Victoria sighed. "I had hoped that after I rejected my uncle’s offer, he would realise how wrong it was, and never ntion it again. However, he went to Cecilia with his plans. I am ashad 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 ho 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 ? I could understand the difficulty in speaking up against Lady Cecilia, but not your niece. You so slyly claid all that belonged to her, yet you found yourself tongue-tied about her plans," Ophelia said.
"Do you see now, Alistair? Eventually, lies catch up to the one telling them. You said all that I needed to imprison you, and I am certain the search of your ho will find more evidence. It pains to say that you will not return ho to your family," Ophelia said, feigning sadness for Alistair.
"If you so much as touch a hair on my family’s head," Alistair said, wanting to strangle the two won before him.
"Oh, trust and believe that your family will be well. They will only need to vacate the ho, which no longer belongs to you-"
"When my brother died, it was my right as the next male in the family to take his ho. He had no sons. Why should a little girl who knew nothing of the world take it for herself? She would have run it to the ground," Alistair argued.
Ophelia nodded, agreeing with Alistair. "You’re right. Naturally, it would go to the next male in the family."
Victoria looked at Ophelia, puzzled as to why she agreed with Alistair. Would she lose her ho to another male relative?
"However, after betraying the Hastings by planning to send off to the palace, you lost your right to the ho. A traitor cannot be rewarded, and once all your deeds have been exposed, your family will lose what you claid from your brother. It is only natural," Ophelia said, using Alistair’s logic.
Alistair gritted his teeth.
What could Ophelia possibly know about how things were done around the kingdom?
"Lady Hastings, you are a fool if you believe my niece. She has been in love with Lord Hastings from the ti she was a little girl. She will point her fingers at now and then stab you in the back once I have been dealt with. You mustn’t trust her," Alistair said, hoping there was a chance to turn this around.
"Alistair, you have already talked too much and exposed yourself. Besides, once my husband has a talk with his mother, she will point to you as the sole culprit. She has letters exposing what you said-"
"She reached out to . She is the one who ca to with that plan!" Alistair explained.
Ophelia smiled. She didn’t need to go searching for letters Cecilia would have hidden well. All she needed was to turn Alistair and Cecilia against each other.
"That is not what Cecilia has said. You are the one who has co up with the plan and was going to deliver to the palace. The odds are stacked against you. Just in ti," Ophelia said as Dante entered the drawing room. "I have heard enough. He is to be imprisoned, and his family escorted out of the ho."
"No! Lord Hastings, you must give a chance to defend myself. Your mother sent letters with a plan to take your wife and send her off. I have letters to prove it. I kept them to save myself and to send them to you. I am not the one behind this sche," Alistair said, desperate for soone to believe him.
Alistair needed the help of the king to save him, but he wasn’t getting much of a response from the palace these days.
"My family has been loyal to your family for generations. My own brother fought your battles until it claid his life. My loyalty is with you. These won are acting upon emotions, so it is best we have them escorted out while I speak to you. I bring you news about the town," said Alistair.
"My town? There is no news you can bring , and my wife shall remain present. After all, Lady Hastings and Victoria are the ones who exposed your plans. I should have killed you when you rode into town and stole your brother’s belongings. I will not let you go freely this ti," Dante said, unwilling to make the mistake again.
"Lord Hastings, it is your mother who plotted all of this. I am only a victim of her sche. I have the letters to show it," Alistair said, only needing to return ho to clear his na.
Ophelia stood up. "We can find the letters ourselves. What matters most to us is that you have chosen the side of the king and the Valthorns. Your actions have made it apparent that you will turn against the Hastings. We cannot have soone like you roaming free on our land."
Alistair sweated even more as guards entered the drawing room. "My family," he spoke softly.
"As I said, your family will not be hard, but we must also look into your wife’s knowledge of your actions. If she had no involvent in your plans, she would not be taken, nor would your children. They will not be punished for your actions, but they must leave," said Ophelia.
Ophelia assud that once Alistair was imprisoned, his wife would move her family to get away from criticism. There was no point in troubling Alistair’s family as long as they left quietly.
"Unhand !" Alistair yelled and tried pulling his arms out of the hold of the guards. "I am innocent. Lady Hastings did not give the chance to defend myself. You must permit the chance to do so."
"Take him to the dungeon," Dante instructed the guards.
Dante trusted that Ophelia had properly questioned and dealt with Alistair, so there wasn’t much he needed to say.
Ophelia waited for Alistair to be dragged out of the drawing room before saying, "I have told the guards to place him near your mother and listen to all they say. Each side will expose the other and reveal all their plans. We only need to listen."
"You truly are wise," Victoria complinted Ophelia. She took a deep breath, relieved that the long fight with her uncle was now over.
"Don’t be relieved just yet. This is only the beginning of taking down our enemies," Ophelia said, thinking of the long days ahead.
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