"You are wondering what things might have been like had he been a different sort of man," the Señora said. "Well, one will never know, because my husband was a forgiving man."
Dominic gave Alannah an unreadable look. "I am like my father Alannah but regardless, Mother is right, you will remain here until your father arrives."
"I am not going back with him!' Alannah cried out in fear, looking as trapped as she felt. 'Not while I have breath in my body."
"He is your father," Dominic said with an inscrutable look that made her go cold inside. "Regardless what sort of man he is, he has certain rights that supersede yours. Especially under the present circumstances. Besides, I find that I wish to meet him."
"I … I can't stay, here' Alannah choked, as the waterfall of tears poured down her cheek to the table below.
"You will stay," Dominic told her quietly but firmly, his mouth quirking into a kindly smile. "Come, now where is that determined young girl with the strong back, the one who insists on working herself like a field hand? Surely that girl with dirt under her fingernails, a dirty face and caloused hands is capable of squaring off with any man!"
"I know my limits, and my limitation stops when it comes to my father. He is a ruthless man, my will simply isn't great enough for me to survive in my father's sphere," Alannah rebutted. "And you are wrong about my father having rights that supersede mine! I am no one's property, man or woman! I will obey not one person whom I can't respect! Respect must be earned, even from the lowliest soul, it is not something you give freely, else it has no due! Do you think Patrick would work for you if he didn't, honor and respect you? Would you expect him to thank you if you fired him, simply because of some disagreement? Would you whip him if he were to move away or seek employment elsewhere? Do you think me any different, simply because I'm female-?"
"'Is that why you toil so?" Dominic asked her with a look that could have been either serious or amusing.
"What? I - that isn't what I meant! I mean . . . that is what I meant, but . . . it wasn't supposed to come out that way! I need to go talk to Nicolò."
"For a forthright girl with strong opinions, you seem to have tremendous difficulty saying the simplest things," Dominic told her, laughter in his eyes. 'But underneath it all, I think you're telling me that you'd love, honor and obey the sort of man you could care for."