“Get out of my house, meddlers!” His roar filled the room, his eyes burning hot and spittle flecking his oily lips. “How dare you! You come in here, take what’s mine without permission, spread lies and gossip about me, then have the nerve to come back to snoop again. Who do you think you are, you entitled little b—?”

“Close your mouth at once, Clifton Bradshaw,” Anne said, taking three steps towards Bradshaw so rapidly that he stumbled backwards a little, startled. “I warn you, sir, if you speak one word of profanity in front of my sister and me, you will deeply regret it—do you hear me?”

And though it seemed unlikely that she—a rather slight woman of only average height—could make this hulk of a man, even given his age and state of sobriety, regret anything, Anne was deadly serious. She would not see herself or her sister threatened by anyone, least of all this unsavoury individual, this bully, this drunk. Indeed, the surge of rage that flooded through her seemed to double her in size. Her fists clenched, her eyes flashed as she squared up to their aggressor as boldly as a fighting man. For that moment, Anne felt as immovable and as powerful as the hills beneath their feet.

Even so, Clifton held his ground, his hand drawn back as if to land the first blow, and then, the next moment, it was as if his own bones crumbled away within his flesh, his shoulders stooping, his head dropping as he was overcome with sobs, raw and furious, the like of which Anne had never heard.

“Pa, in God’s name!” Liston grabbed hold of his father’s arm, dragging him out of the room. “You were not always this demon. I swear it. Once you were a decent man. What devil grabbed you hard enough that you would threaten a young lady? What would Mother think if she could see you now?”

“She’d be ashamed that her milksop son has become a milksop man.” Clifton shook off Liston’s hand, inhaling his anguish and straightening his shoulders. “Get these bloody women out of my house before I throw ’em out.”

“Mr. Bradshaw, you will not be able to walk away from this matter forever!” Anne went after him. “The truth will find you out, sir.”

Clifton stopped at the top of the old staircase, swaying precariously as he turned around to look at her, before lunging forward suddenly once more, grasping her by her arms and thrusting her back against the stone wall. Anne turned her face from his foul breath and spittle, aware of Liston doing his best to drag his father off of her.

“I will not be lectured by a girl who has never known anything of the world and the hardship it brings,” he growled. “I know your family. Not as holy as you like to make out, are you, girl, hey?”