Chapter 230

• Charley flushed. "Charles wanted to be an artist."
• "Oh, how romantically right for him," her persecutor mocked. "With his golden good looks and his ravaged sensibilities, he makes the perfect rescue for an impressionable thing like Adelina—whereas you," he went on before Charley could say anything, "make the perfect level-headed foil to keep Adelina’s starry eyes blinded to what your brother is really about."
• Charley straightened her trembling, tense shoulders. "Have you quite finished slaughtering my family?" she demanded, wanting to slap his face.