neill held her against him. “Mary Rose didn’t know what she was doing. She didn’t mean any of it. You simply don’t have enough experience with drugs and drink to understand.”
“I understand I don’t have to be treated like that! Does your family hold no one accountable for their actions? Is this how you were raised? Because, if so, it answers so many questions…”
“Yes, Angelica. This is how I was raised. My parents hate each other. Father barely sleeps here, and keeps a mistress somewhere else. Mother has a slew of lovers, though that revolving door has slowed a bit. Quite possibly, Mary Rose isn’t even my father’s child, but we all choose to ignore the fact. Markie’s silently miserable, and has been for years. As for me, well, I’m the family disappointment—yet some days I think I’m the only sane one!”
“Then I feel sorry for you.”
He scoffed. “Why, because my family is a disaster?”