Philip’s fingers tightened around the arm rest of his chair, the intensity of his daydream almost overwhelming.
“Philip!”
“What is this?”
She entered the library with the scandal sheet clutched tightly in her hand. Philip stared in silence as his mother slammed the paper down on the table in front of him, her eyes filled with disappointment and frustration.
“Look at this. Look at the gossip column, Philip. This headline here which speculates on your involvement with a jilted spinster. I thought I told you to keep away from her, Philip. I thought I warned you that she was trouble. Look at what you are doing here. Look at what you are doing to your family. Poor Georgina…”
She clucked her tongue and shook her head, clearly unimpressed.
“I am trying my hardest to help you and your sister out, but you are making it very difficult for all of us. You must prioritize your duties, Philip, and find a match of equal standing. Lady Rosalind…”
“No, Mother, I don’t want to hear it,” Philip snapped before his mother could get too deeply entrenched in her monologue. “I don’t want to talk about Lady Rosalind. I have been spending time with Lady Verity because I enjoy her company. Because I like her…”
“Are you trying to tell me that you have feelings for her?”
Philip paused and nodded slowly. “Yes, my feelings for her are growing. I cannot deny that. This gossip is baseless, but my feelings for Lady Verity are genuine and meaningful.”
Adelaide tutted angrily. “You are being ridiculous, Philip. You cannot fall for a woman like Lady Verity. She is completely unsuitable for you. Can you imagine her as a future marchioness? It makes no sense at all. She is not suitable.”
“But…”
“But nothing,” Adelaide snapped. “Lady Fitzwilliam is much more perfect for you. She would be an advantageous match for you. She is from an impeccable lineage with a substantial dowry. There is a potential for a strong alliance between our families. I don’t know why you would do anything to jeopardize that.”
Anger rolled through Philip. He wasn’t quite sure how he could make his mother understand what he was trying to say. But this was far too important to Philip, he needed to stand his ground.
“Lady Rosalind might be perfect for me on paper. She may well have all the qualities that you think I need in a wife, but I don’t agree with you, Mother. She does not capture my heart, she does not make me feel a thing, I don’t have anything to say to her…”
“You don’t need to talk, you only need to produce an heir.”
Philip scoffed. “Then I would rather not be married at all.”
“You were spoiled, Philip. Your marriage to Julianna was a wonderful one, and yes, I know that you were very much in love with her. I know that you enjoyed one another’s company, but that is not reality. That is not how most people live their lives. So many people around you marry for necessity, because they need to carry on the family lineage.”
“That sounds horrible, Mother. Do you hear yourself?”
Adeliade shrugged her shoulders, completely dismissing Philip’s concerns. “You know that this is how the world works. I don’t know what you are complaining about.”
“I am complaining because you will not hear me. You don’t seem to care about anything I have to say…”
“Because you are being silly.”
“Because I want to follow my heart? That is silly to you?”
“You are talking as if I am not letting you make your own choices, Philip. This is not the case. I am simply trying to steer you in the right direction. I am trying to guide you in the right way, as any parent would, to ensure that you protect the family reputation.”
“Reputation over heart. I see that.”
Philip knew that this wasn’t going anywhere. He would not back down, and it appeared that Adelaide wasn’t going to change her mind either. They would simply end up yelling at one another until they both said things that they did not mean.
“I am going for a ride.”
“Philip, we have resolved nothing,” his mother called after him as he walked away, but he did not stop.
He would not be surprised if he ended up married to Lady Rosalind without even realizing it. If his mother would play some trick on him, leading him towards a wedding that he did not know was going to happen.
Why on earth would he wed someone he did not like? Especially when he had met someone who did make his heart sing? Just because Verity wasn’t considered an ‘ideal wife’ for him, he could not change his heart. He could not make himself fall for someone who was simply not right for him.
