“You did not ask me if you could spend the night. I had to have Agnes pour my tea for me.” He let out a harsh laugh as if he could not believe the situation that he had been put in. “It is simply unacceptable.”
“Richard—”
“You will address me as ‘My Lord.’”
“My Lord,” Alice emphasized, annoyed. She was too tired to deal with him now, and because of her headache, her anger was building quicker than usual. “You already told me months ago that I do not need to seek your permission to attend events, especially now that I am actively courting. This Season is my one chance to find a match, and I must put myself out there.”
Richard shot her a surprised look at her sudden opinion, but he stepped toward her, pointing his finger at her. “You belong here. In this house, serving me. Getting married is one thing, Alice, but acting like a harlot and running around town is different!”
“I do not deserve this,” she muttered to herself as Richard turned around to walk away, feeling the weight of the words in her chest. She had never said it aloud before, but it felt amazing.
“What did you just say?” he asked, turning back around.
She stood taller, furrowing her brow. “I said, I do not deserve this.”
“And what do you deserve, since your life has been nothing but spoiled, with Mother and Father giving you anything you could ever want?”
“Richard, it was over a decade ago. You must move on!” she snapped. “They loved us both so much. They had no favorites. But they would be disappointed in you now, not me. I will be getting married by the end of the Season, and you will get your coveted social status, or whatever suits you. But you will no longer have me.”
Richard was left speechless, attempting to say something, but words were simply not being produced. Alice knew that if she stayed any longer, he would explode into fury or she would begin to cry, so she quickly exited the hall, shutting her bedroom door behind her and getting dressed in her normal everyday gown.
I cannot believe that he would snap at me like that! I knew that seeking a husband would make my situation worse, but I never could have imagined that he would be so blatantly heinous.
She heard the front door slam shut as she snuck out of her room, notifying her of her brother’s departure, and she released the breath she unknowingly held in her throat.
She needed to escape this place. The quickest way now was to no longer be afraid of what the other ladies thought of her. The Duke was right, she had to show off.
* * *
“Your Grace, you have received a letter from your mother.” Maxwell set the envelope on Rowan’s desk.
Rowan sighed. He stood up and walked over to his bar cart to pour himself a drink.
When he got home from Xander’s party, he went straight to his study, telling everyone in the house to not disturb him. He needed to file paperwork and work on his financial statements, and after the long night he had, his focus was dwindling. His mind kept wandering back to Alice, and her body. He could not stop himself from thinking about the heat that emanated from her as he held her the night before, her lips against his, and the unnervingly wonderful feeling of his tongue against hers.
His memory was cut short by Maxwell knocking on the door with the last thing he wanted to hear.
“Open it and read it to me,” Rowan said, leaning against his desk.
“She claims that she must see you at once, Your Grace. She claims that it is urgent, and dinner will be prepared for you when you reply. Why would she plan a dinner if it was urgent?”
“That just proves it, then. That is what she told me in her correspondence before I got to London. It was far from an emergency then, as well. If there is dinner, it cannot possibly be that important.”
“Perhaps you should visit her once more and figure out what she wants. I understand that you do not want to associate with her, but she is your mother, at the end of the day.”
Rowan knew that Maxwell was right, as always. Sometimes, he despised the logic of that man.
“After the next event, I will go,” he decided reluctantly. “Now, do you think that Mr. Reynolds will be at Cribb’s today?”
“Why do you ask, Your Grace?” Maxwell asked, setting the letter down on his desk and looking down at the scattered papers that were practically unintelligible.
There was no rhyme or reason to how they were splayed, which Maxwell could understand was because Rowan’s mind had been in other places. He was always quite organized, but today was different.
“He owes me four payments of rent, Maxwell. I do not know how I missed his papers when I had gone through this, but he is a lucky man. I need to find him.”
“Well, there is a high possibility that he is there, but I cannot guarantee it. We can always go to his estate if you would like.”
“Perhaps… for now, I need to make appointments with some gentlemen at the club, and perhaps find my rent evader. So, ready the carriage.”
