Chapter 36 - Confrontations Part One

Lyra could hear Tavington yelling, no - screaming! with rage from the other side of the mansion. She cast a shocked look at Eleanor and Sally, who both shrugged. She glanced at her guards, but they were equally perplexed.

"We have been with you, Miss Mathan. How could we know what's wrong?" Richard pointed out reasonably.

"Well, he is in a rage, that's for certain." She picked up the pace, and before long she was running through the mansion, William's words becoming more discernible as they drew closer. Up the stairs, they ran to the parlor.

"... To know exactly what you did to her!" He was shouting at Mr. Cole Simms. "I was told she wept for two hours, on her bed!"

"You are not her lover any more, Tavington! She is to marry my son. It is none of your affair, and if you do not calm down, I will go to Cornwallis -"

"If you have hurt her," Tavington's rage filled bellow cut Cole Simms off dead. "Cornwallis will be the LEAST of your concerns!"

Lyra darted into the large parlor, breathless, with Eleanor, Sally, and Richard behind her. The remaining Dragoons milled at the entrance.

"What did he do to you!" Tavington rounded on her at once, his eyes cold and hard, he strode quickly toward her and seized her arms with an iron grip.

"Hello to you to, William." She arched an eyebrow but did not try to pull from his grip.

"Tell me what happened!" He bellowed, his eyes blazing above her.

"William -" Lyra hesitated. Her lover was certainly in a fury, and she had no idea what he would do if he knew her Uncle had caned her. She was saved from answering by Joseph, who darted into the parlor, his eyes wide with shock.

"Where have you been, Lyra!" Rebecca Simms snapped angrily, now she was finally able to get a word in edgewise. "How dare you leave this house without permission! I demand to know where -"

She cut off suddenly and began making strangling noises, because right there in front of her, in front of everyone, Lyra placed a hand on either side of Colonel Tavington's face, lifted herself onto her tippy toes, and gave him a very warm, long, gentle kiss on his lips. Cole hissed with fury and Rebecca was near apoplexy.

"I am sorry, honey," Lyra whispered, and nudged her nose against his. With a sigh, he released her arms and placed his hands around her waist. "So sorry..." Another whisper against his lips. "I love you, I've missed you so much."

"I know," he murmured back, his lips moving lovingly along her neck.

"I've found a way out of this marriage, honey. You just have to bear with me for a few moments, alright? Hold tight to that temper of yours."

"Hold tight, you say?" His eyes glittered even as he kissed her. "Very well, but you will tell me what he did to you, my darling."

She nodded, and kissed him again.

"You won't marry him?" He asked, his mouth moving along her jaw.

"No, I'll tell him in just a moment. I needed to kiss you first, to touch you. God, I've been so stupid."

"No, darling. You've been scared," his lips drifted higher to her ear and he continued whispering, "if you are not to marry him, marry me instead." One thing he had already decided was, if he managed to stop the wedding, he would propose to her. Only she had somehow managed to rescue herself, the clever thing. He was looking forward to learning how, but for now... he smiled down at her, waiting expectantly for her to accept his marriage proposal.

Lyra's eyes widened, and she was shocked to silence.

Finally the sounds from around the room began to intrude on their private moment, Lyra had managed to drive them out completely. Her Grandmother and Uncle, both raging about going immediately to Cornwallis, they would have Tavington removed from the army, stripped of his rank and titles.

William, hearing their threats, lifted his menacing gaze to them, ready to do murder.

"Honey," Lyra kissed his cheek. "Allow me?"

He nodded curtly, curiosity warring his fury.

"You have seduced my granddaughter! Stolen her virtue! You will be court marshaled!" Rebecca was screaming. "I will see you flogged for this! You will be whipped, to within an inch of your life! And you!" She rounded on Lyra. "You whore! You dare to carry on like this, in full view of us all!" She turned to Tavington, who had tensed, his eyes cold and hard once more. "I will have you removed from this house, you and all your Dragoons! Lyra - you will marry Joseph, you will not see this man again!"

Through out Rebecca's tirade, Lyra had been stroking Tavington's face gently, calming his rage as absently as one calmed a nervous horse.

"Grandmama, I paid Mr. Sampson a visit this morning," her words, simple and quietly spoken, had a devastating effect on her Uncle and Grandmother.

Rebecca and Cole froze, both staring at Lyra speechless with horror.

"Yes, I was expecting this reaction from you," Lyra continued. "Now. All of this screaming is giving me a headache. All these threats against the man I love are irritating me. William did indeed seduce me," she smiled up at him as she took his hand and drew him along to sit beside her on a chaise. "And I enjoyed ever moment of it." He smiled back, incredulous. "Shall we? No need to stand on ceremony, Grandmama. I invite you to sit."

She smiled and waved her hand toward the chaise opposite her, a gracious wave, inviting visitors to partake of the luxuries in her home. Tavington frowned, puzzled, but the meaning of her gesture was not lost on Cole or Rebecca.

"Lyra, this is my home. Mine!" Rebecca, seething with rage, finally found her voice. "If not for my malicious mother, if not for a stupid feud, she would have left it to me! Instead she left it to your mother, merely to spite me!"

"You're wrong, Rebecca," never would she call this woman 'grandmama' again. "This mansion is mine. The house on Tradd St, mine. The farm on the Santee, mine. And lastly, Green Haven, with its crops of indigo and the revenue they have produced. It is all mine."

She held her Grandmother's eyes then her Uncle's in turn.

Joseph dropped heavily into an armchair. "Yours?" He asked weakly.

"Indeed, Joey. Grandmama Rutledge left the entire lot to my mother, bypassing Rebecca completely. Rebecca and Cole have been trying to gain possession of them through legal means for many years now, their most recent attempt was three months ago when the judge told them in no uncertain terms that he would not listen to another word on the subject. And so, when it finally became clear they could not gain them through court, they decided you and I must marry. Isn't that right, Rebecca?"

Lyra's green eyes glittered as she held the other woman's gaze. "It is the reason why you tried to rush this wedding. You wanted me safely married to Joseph, so you could force and bully me into giving up my claim to the estates. This, Rebecca, I will not do."

Rebecca bristled, as did Cole.

"I thought I told you all to sit?" Lyra said a little abruptly. Eleanor and Sally took a seat and finally, still filled with rage, Rebecca and Cole lowered themselves to a chaise. "That is better. Sally, would you call for some tea? Then stay and join us, my dear."

Sally smiled and did as asked.

"It's all yours?" Tavington asked a little stiffly.

"Yes."

"Christ..." He muttered, before falling silent.

Lyra gazed at his stone cold face quizzically, William was clearly struggling to come to terms with the discovery that his young lover was an extraordinarily wealthy woman. She sighed heavily, then decided to leave him to deal with the news as he saw fit. Right then, she had to deal with her family.

"Now, the first order of business. Joseph, you and I will not be getting married."

Joseph barked a laugh and shook his head. "I figured that would be your first move." He did not sound displeased in the slightest. She returned his smile, then she met Rebecca and Cole's gaze again, her expression shifting to cold determination.

"I am Colonel Tavington's lover, and I refuse to be parted from him for another moment. I refuse to allow you to direct my life for your own selfish ends any longer. William and I will leave this house and take up residence in my manor on Tradd St, as has been our intention all along."

"It's about bloody time!" William growled, Lyra smiled and wound her fingers through his.

Cole quivered across from her, Lyra cast him a glance and arched an eyebrow. "Yes, Uncle?"

He kept his mouth closed, though his eyes flashed and glittered.

"That's it?" Joseph laughed again. "As easy as that?"

"Yes, nothing simpler, as it turns out. Will you propose to Emily?"

"Hell yes! If her family will still allow me to marry her after all this," he seemed to deflate, and Lyra felt a surge of rage. She drew several deep breaths to calm herself and William squeezed her fingers, offering comfort, sensing her need to stay in control of herself.

"Hmm," she said finally, when she could trust her voice. "Yes, Rebecca and Cole did not think past their own needs, when they tried to force us to this marriage. All they cared for was themselves, not the damage it would do to your prospects with Emily nor the heartache it would cause," she met Rebecca's eyes, then Cole's. "For shame."

"Lyra," Cole said in a dangerous tone. Tavington shifted angrily beside her, and this time she squeezed his fingers tight, silently restraining him. "You listen here. There are years of history that you know nothing of. You have an obligation to your family!"

"Do you still seek to force me to marriage, Cole?" Lyra asked him coldly, cutting him off. "Do you dare?"

He glared at her, stiff with fury.

"I have an obligation to you?" She asked, her own tone quiet and dangerous. "What of your obligation to me? Two years! And you knew, all along, what he was doing to me! What he was making me do to him!" Rage as she had never known had her in its grip, and her fury filled voice rang through the room, her calm facade shattering. "You left me, though it was well within your power to take me away! You speak of obligation now? What of your obligation to me? Your niece? Your granddaughter? The heiress to these estates? When you couldn't win them through legal means you tried to force me to marriage, tried to bend me to your will so you could take what is rightfully mine! I have no obligation to you! None!"

Rebecca and Cole held their silence. Lyra struggled, but finally managed to calm. It helped that Tavington rubbed her back reassuringly. When she continued it was in a quieter, more controlled tone.

"I hold the two of you accountable for my last two years of misery. My mother made her own decisions, chose to marry Thomas, but when she died you were utterly neglectful of me, only sending Mrs. Bryant back to me when you failed to win my Estates through legal channels. When I arrived here, you did nothing to welcome me as one of the family, you taunted me with my parentage, called me a whore and bastard. You caned me!"

Tavington stiffened beside her, she could feel his rage building once more.

Rebecca dropped back against the chaise and shockingly, she began to cry. Lyra thought she would never see the day the woman would show such a display! But here she was, weeping, almost as raggedly as Lyra had after her caning.

"It can't be easy," Lyra said, almost gently, "to find yourself at the mercy of a person you have treated so despicably."

Rebecca continued to cry and Cole stared at Lyra, cold, hard and... Horrified.

"He caned you?" Tavington asked softly, though his eyes were cold, they blazed with murderous intent. "Caned you."

Shit. She had not meant to mention it, knowing it would tip her lover into a battle fury. She closed her eyes and sighed heavily.

"Yes, Sir," Richard Wilkins answered for Lyra, "Miss Mathan spoke of it on the way to visit her manor. He caned her this morning."

"I see," Tavington rose from the chaise and stalked toward Cole, who watched apprehensively.

"He caned her for having an affair with you," Eleanor spoke up and Lyra closed her eyes again, feeling the weight of doom on her shoulders. "And for trying to talk Joseph into ending the engagement."

Tavington's rage shifted to an entirely different kind. From stormy to dead calm in a matter of moments. His stiffness fled him, he was fluid and grace once more, ready to kill.

"Did you cane her, Sir?" He asked Cole, using his deadly, soft voice, as he advanced on the older Simms, a lion stalking prey.

"Now, see here! She is my charge, and she was disobedient! I do not have to explain anything to you!"

Lyra was astonished. Her Uncle certainly had the courage of his convictions, he truly believed his actions toward her were justified. He believed he had had the right, and he did not quail under the Butcher's deadly menace.

"How many times did he strike you, Lyra?" Tavington asked over his shoulder.

"I will go to Cornwallis with this!" Cole raged, sensing that he was about to receive the beating of his life.

"Two," Lyra lied.

"Seven," Eleanor corrected. Lyra shot her former governess a baleful glance and Eleanor shrugged with a hint of a smile.

"You will receive five lashes for every strike you gave Lyra." Tavington pronounced his judgement.

Lyra's eyes widened with shock. Christ, thirty five lashes! He held his hand out, and Richard Wilkins handed him a riding crop. Without being commanded, four Dragoons of Lyra's ever present guard came forward, grabbed Cole Simms by the arms, and hauled him from the chaise, dropping him face down on the floor.

"No!" Rebecca screeched through her tears. "Please do not harm my son!"

Tavington ignore her, instead asking Lyra a question.

"Bare skin, Lyra?"

"No. Through my skirts. Oh, honey, be merciful, would you? He is Joseph's father, and you were going to invite him to join the Green Dragoons, I know you were!"

Joseph had risen to his feet, and was watching with horror, clearly conflicted. His mind whirled, this was his father who was about to be caned!

His father, who had caned Lyra. Who had stood in the way of his future happiness with Emily, had left Lyra on the farm to suffer the attentions of her own father, only 'rescuing' her when it became apparent that they needed her in their plot to take the mansion. He felt himself stiffen, something hardened inside him.

"Do not worry about me, Lyra," he said firmly. "He struck me with a cane enough times when I was a boy."

"Good," Tavington muttered. "I prefer it without all the complications. I have no desire to be merciful at the best of times, and this... Is not the best of times."

He began without preamble. Part of Cole's punishment was the shame of having Dragoons manhandle him, jerking down his breeches while Tavington watched, his cold eyes impassive. Cole hollered and bellowed, while Rebecca screamed and wept.

It was over quickly, Tavington did not draw it out, his arm moved in a blur of movement, so fast Lyra could not make it out, though she could see his lips moving as he counted, and she heard the whistle of the riding crop cutting through the air, the strikes as it struck the bare flesh of Cole's buttocks. Cole bore it as best he could, barely grunting at first, but toward the end the pain was simply to much to bear and he writhed and howled as much as Lyra herself had under his cane earlier that morning.

Tavington was breathing heavily at the end of it. On the count of thirty-five, he jerked away and stared down coldly at Cole, his lips twisted in a sneer, his cold eyes drilling holes in the back of the spluttering man's head. Cole could not move, not even to cover his nakedness. A wailing Rebecca tore a blanket free from where it half covered a chair, and she knelt at her son's side, weeping as she covered his reddened rump with the blanket.

"Cornwallis..." She gasped through her tears. "Will hear... about this... this... outrage..."

Lyra tightened her lips. "I thought I told you not to threaten my lover, Rebecca? I will hear no more of it! The two of you have behaved despicably and should be thrown from this house! I received a caning myself, at this man's hands. Were you planning on telling Cornwallis that? Hmm? Were you planning on telling him how you left me, on that farm? How you planned to force me to cede my birthright to you? Were you planning on telling him the means you would have used to achieve this? Would Cole have caned me some more until I relented, hmm?"

Rebecca fell silent, though the occasional sob ripped from her. Cole gathered himself, he rose to his knees, then to his feet - slowly, very slowly. His breeches were pulled up, the buttons secured, then he very gingerly lowered himself to the seat once more. Lyra understood - his rump must have hurt far more than hers - he had received far more lashes, on his bare skin at that. It must have killed him to sit on his backside, but he did it - his pride would allow no less. He was quiet for some time - they all were quiet, as everyone resumed their seats. Rebecca lowered her head, not meeting anyone's gaze.

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A/N - thanks for all the reviews! And the Guest reviewer - who was grinning while reading the chapter - thank you! It's good to hear! Hopefully there were some more feel good moments in this chapter as well. I like the idea of Lyra confronting her nasty kin! Rather than simply slinking away to her manor on Tradd St...

:-)

Also, sorry for splitting the chapter in half like this, but it was too long - it would have been six thousand words, if I had left it all in one chapter!