Bile rose up his throat when his uncle laughed. “Remorse? For what? I know you to be a sinner. You ruined my family! I never should have taken you in.”
“Then you should have let me go somewhere else,” Owen threw back at him harshly. “You don’t trust anyone. All you do is make everyone around you miserable! I don’t think you even know how to be happy. Do you?”
“Maybe I don’t think you deserve happiness. I spent half my life taking care of you and your snot. What do I get out of it? Nothing. You and your little wife––”
Owen’s eyes narrowed. “Don’t you talk about her.”
Huffing, Ralph stared him down in return. “Why not? All of London talks about her. What a delight she is. What a jewel she is. How lucky you two sorry specimens are to have each other.”
It was through his words and ramblings that Owen began to understand at last. “You were at the ball then, weren’t you? Or you heard about it. You couldn’t stand to see us happy. You saw that I had the wife your son was meant to have, and you saw that we were in love.”
“Love! As if that is real.”
Owen shook his head as pieces of the puzzle began to fall into place. That was why his uncle had written this letter. He’d done so immediately, always rash in his cruel actions. It wasn’t like he knew any other way. Ralph had wanted to say whatever he could to hurt Georgiana. He must have seen Owen out riding and must have taken some gambles to make his accusations.
Half of it was luck and half of it was just cruelty. What else could Georgiana believe? And blast it, I played right into this without knowing.
“Love is real,” Owen said. He straightened up, telling himself that this was all over. “It is as real as you or me. Just because you have never experienced it doesn’t negate its existence. We all deserve better than you, Uncle Ralph. All you ever did was hurt your own family. Benedict has built his own life to avoid you. Your wife is scared of your shadow and only stays because of the law. And I will continue to shun you. Do you understand? You are a terrible human being, and no one––I meanno one—will ever love you.”
Everything was different. He was taller than his uncle, and now he was wiser. Owen relaxed, feeling the past fall off his shoulders. He, too, in his own way had shunned love. But now love was in his life, and he was ready to embrace it.
“You scoundrel!”
Owen jerked back when his uncle lunged at him. Bumping into the desk, he didn’t get very far. He was nearly tackled to the ground but caught his balance before shoving Ralph off him.
“I won’t let you––”
Owen’s fist landed on his uncle’s face before he could finish his threat. The punch was harder than Owen had intended. He froze as his uncle collapsed in a heap on the floor.
A groan escaped the older man as he clumsily clutched his bleeding nose.
Looking down at him, Owen wanted to feel regret. But he didn’t. He leaned over him and said, “You will not interfere in my life again. Do you understand me, Uncle? If you see me, I want you to cross the street. Leave the ball. Run in the other direction. All of this ends now. Do you understand? You could have had happiness, but you threw it away. This is your punishment. If I hear of you hurting anyone, including Aunt Augusta, ever again, I won’t hesitate.”
“Hesitate to do what?”
“It’s better we don’t talk about that,” Owen hissed, truthfully not knowing what he would do. But if he could punch his uncle, he had a feeling he could cause other sorts of damage. No marquess was all-powerful, after all. “Goodbye, Uncle Ralph.”
Then Owen walked out. He didn’t feel the pain in his knuckles or any weight on his shoulders. It was a new peace he had never known before. It was almost perfect.
But nothing wouldn’t be perfect until he had Georgiana back.
CHAPTER31
Georgiana was torn. While she was glad to be riding her horse instead of being trapped in the afternoon traffic many carriages already appeared to be in, she didn’t particularly wish for anyone to see her.
She surreptitiously rubbed a hand over her face to pat her hair, wiping away a stray tear at the same time.
What was I thinking? It’s nearing the fashionable hour, so everyone is going to be out. They’re going to see me and know something is wrong. How humiliating. If only there was a better route to get home. I had best get there quickly. The sooner I get there, the sooner this is all over.
Even though Georgiana didn’t quite know what she would do once she was home, she knew she had to go back. Her husband needed to be told how she felt instead of just watching her run away. And then she could make her demand that they live apart.
It was what he wanted in the first place, wasn’t it? If only I had given him what he desired from the beginning.
Speaking with her father had taken a toll on her. She was already drained because of everything that had happened. She’d had such a restful morning, but that felt like a lifetime ago. There was a nervous energy roiling inside her. It was like that day four years ago when Emma ate an entire cake and bounced everywhere she went. Only this was worse. Georgiana already felt ill to her stomach and couldn’t bring herself to look down at her shaking hands.
But it would be over soon. She told herself this over and over. As she considered her options, she weighed what she was willing to handle from a husband and where her breaking point was.
They had reached it, and that was the problem. How could she be with such a deceiving, dissembling man? She would never be able to trust him again. It didn’t matter what he tried to excuse; already he had admitted to everything.
