One Penny Surprise (Saved By Desire 1)

Poppy reasoned that she had to go downstairs at some point anyway to fetch the precious bag. Before she did so, however, she took a moment to pack the remainder of her few precious belongings back into a second carpet bag and carried them with her as she descended the stairs. She placed those carefully in the cupboard beneath the stairs. It was the quiet click of the latch that alerted Clarence in the kitchen that she was there and he promptly appeared in the doorway.

“You took your time,” he groused.

“I am not beholden to you,” she retorted. “What do you want?”

“Deliver this message for me,” he demanded holding out a piece of parchment to her.

“Deliver it yourself,” she snorted. “I am not your messenger.”

“You will deliver this for me or you will be out on your ear.”

“Fine, I shall pack my belongings and be out of your hair then. See if you can cook a meal for yourself. The next time your creditor comes calling, you can deal with them, and while you are at it, you are all out of food so you need to go and purchase some with whatever money you have left.” She was proud of the keen disinterest in her voice as she spoke, and was aware that Clarence hesitated before he replied, but that didn’t detract him from trying to bully her once more.

“If you expect to remain in my house then you will do as you are told. You are too bloody wilful for your own good and need to mind your manners. No wonder I cannot find a husband to take you on. Not only do you not have enough looks to attract a man, but you are too mouthy and don’t have the brains you were born with,” he snorted derisively.

“Ha, I haven’t cost us the roof over our head in Cumbria,” she retorted.

It was a wild shot in the dark but she knew from the look on his face that was in fact what he had done. Her heart broke at the thought that she had lost the beloved home that meant so much to her, but she couldn’t think too much about that right now or she might break down and cry. Instead, she turned the pain into anger and glared hatefully at the man who was soon to become a part of her past. “You had to go and push it didn’t you? You are supposed to be the man of the house and work to provide for the family. You are supposed to deal with the running of the finances, and ensure there are enough funds available to put a roof over our heads and food on the table, yet you couldn’t even manage to do that properly. Peter was right about you, you are a selfish ingrate.”

She caught his hand before he slapped her again. This time she squeezed his wrist as tightly as she could in silent warning. “Don’t you ever touch me,” she breathed through clenched teeth as she tightened her grip as painfully as she could, and dug her nails in for good measure.

Her eyes met Clarence’s for what she suspected was the last time. If she was completely honest, she wouldn’t be sorry to see the back of him. Eventually, when his stunned gaze flickered to her hand, she threw his wrist away and turned her back on him before he could say anything else.

“You had a wonderful house in Cumbria, and a wife who loved you for what you were. Whatever she saw in you she stood by you but you didn’t even treat her properly. She died of heartbreak far too soon, not that you cared. I am sorry if I have been a disappointment to you but I didn’t ask to be born. You knew when you had me that you were accepting responsibilities as a father. Reneging on those in the way you have has been the worst act of cowardly selfishness I have ever come across. I am sorry to call you my sire. Given you have practically handed the house in Cumbria over to the creditor; am I to understand that you have also taken steps to ensure the furniture is put into storage? Or have you sold that too?”

“It is my furniture,” Clarence replied. “It is nothing to do with you.”

“Fine. Then I shall endeavour to ensure the remainder of my belongings are removed from the house forthwith because they were given to me by mother, and are not yours to give away,” she said coldly.

“So, what are you going to do? You have no skills with which to work and have no house in Cumbria to go back to. That house is no longer mine. I sold it,” Clarence declared maliciously. “It has paid all of my debts off in full. The money that I have left is there to provide for my future.”

Poppy stared at him in disbelief. At first she was unsure if she had heard him correctly. When he opened his mouth to speak she lifted a hand and motioned for him to stay quiet.

“What do you mean you have sold the house and have now paid all of your debts off in full?” She watched him and wondered whether he would try to bluff his way out of this particular lie, and lie he had because, if he had paid all of his debts off, who was she supposed to have handed the money over to this morning?

“I sold the house to clear off my debts. There was enough left for the rent here, and food, as long as you eat sparingly, and that is all. The coffers are empty now.”

Poppy knew he was lying and wanted to challenge him about it but then doubted she would get the truth.

“You lied to me,” she whispered, horrified that she had put herself in danger all for nothing. She still had no idea what was really going on but the contents of the bag were now more precious to her than ever before.

“Well? What are you going to do now?” Clarence demanded, desperate to change the subject.

“See to my own future,” Poppy retorted.

As far as she could see there was no relationship between her and her sire any more, and she had to wonder if there ever really had been. After all, over the past several years she had been the one to look after him, not the other way around. She had been at his beck and call. In return, all she had received had been scorn, derision and the occasional questioning of her skills. If she hadn’t bothered to try to appease him the discord between them would have been evident long ago.

“Do that,” he snapped. “We will see how long you are out there all by yourself. You won’t stand a chance.” He snorted and shook his head. “I will give you a day before you come back.”

Poppy shook her head. “Being dragged about while you evade your creditors has prepared me for whatever is ‘out there’ as you put it,” she growled. “Believe me when I tell you that I won’t be back.”

For the first time in her entire life she desperately wanted to hit another human being. So much so that her fists clenched into tight balls of fury a

nd she had to fight to keep them by her side. She was visibly trembling with rage but refused to unleash it. She knew she wouldn’t be able to live with her own conscience should she stoop so low as to harm another human being. Not even Clarence was going to drag her that far down. Before she could say anything else, loud hammering began on the front door again.

Poppy sighed and turned to look over her shoulder. “They are persistent, I will grant you that. I suggest you go and answer it before they kick the door down,” she mused wryly.

Inwardly she was filled with horror at the possibility and wished once again that she had remained beside the corpse in the park. Anywhere else was better than here. She watched Clarence stare worriedly at the door and wondered what other messes he had gotten himself into, but then didn’t ask because she didn’t really care.