“Sherefuses?” When had anyone other than his unruly children ever defied his requests? Was it possible Eden was angry withhim, and this had nothing to do with anything Aubrey might have said or done?
“Yes, Your Grace.” His housekeeper nodded and then cleared her throat. “She said to tell you that she is not comingdownstairs now or ever. She added that you can command her to appear until you are blue in the face and she still will not come down.”
“She said that? Lady Eden’s exact words?”
Mrs. Dayton nodded again. “Yes.”
He gave a curt laugh of disbelief, although he did believe this was something Eden would say. But to him? Why?
“Shall I try again, Your Grace?”
“No, it won’t be necessary. Thank you, Mrs. Dayton. I’m sorry I distracted you from your duties.”
“Not at all, Your Grace.” She bobbed a curtsy and hurried off.
Connor decided to march upstairs and confront Eden. Not that he was angry with her in the least, but she was clearly avoiding him, and he meant to get at the reason why. This behavior of hers was worrisome, especially since it seemed to have stemmed from somethinghehad done. But Aubrey thought she was upset with him, too.
What in blazes had either of them done?
Eden was the calmest person he knew. Nothing ever rattled her.
Well, that was not quite true. She had been more overset than usual by the behavior of her parents. But how was he to blame for that? Nor did he seriously believe this was the reason she had locked herself away.
Come to think of it, had she bothered to lock her door?
He had the pass key to every room in the house and could retrieve it to let himself in if she attempted to shut him out.
He knocked on Eden’s door.
“Go away!”
“It’s me. Lynton.”
“I know who it is. Go away!”
How could she tell it was him merely by his knock? “I need to speak to you, Eden.”
“I am through speaking to you, so save your insincere words of sympathy because I do not wish to hear them. I have nothing to say to you. Nor to Lord Aubrey. Nor to my parents. Nor to anyone else,” she said between sobs and sniffles.
Had he made this sweet girl cry? “Eden, please open up.”
“Stay out! In fact, I would like everyone to stay out. Just leave me alone. I do not want to see any of you ever again.”
“I’m coming in.”
“Don’t you dare! As soon as I stop crying,” she said, her voice etched with pain, “I am going to pack my things and go home to Chestnut Hill.”
“Your father is still there,” he reminded her, trying to gently point out she would only be exchanging one headache for another.
He heard more tears as she said, “I am sending my father to you. And do not dare send him back to me or worse, exchange him with my mother and sendherback to me. I am leaving both of them for you to handle because I want nothing more to do with them. Or with you. Or Lord Aubrey,” she repeated.
Yes, she was making it quite clear that he and Aubrey were the culprits. Her parents were irrelevant, because they were a longstanding heartache and this was not how she ever dealt with their misbehavior.
So it was down to him and Aubrey. And both of them were at a loss to understand what they had done.
“But I do not mind your mother and your children,” she went on between hiccups and sniffles. “I love them. They are wonderful.”
“They love you too. Shall I send my mother up to—”
