never been invited to a ball or a social in this county, and you never will be. Folks look down their noses at me, ’cause I work for a livin’. I didn’t come from a rich family to hand down wealth to me like those lazy, uppity sons of bitches. I had to work for everything I got. Folks can’t stand knowin’ that, and that’s why I’m shunned and always will be, and the sooner you and that high-minded daughter of yours realize that, the better off you’ll be.
“Furthermore,” he went on, nostrils flaring, cords standing out in his neck, “they were also talkin’ about what a spectacle Erin made of herself doin’ some kind of lewd dance with that rake, Ryan Youngblood. And you let her do it, so that makes you guilty as she is!”
“Guilty of what?” Arlene was slowly getting to her feet once more, ire rising despite her fear of him, intensified in that moment by the way he reeked with the odor of whiskey.
Zachary also straightened, clenching his fists at his sides.
“I can’t see that Erin has done anything wrong,” she said. “And Ryan Youngblood is certainly no rake. He comes from a good family, but that’s not the point. Erin can’t help it if we’re socially ostracized because of you. And you’re wrong in your reasoning,” she dared point out. “Folks don’t look down on you because you had to work for what you’ve got. They shun you because of the way you behave, getting drunk and rowdy and always in a scrap. And they don’t like the way you treat our servants. You try to hide it,but you’re brutal and word gets out and—”
He gave her another rough shove that sat her back down, towered over her, and shook his fist in her face as he growled, “You shut up! You don’t know what you’re talkin’ about, and you oughta know after all these years, I don’t take sass off nobody, ’specially what I own, and I own you just like I own them slaves. And that’s what they are—slaves! And it’s nobody’s business how I treat ’em.
“And I’ll tell you something else,” he went on raggedly, hoarsely. “Don’t you ever throw off at me that it’s my fault you ain’t accepted, ’cause if folks around here knew the truth about what you are, they wouldn’t even let you sit with ’em in church! You’d be up in the balcony with the rest of the darkies!”
Arlene gasped, stricken, instinctively glancing about for fear someone could hear him, relieved no one was about. “That’s got nothing to do with it,” she whispered, aghast that he had flung that in her face—again. Oh, there’d been times in the past when he had, but only when he was rip-roaring drunk and mean and not caring how bad he hurt her.
“Just remember your place, woman!” His upper lip turned back in a scornful snarl. “And don’t you let me hear of you ever pullin’ such a stunt again. Now I’m tellin’ you to get that girl of yours down off her high horse before I do it for you! I’ll see to it she gets a husband without makin’ this family look like a fool!”
Arlene knew he couldn’t stand for her to cry but had no more control. Covering her face with her hands, she bowed her head and wept. Enraged, he wrapped his fingers in her hair, yanked her head back, forcing her to look up at him as he continued his tirade. “You’ve made my life hell all these years, you know that? You connived to get me to marry you, put a spell on me, made me so goddamn crazy wantin’ you I was willin’ to marry you even after what you told me, but I ain’t under that spell no more. And if you don’t straighten up, learn your place, and do somethin’ about that snotty daughter of yours, I’ll do the same thing to you I do with slaves I get tired of fuckin’ around with. You understand me? Now get out of here. I can’t stand your sniveling!”
She fled quickly into the house to her sewing room, locking the door behind her before collapsing to the floor to give way to the flood of tears. Dear God, she asked herself
“Furthermore,” he went on, nostrils flaring, cords standing out in his neck, “they were also talkin’ about what a spectacle Erin made of herself doin’ some kind of lewd dance with that rake, Ryan Youngblood. And you let her do it, so that makes you guilty as she is!”
“Guilty of what?” Arlene was slowly getting to her feet once more, ire rising despite her fear of him, intensified in that moment by the way he reeked with the odor of whiskey.
Zachary also straightened, clenching his fists at his sides.
“I can’t see that Erin has done anything wrong,” she said. “And Ryan Youngblood is certainly no rake. He comes from a good family, but that’s not the point. Erin can’t help it if we’re socially ostracized because of you. And you’re wrong in your reasoning,” she dared point out. “Folks don’t look down on you because you had to work for what you’ve got. They shun you because of the way you behave, getting drunk and rowdy and always in a scrap. And they don’t like the way you treat our servants. You try to hide it,but you’re brutal and word gets out and—”
He gave her another rough shove that sat her back down, towered over her, and shook his fist in her face as he growled, “You shut up! You don’t know what you’re talkin’ about, and you oughta know after all these years, I don’t take sass off nobody, ’specially what I own, and I own you just like I own them slaves. And that’s what they are—slaves! And it’s nobody’s business how I treat ’em.
“And I’ll tell you something else,” he went on raggedly, hoarsely. “Don’t you ever throw off at me that it’s my fault you ain’t accepted, ’cause if folks around here knew the truth about what you are, they wouldn’t even let you sit with ’em in church! You’d be up in the balcony with the rest of the darkies!”
Arlene gasped, stricken, instinctively glancing about for fear someone could hear him, relieved no one was about. “That’s got nothing to do with it,” she whispered, aghast that he had flung that in her face—again. Oh, there’d been times in the past when he had, but only when he was rip-roaring drunk and mean and not caring how bad he hurt her.
“Just remember your place, woman!” His upper lip turned back in a scornful snarl. “And don’t you let me hear of you ever pullin’ such a stunt again. Now I’m tellin’ you to get that girl of yours down off her high horse before I do it for you! I’ll see to it she gets a husband without makin’ this family look like a fool!”
Arlene knew he couldn’t stand for her to cry but had no more control. Covering her face with her hands, she bowed her head and wept. Enraged, he wrapped his fingers in her hair, yanked her head back, forcing her to look up at him as he continued his tirade. “You’ve made my life hell all these years, you know that? You connived to get me to marry you, put a spell on me, made me so goddamn crazy wantin’ you I was willin’ to marry you even after what you told me, but I ain’t under that spell no more. And if you don’t straighten up, learn your place, and do somethin’ about that snotty daughter of yours, I’ll do the same thing to you I do with slaves I get tired of fuckin’ around with. You understand me? Now get out of here. I can’t stand your sniveling!”
She fled quickly into the house to her sewing room, locking the door behind her before collapsing to the floor to give way to the flood of tears. Dear God, she asked herself
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