Chapter 24 #2
He shifted. “No. As I said, our finances were very bad. The house you were living in had to be sold. The bills from your household had been a drain on our coffers for a long time, and I… I took a rather cruel pleasure in cutting you off. I am sorry, Amelia. I know that apologies will not undo what has been done, but there it is. I was hurt and angry and resentful, and I lashed out.”
“We managed,” she responded, wrapping her arms around herself. “And now I’m about to marry a duke.”
The words sounded flat in the still night air.
Harry nodded, staring at the toes of his boots again.
“Stephen was always one for women,” he said. “You are my sister, Amelia. I don’t want you to be humiliated. I don’t want you to marry a man who won’t honor his vows. I’m sure you don’t want to find yourself in the same position as my mother.”
It was as if he’d opened a trapdoor in her head and peered into her fears.
Amelia couldn’t help but flinch, clenching her back teeth. She thought again of the voices she had heard in Stephen’s room and squeezed her eyes shut.
“Amelia?”
Her eyes flew open at Harry’s worried voice, and she found him staring at her.
“Oh, heavens,” he mumbled. “He’s done something already, hasn’t he? Amelia, please, think. If he is behaving this way now, you must know that it’ll be a thousand times worse once you’re married. It’s not too late. You don’t have to go through with it.”
“You don’t understand,” she insisted. “This is the best choice.”
“Best choice for whom?”
“My sisters need—”
He rose to his feet. “I can take care of your sisters. I can take care of you. The truth is that I always wanted siblings, but my father saw fit to rob me of them. I regret the sharp letters I sent you, but I want so badly to make amends. Why do you think I am here? The truth is, I—” He broke off with a self-conscious laugh, rubbing at the space between his eyebrows.
“I knew that you would say no, but I wanted to offer to walk you down the aisle.”
Amelia blinked. “You cannot mean it.”
“No, it’s what I wanted. I thought you’d refuse, but if you accepted, then I should show the world at last that I have three wonderful sisters…
” he trailed off, shaking his head. “I rather lost my nerve at first. I was so angry. But if you’re having second thoughts, Amelia, you must tell me. I can help you. I want to help you.”
“I… I don’t know,” she whispered.
It was honest, at least.
A sharp wind rustled through the trees, raising goosebumps all over her skin. She shivered despite herself, wrapping her arms around herself.
Harry eyed her for a long moment.
“I want to talk more about this,” he pressed.
“I’m chilled to the bone out here, so you must be nearly frozen.
It goes without saying that I will not be welcome in Stephen’s house, but I have a house nearby.
It is where I grew up, where our father lived.
We could walk there. Will you come with me, Amelia? ”
She paused, chewing on her lower lip. At that moment, she could not imagine returning to the house, but the wind was bitter, and she was indeed chilled to the bone. Still, going to Harry’s house felt wrong.
“I am not sure it would be a good idea,” she murmured.
He shrugged his thin shoulders. “You can do as you like, of course. But I am glad to have a proper conversation with you at last, Amelia. I should like to talk with you more. Come, just for an hour?”
She relented. “Very well. Just an hour.”
It was an undeniable shock for Stephen to push open the door to his rooms and find them already occupied.
One of the maids stood there, her cap askew and her breathing ragged. She clutched a duster and stared at him with horror.
“Your Grace,” she squeaked. “What are you doing here?”
She seemed to realize at once how improper her words were, and reddened fiercely.
Stephen clenched his jaw, stepping inside. He left the door open so that the maid didn’t feel as though she were trapped with him.
“It’s Jane, isn’t it?” he said carefully. “I believe the housemaids are under instructions not to enter my apartments unless specifically asked to come and clean.”
She nodded, her throat working as she swallowed.
He guessed she was nervous about being caught in his apartments, and there seemed to be no obvious reason why she’d entered. There was a glint of mischief in her eyes, too.
“Well, if you’ve finished your work, you may leave,” he ordered, shrugging off his jacket and tossing it over the back of a chair. “The wedding is tomorrow, and you’ll need your rest. That will be all, Jane.”
She stood motionless, making no move to leave. He glanced up at her, a frown creasing his brow. She stared back at him, and it took him a moment to recognize the look in her eyes. It was resentment.
“I don’t recall you sending me away so sharply before, Your Grace,” she said, tilting up her chin.
At once, he recalled Jane properly. She was one of his grandmother’s hires, of course, and had been around for a year or two.
He would have been a fool not to notice the lingering glances she cast his way, the fluttering eyelashes, and the questing hands on his arms and shoulders, if she thought she could make it look like an accident.
It wouldn’t have been the first time a servant set her cap at him, and he had ignored her advances as usual.
“I beg your pardon?” he managed.
She gave a mirthless chuckle. “If you’ll marry a seamstress, you might as well have married a housemaid, Your Grace.”
“You have overstepped your bounds by great, leaping strides here, Jane. I suggest you leave at once. And perhaps it would be best if I did not see you at the wedding.”
“Wedding?” she echoed, a nasty smile curving her full lips. “I don’t think there’ll be a wedding, Your Grace. The lady is missing.”
She spat out the word lady as if it were an obscenity, and fury bubbled in Stephen. He dragged himself to his full height, resisting the urge to cross the room and seize her by the shoulders.
“I think that your career here has come to an end, Jane,” he said, curling his fingers into tight fists.
“I will inform the housekeeper that you’ll be gone by tomorrow morning.
You’ll receive a reference and a month’s wages.
That’s all I have to say on the matter, and you had better leave at once if you know what is good for you. ”
Red and white chased each other across Jane’s face. She set her jaw and lifted her chin. Meeting his gaze squarely, she sneered. Then she flounced past him and out of the room.
He kicked the door shut behind her and stood in silence, his heart pounding.
Missing?