Victoria sighed. "I had hoped that after I rejected my uncle's offer, he would realise how wrong it was, and never mention it again. However, he went to Cecilia with his plans. I am ashamed to think of you as my uncle."
"You mustn't listen to her, Lady Hastings. She wanted you out of the way, and in exchange for my help, she would have given up pursuing the home her father left her," Alistair accused Victoria.
"Did she? If you had known of Victoria's plan then, why didn't you speak of it to my husband or me? I could understand the difficulty in speaking up against Lady Cecilia, but not your niece. You so slyly claimed all that belonged to her, yet you found yourself tongue-tied about her plans," Ophelia said.
