Robert raised his arms and flinched when she threw the paper at him. Insane and ill-mannered! Oh he was going to have his sister locked up if it was up to him! He lowered his arms and looked up just in time to be hit in the face by a pillow.

"ENOUGH!" he shouted over her as the pillow fell to the floor. He did not know what angered him more, the missiles, or the reference to their father. It was hard enough to distinguish himself among all his siblings, and especially Roger and Roderick. He did not need a reminder that he was a disappointment. "That's it! Either you have lost your mind, in which case you should be locked up in an asylum, or you are just the worst mannered girl in the Empire, in which case you should be locked in your room until you learn better manners! You may not be property, but you are my sister, and your actions harm us all!"

"You are the one coming into MY home because of something that is none of your concern to begin with! If you cared one wit about me, you wouldn't be yelling at me for someone else's actions! You are mad if you think I will ever go anywhere upon YOUR command. This is between papa and myself and I will not bend to YOUR will." She had never shown such a temper as she was now. There was hurt searing through those eyes hers. They swam with tears, and he knew her well enough to know she wasn't crying crocodile tears like the other two sisters would, she was genuinely hurt by his actions.

"Don't make me do this, brother, don't make me hate you. Don't make me banish you from my home."

Robert was still infuriated, but instead of shouting, he glared at her, his lip curling up in disgust. Ugh. Why did she have to make everyone's life so difficult. "Look at yourself," he said in a tone that was soft yet anything but warm. "Making all of this about yourself. Are you even capable of considering others or are you that spoiled?"

His words cut to the deep. Anger, such as she had never known toward her brother, boiled through her veins. Her lip curled into a snarl and she raised her hand, poised to strike that handsome visage of his. But then she stopped herself, not because she didn't want to hit him (because she really... really... really... wanted to hit him), but because she felt a certain resolve gather within her. She curled her fingers into a fist and lowered her arm, tilting her head and saying ever so softly, "Go to the devil, Robert Carrington. I don't want to speak to you. Get out."

It was said with such a voice that he probably had never heard from her before, dripping venomously from the fangs of each word that hung between them. She lifted her hand again, firmly, and pointed with a stiff gesture toward the door. She repeated herself, "Get out. Now. Go dog Magnus' heels. He's the very devil, after all."

Robert winced when she raised her hand, for despite his big mouth, he was actually quite a coward, and he knew that with this opponent propriety would bar him from fighting back. But Pearl didn't hit him. Instead, it seemed that she was possessed or something. The young man took a step back, taking in a deep breath. Well this was food for either a priest or an alienist, that much was clear.

He shook his coat, as if his very presence here had sullied his garments. "Very well. I can see that you have lost your senses, sister, and that making you see reason is beyond my untrained powers. You are deserving of my pity, not of my anger." He looked at her angry face intently. "But mark me, this business is not finished yet." He did not wait for a reply, but spun on his heel and marched out of the door.

"Get. Out." she repeated as he was getting his coat. "Get out, get out, get out!" When at last he opened the door and turned around to leave, she gestured widely with her hands and said, "Goodbye, Robert." With her help too, the door slammed shut behind him and she could be heard making a sound of frustration on the other side of the door. "Uuuuaaaaagh!" And then she kicked the bottom of the door, yelped, and fumbled to lock the blasted door before he had a chance to come in and investigate. She would not allow him that right.