At his words, Quinn Winters's face turned to ice. 'Damn him,' he thought, 'always making trouble.' "Miss Ashworth, my brother was just speaking recklessly. You've already chopped off five of his fingers—he's severely injured. You're a magnanimous person; please, let him off the hook. I trust that someone as kind as Miss Ashworth certainly wouldn't be so petty!"
The onlookers couldn't help but inwardly applaud Quinn Winters's words. He was subtly—and not so subtly—implying that Seraphina Ashworth shouldn't take things too far. If she continued to press the matter, she would prove his unspoken point: that she was unkind, petty, and cruel. He was backing her into a corner, making it almost impossible for her not to relent.
Quinn Winters had expected Seraphina Ashworth to concede, at least to some degree, to protect her public image. He never imagined she wouldn't play by the rules at all.
