As soon as they were alone, Brand turned to his mother. "How dare you?" he hissed.
Lady Wilmot's brow lifted in incredulity, as her eyes conveyed her unbelief. She shifted her gaze between him and Madelyn. "What?" she gasped.
"How dare you," he repeated, starting slowly for her, "Come into my home and command my guest?"
"How dare I? I am your mother!" She cried. "I have every right to even if you refuse to acknowledge it! You bring home a stranger, unknown to everyone about you, would I not be a wicked mother if I did not ask?"
Brand exhaled sharply, resisting the urge to rake his hand through his hair. He wished he could believe her; he greatly wanted to believe her, but he knew the reason she was curious about Madelyn was to establish that there was no intimacy between them, or if there was, that she was of a wealthy and affluent family, not that she truly cared for him.
