“We all do what we must,” Byon said.
“Must?” Nicky’s temper was rising. “You must write brilliant plays and become an international success. While I must plow the soil and—” In one swift move, he put his hand to the back of Byon’s neck and kissed him hard on the lips. “You know what I want,” Nicky said. “I have always wanted you. Not this place, not that woman. Not any woman. I—”
Nicky cut off when he heard a sound. Turning, he saw Diana standing in the moonlight. He still had his hand on Byon’s neck. She had seen everything!
“I can’t do this anymore,” she said, then disappeared into the darkness.
“No,” Nicky whispered. “She is my future. She must—”
He started after her but Byon caught his arm. “Don’t go. Stay with me. I’ll write and make money and we’ll run this place together. We’ll—”
Nicky jerked away from him. “You? You’d drink it into the ground within a year. And you won’t last. We are your inspiration. Without us, you are nothing.” He ran after Diana.
ACT ONE
SCENE TWO
THE TERRACE AT OXLEY MANOR
For a few moments, Byon waited on the terrace. He’d been disturbed by what Nicky said, that Byon’s ability to create was linked to them. Of course that was untrue.
Byon thought he heard a scream. It sounded like Diana the time the horse threw her. They’d all gone running, but Sean got there first. Nadine had made a joke about knowing who the hero among them was.
Byon took a step forward, but stopped. Nicky’s words hurt too much, and running after Diana, who Nicky looked down on, wasn’t going to help his cause.
There were more sounds, disturbing noises that brought chills to his body. He went inside, closed the door behind him and poured himself a double whiskey. Whatever was happening outside wasn’t his business.
ACT ONE
SCENE THREE
ON THE GROUNDS. VERY DARK
Diana didn’t know where she was going—just that she had to face the truth. She stopped and waited for Nicky to catch up with her. She knew he was drunk but that was his normal state of being.
When he was close, she spoke. “I can’t do it.” Her voice was full of the regret she felt. This had been a difficult decision for her. Being mistress of Oxley Manor would give her the prestige she’d always yearned for. She’d had a lifetime of seeing her father ordered about, cursed out if the traffic was bad, having to pretend that he didn’t see what went on: affairs, abuse, underage sex. Marriage to Nicky meant she’d be above that. She would be giving the orders.
But she couldn’t do it. It was an old cliché: she’d met someone. It meant her future was now unknown. The only certainty was soul-crushing work. No luxuries, no prestige, no—
“Diana.” Nicky was using that voice that meant he wanted something. “My dearest love, I’m sorry. I’ve had too much to drink. Byon means nothing to me. He—”
“I can’t do it,” she repeated. “I can’t live like this.”
“In luxury? As a lady?” He was stepping closer to her. She could smell his whiskey breath.
“It’s not that. There’s someone else.”
Nicky smiled. “I don’t mind. Have him.”
“Her.”
For a moment, he looked startled, then smiled broader. “That’s even better. We’ll give her a cottage.”
She stepped back from him. “No. It would never work. We couldn’t be a true couple. Your father would expect children. You couldn’t—” She was trying to be as gentle as possible. “I’m leaving the country with her. We’re going to have a horse farm and a—”
“And leave me with all of this to take care of?” His voice lost the coaxing tone. They all knew that Nicky could be vicious when he was drunk.
She looked around. It was very dark where they were and quite far from any building that contained people. “You have Clive. He can run it all if you’d let him. He’s intelligent and he has ideas.”