Chapter 21
Chapter Twenty-One
“Ihate him!” Millicent said through tears. “I… why did he… I hate him so much!”
“Oh, you don’t mean that.” Celestine sat with Millicent on her bed, one arm around her as the young girl wept into her shoulder.
“I do,” she blubbered. “Why did he have to do that?”
“He thought he was protecting you.”
“No,” she cried. “He did it because he… he likes that everyone hates him. And because he can’t be happy, he doesn’t want anyone else to be either.”
Celestine said nothing, as she had no idea what to say.
Once, she might have agreed with the young girl’s comments. After all, her initial perception of Edward was exactly as Millicent just claimed. He was one to be feared, and the exact type who seemed to like that about himself. Now, she knew differently.
He was not that person. What was more, all he wanted was for Millicent to be happy. Everything he had done this last Season was proof of that, and Celestine had no doubt that he would move the heavens with his own two hands if he thought that it would help.
If only it had been anyone other than Lord Grundon…
The other reason that Celestine did not speak was because she understood perfectly well why Edward had risen to such fury. And while she did not agree with what he had done, she agreed with his judgement of the man who he had done it to.
Millicent was far too good for one of Lord Grundon’s ilk, and Celestine was certain that Lord Grundon’s interest in Millicent had less to do with her as a woman, and more to do with who she was related to. The man could not be trusted.
But there was no sense in trying to explain this to Millicent. Not as she grieved. Not as she lamented. And not when she was in a state that would likely see her do something foolish if she thought it would upset Edward.
“Let me talk to him,” Celestine said gently as she stroked the young girl’s hair.
“What’s the point,” Millicent blubbered. “He won’t listen to you. He won’t listen to anyone.”
“I will try anyway,” she said. “You might not agree with me, but Edward does care for you, and everything he does is for you and your future.”
“I am so embarrassed,” she continued to weep. “Lord Grundon will likely never speak to me again.”
Let us hope that is the case.
“I will go speak with him now.” Gently, Celestine peeled herself from Millicent. “If you need anything, do not hesitate, Millicent. Please. And know that this is not the end of the world.”
“It is!”
Celestine shook her head, laughing softly. “Take it from me. You might remember that I was once known as the Mad Hargrave Sister. So, I, more than anyone, know how fortunes can change.”
“Have they though?” Millicent threw herself onto the bed, her head stuffed into her pillows. “Married to my uncle. I cannot imagine a worse fate.”
Celestine winced at the harsh words. She is just upset…
She left the young girl to herself, determined to speak with Edward about what he had done.
While she agreed that he was right to be cautious, she could not accept the way he had gone about it.
What was more, if his relationship with Millicent was to be saved, he needed to realize this and then try and fix it.
A shame that he was so stubborn… a shame that even as Celestine hurried to his room, she knew that whatever she said would fall on deaf ears. Worse too, a fight was sure to ensue.
“Edward?” She knocked on his bedroom door and walked inside. “We need to talk.”
Edward paced the room in anger. His boots were kicked across the room. His shirt was flung over the chair. And when Celestine stepped inside and closed the door, he hardly paid her a glance.
“She is not to go out again for the rest of the Season,” he snarled as he paced. “Not until I can be sure that Lord Grundon is no longer a concern.”
Celestine found herself momentarily distracted.
It was Edward’s half-naked body that did it.
His muscular shoulders. His thick chest, and the hair that covered it.
He shook as he paced, his body flushed red, his muscles tensed and pulsing.
It was not the right moment to have such thoughts, but Celestine felt her own body turn warm…
her eyes roaming him, her mouth salivating, her heart racing.
“I do not think that is such a smart idea,” she said, shaking her head and tearing her eyes from his body.
“I do not care!” he snapped. “I will not sit back and watch as Lord Grundon of all people…” He growled as he shook. “He does not care about Millicent. He is not trying to court her because he fancies her. This is about me!”
“Maybe.”
“Not maybe.” He turned on her, his eyes red, his teeth bared. “He has been the one spreading rumors about me and what I do, just as he is the reason for all that has happened. I do not know why, but he means to break me. I will not allow it! As I will not allow him to ruin Millicent.”
Despite his anger, Celestine could not help but smile.
He cared so much for his niece. At his heart, he was kind and loving, and it mattered not what people said of him, or what they thought. All he wanted was for Millicent to be happy.
“Let us think about this.” She went for him, holding out a hand to calm him down. “I have just spoken with Millicent and as you can probably guess, she is not very happy with you.”
“I do not care.”
“Yes, you do.” She reached him and rested an arm on his thick shoulder. “That is all you care about. And if you do try and ban her from the rest of the Season, what has started as a natural reaction to what you did today will grow into something real. She will end up loathing you.”
“Let her loathe me,” he sneered as he shook. “So long as she does not end up with Lord Grundon.”
“Which she will do anyway, if you try and keep them apart. You know this.”
“What am I to do then?” he barked and shoved his shoulder away as he started to pace again. “Nothing? Sit back and watch him ruin her life so that he might ruin my own? I cannot do that!”
“Nor should you,” she said calmly. “But there is another option here.”
“Which is?”
She shrugged. “I have no idea. Just as I know that such ideas will not be found when you look as if you might tear someone’s head off. You need to calm down.”
“I am calm,” he snarled.
She scoffed. “If this is calm, I would hate to see you in a rage.”
“I –” He went to bark at her but caught his tongue. “I am failing her, Celestine…” Slowly, the rage faltered and she saw the desperation in his eyes. “After all I have done, if I cannot protect her, then what is it for?”
“Come here.” Celestine took his hand gently, and he did not pull back. Then she led him to the bed, directing him to sit down. He did so, his body collapsing, his shoulders dropping. “Today was not well handled,” she began.
“I had no choice.”
“You did…” Edward sat on the edge of the bed and rather than sitting with him, Celestine chose to kneel. She spread his legs, she shuffled between them, and she rested her hands on his thighs as she looked up. “But it is done now, and there is nothing that can change that.”
“When I saw him speaking to her…” His brow furrowed as if he was trying to find his rage again. “I lost control. I…”
She laughed as she left her hands on his thighs. “You tried to protect her, is what you did. Not done very well, but your intentions were right.”
“What if it is not enough?” he asked.
“Then we will find a way together to stop him. Why does Lord Grundon hate you so? There must be a reason?”
“Truly? I have no idea. I think…” He bit into his lip. “I do not think it is me he hates, so much as what I represent. I swear I have done nothing to him.”
“What do you mean? What do you represent?”
He sighed and bowed his head. “You know of the gaming establishment that I run?”
“I do…”
“What you do not know is the reason for it.” He shook his head to himself.
“When my brother died, when I learned that I was to inherit the estate, I discovered that our father had left us in incredible debt. I was young then, angry, and I convinced myself that I did not care about what people thought of me.”
She laughed. “I noticed.”
“I never wanted to be a duke, so why should I care about what I did as one? The gaming hell was a means to claw my way out of debt. I knew that it would be looked down on, but I did not care about that. I also convinced myself that if I did it the right way, the honorable way, that it might go unnoticed by my peers. All anyone cares about anyway is money, so what should it matter how it is made?”
“And now…” she pressed.
“I was right, for a time,” he said with a dark chuckle.
“Oh sure, people talked, but few truly cared. And the fact that I did not concern myself with what other people said went a long way toward silencing the few who dared to speak out.” He exhaled further.
“I had found a balance that if things stayed the same, I could exist in peace.”
“And Lord Grundon? Where does he come in? Does he owe you money? Did he lose at your establishment?”
His brow furrowed. “I am not sure. I do not think…” He shook his head again.
“I can only assume that he resents me for who I am. Likely, he believes I ought to be punished or… or that I should be taught a lesson.” He sneered.
“And Millicent is the perfect way for him to do so. Celestine…” His chin began to wobble.
“If this ruins her, if what I have done… I cannot let this ruin her life. I need to find a way.”
Celestine looked up at Edward and never had she felt such pride in her husband. She did not care about his past. She did not care about some silly gaming hell. What she cared for was who he was as a man.
Who she saw as she looked at him was a man worth caring about.
And maybe more than that…
“Tomorrow,” she said. “We will think of something.”
“I cannot wait that long.”
“You will.” She looked at him pointedly. “What you need to do now is relax. Anything said or done tonight will only make it worse.”
“Relax? How can I possibly relax?”