Chapter 25
Chapter Twenty-Five
“Edward.” Celestine knocked on Edward’s office door. Then she waited for his response. It did not come, so she knocked again, louder. “Edward, are you in there?” Still, there was no answer.
Celestine exhaled with frustration. She knew very well that he was inside, so he was either ignoring her or so distracted that he did not hear. Neither brought her much comfort.
“Edward…” That time, she turned the handle and popped the door open. “Are you busy?”
It was early in the morning, so the office should have been flooded with natural light. But the curtains were closed, the only source of light coming from a single lamp that sat on one of the shelves behind Edward’s desk.
Edward was hunched over the desk, a dark monolith that appeared far too big for such a small space. He glanced up when he heard her, but the light failed to reach his eyes so she could not see his expression. No matter though as she felt his mood like a cold wind.
He was angry. Rage still poured from him in waves. And as soon as he looked up and saw her, he bent his head back down.
“I am a little busy, Celestine,” he grumbled into his chest.
“I am aware.” She closed the door and walked toward his desk. “But this cannot wait.”
He sighed, still not looking up. “I take it that this is to do with Millicent? You spoke with her?”
“I did.”
“And?”
“She is upset with you.” Celestine stopped at his desk, but she did not sit down.
Never before had she felt so unwelcomed in Edward’s presence, and she worried that if she did sit that he might ask her to leave.
“Embarrassed, too. She is convinced that what you did yesterday was on purpose, as if you meant to humiliate her.”
He scoffed. “Ridiculous. Lord Grundon was –”
“He was not the one who raised his voice,” she spoke over him, calmly, but firmly. “He was not the one who nearly started a fight. While his presence was unwelcome, clearly his intent was to upset you. And everyone saw it.”
He scoffed again. “Millicent is young, she will get over it.”
“I am not so sure.”
“She will,” he said sharply, as if he needed to believe it.
“Just as she will come to understand that everything I have done is for her. She wants to blame me? Fine.” He growled.
“But she best thank me too. After all the effort we put into yesterday, that she really believes that I…” He groaned.
“She will come to see that what I do is for her and her best interest. I know that she will.”
“Perhaps an apology?” Celestine pressed gently. “That will go a long way toward –”
“I have nothing to apologize for.”
“You do.” Celestine looked down at Edward’s hulking form, her own frustration rising steadily as he continued to ignore her.
Rather, he was focused on a swathe of documents spread across his desk.
“Even if you do not believe it, you ought to tell her as much. It will go a long way to making her forgive you.”
“I do not want her forgiveness,” he said sharply again. “What I want is for her to understand that she is… that I… I am trying to help her! Why can she not see that?”
Celestine sighed and her heart cracked.
While she did not doubt that Edward felt some level of guilt about what he had done, the man was so stubborn that he would never admit it. And in so doing, his and Millicent’s relationship might never recover.
“Do it for me,” Celestine said gently. “Please, Edward. She is hurting. She even believes that you and I…” A soft chuckle in an effort to diffuse the tension.
“She thinks we are working together and against her. I know you care for her, as I know you have her best interests at heart. But until she knows it too, I fear she might never forgive you.”
He said nothing, his head still bowed.
“If you want her to listen to you, this is how you do it. Remember…” She smiled, even if there was no point. “I know a thing or two about young women. Sometimes, it is better to admit you are wrong, if only to bring them to your side. Trust me, Edward. That is all I ask.”
Again, he said nothing.
But Celestine watched him closely, she listened to his rugged breathing, and she was certain that his defenses were weakening. It brought her much relief, proof that he was willing to listen to her, and that he trusted her opinion.
Perhaps this marriage is as strong as I believed?
Only then, he scoffed and his body turned rigged once again.
“I don’t have time for this,” he said darkly. “Not now. Not when I’m dealing with a storm that might ruin us all if I don’t do something.”
Celestine blinked. “What… what does that mean?”
“This came with the rising sun.” He snatched one of the documents off the desk and thrust it toward her.
Even before she took it, Celestine knew it to be the local paper. And if that was the case, then she could guess easily enough what had caused Edward’s anger to turn toward such darkness.
“The scandal sheets,” he said as she looked at the paper. “No need to guess where they go their story either.”
“The Duke from Hell…” She read the title, but it was too dark for him to make out the small print. “Lord Grundon?”
“Who else?” he snarled. “Oh, and what a story he has spun. If that article is to be believed, my gaming establishment is being used as a den of operations for local street thugs. That I am their head!” he barked.
“Money they owed me, or that I blackmailed from them…” He sneered.
“As it claims, I am responsible for half the crime in London.”
“But that is not true!”
“Of course it isn’t true.” He looked at her finally and she gasped.
Even in the dim light, the fire behind his eyes was unmistakable.
“But it is in print now, likely read by half the ton. True or not, it is now considered fact.” He reached out and snatched the paper back.
“So, forgive me if I do not waste my time on Millicent’s tantrums. She will come around.
And until she does, well, perhaps it is better if she is kept out of sight for a while. ”
“Is that such a good idea?” Celestine offered, her mind racing to find a way through this. “To do that will only confirm the truth of the claims.”
“As if I have a choice.”
“Why not write a reply?” she said. “Tell your own side of the story?”
He looked at her as if she had lost her mind. “And say what? That I own and operate a gaming hell is bad enough. When it was not spoken about, such things were happily ignored. But to admit to it publicly will only make things worse.”
“Then what? What is there to do? Hide? Hope this goes away?”
Finally, Edward smiled, but it brought Celestine no comfort. It was sardonic and wicked, the type that a madman might produce before committing a most foul deed.
“I attack the story at its source, is what,” he said darkly.
“Lord Grundon is the cause of this, so if I bring him down, I might be able to link his ruined name to the story and neuter its effect entirely. I have already started looking into it…” He gestured to the piles of documents before him.
“As you might expect, Lord Grundon is no saint, and I intend to prove it.”
“And then what?” Celestine pressed.
“What do you mean?”
“Say this works…” She spoke with a soft voice, careful not to feed into Edward’s temper. “Say you manage to ruin Lord Grundon’s reputation. That you even manage to convince the ton that your gaming establishment is not what they think. What happens then?”
“I told you,” he said. “This is about Millicent. So long as my reputation suffers, so does hers. But if I can fix it, then her Season will not be over. Still, I might be able to salvage something out of this mess.”
“That is not what I meant.” Taking a chance, Celestine stepped around the desk so that she could be closer to Edward.
He was angry. He was vengeful. But he was also alone, and she needed to show him that she was there for him.
“My meaning is, you might save Millicent’s reputation but until your own relationship with her is fixed, it won’t make any difference. ” She rested a hand on his shoulder.
He looked at her hand, and then at her. But not with compassion or understanding. Rather, it was as if he did not understand a word of what she said.
“That is not… you are focusing on the wrong thing!”
“I am not,” she said firmly. “You care about Millicent, Edward. I know that you do. And if you do not make things right, you might lose her forever. Please…” She looked down at him, her expression pleading. “Trust me on this.”
She needed him to listen to her. She needed him to hear what she said and understand their truth. And not just so that his relationship might be fixed with Millicent, but so that she would know that he trusted her and valued her and wanted her to be by his side.
Please, Edward. For me…
“Later.” He shrugged her off and she winced. “This is what matters right now, Celestine. This is the only thing which does.”
“It does not –”
“It does!” he cried suddenly, frustration taking over. “You just do not understand. My reputation… it will be the end of Millicent if I do not fix this. If I don’t act now, it will not matter if she and I are… our relationship will be irrelevant if I fail her.”
“But you haven’t failed her.”
“Nor will I,” he said with determination, even anger. A shake of the head. “I cannot lose sight of it. If I do that, then this entire Season… all that I have done will be pointless. For nothing. A complete waste of my time!”
Celestine lurched back as if his words had physically struck her.
He does not mean that… does he?
Deep down, she knew that he referred to his efforts to save Millicent’s reputation, that was what troubled him and what he sought to fix. But on the surface of it, the obvious point that she could not ignore was how her marriage to him was intangibly linked to it all.
Their false engagement, and then their marriage, was a key reason that Edward’s reputation had risen so quickly that Season. And to think that he believed it to be for nothing… that all he cared about was Millicent… it hurt. It hurt Celestine more than she could bear.
Perhaps he was just speaking out of hand. Perhaps he was just angry and not thinking. But she looked down at her husband, she saw the rage, she saw the stubbornness, and she saw clearly a man who had not listened to her once since she walked into the room.
They were not equals. He did not value her. In that moment, Celestine felt small, insignificant, and utterly worthless in Edward’s eyes.
“You… you do not mean that,” she said, her voice cracking.
“Of course I do,” he said. “You know exactly what I have been trying to do this Season, Celestine. And now that I am so close, I will not be denied.”
She looked at him pleadingly, begging that he would understand his mistake. And while she was sure he did not mean what he said, that he did not realize it… that it did not cross his mind… that was just as bad.
“I…” Celestine swallowed her pain. “I think… it sounds as if you do not need me here.”
“Not at the moment.” He went back to looking at the desk.
“As that is the case, I think I might go and stay with my sister.” She walked back around the desk. “I know that she is busy with her son, so I might offer her my help.”
He snapped his head up and frowned. “What? You’re leaving?”
“Unless there is a reason for me to stay?”
Again, she offered him a pleading look, a final chance for him to realize what he said and take it back. But he was just so angry, so focused on what he was doing, that he either did not realize or did not care. If anything, her announcement only made it worse.
“Fine,” he said and looked back down. “If you feel that you must.”
Celestine opened her mouth, a final attempt to beg and make her case. But her words caught in her throat, and she would not plead with a man who would not hear it anyway.
Turning slowly, Celestine crossed the room. She reached the door, opened it, and looked back one last time. Edward did not look up, ignoring her entirely, and her heart split right down the middle so that she wanted to cry.
They had been so close… almost there… only for their false paradise to be ripped out from under them. And while Celestine would weep for it, what hurt the most was the very real fact that Edward would not. Likely, he would not notice at all.