I’d laughed. Actually laughed. But then I hadn’t been surprised, had I?
Her parents hadn’t been as amused to learn their daughter was not the pure virgin they’d assumed. Perhaps they’d make a deal and force Chris to marry her. It would serve both of them right. But considering he had a mistress he’d suddenly fallen hopelessly in lust with, perhaps not.
“Alfred!”
The man stepped from the dining room. “Yes, my lord?”
“See I have a trunk packed. At least a week’s worth. And hurry.”
He hesitated. “Are you going to the country-side, my lord?”
“Something like that. Now stop questioning me and prepare the coach.”
He had the decency to look ashamed. “Yes, my lord.”
I felt…free. I hadn’t a bloody clue what we would do. I’d most likely be cut off while my father still lived. But I had a small inheritance from my grandfather he couldn’t touch. Yes, we might be forced to live in a cottage, but I didn’t care. And I knew without doubt, Ginny wouldn’t mind.
“However, my lord, before you go…”
Annoyed, I hesitated. “Yes?”
“Your parents are in the sitting room.”
I gritted my teeth. Had Miranda had time to send word to my mother? “Wonderful.”
So be it. I moved toward the room. My parents sat in identical chairs near the hearth, a fire blazing. To an outsider it would look like a cozy scene, but I could feel the pulse of negativity coming from them. While my mother sat straight, her presence the epitome of health, my father was pale, hunched in his chair. How very weak and small he looked. It was difficult to remember how he had terrified me when I’d been a child.
“Perhaps standing out in the snow with no coat for a few hours will teach you to be the tough man you need to be.”
I’d been five and had cried because I’d fallen down the stairs. Picturing Izzy’s tiny face, I couldn’t imagine treating her with such anger, such contempt. The man was a monster, and I’d be damned if I’d continue that legacy.
“Mother.” I headed toward the sideboard and poured myself a drink. “Father.”
There was much to be done before I left. Money to procure, things to pack. And I had to make provisions for Tommy. “I’ve called off my wedding to Miranda.”
Silence followed me.
They knew. They knew I’d called off my sham of a marriage. I turned. “No comments? No threats?”
“Is this because of her…” My mother hesitated, searching for the right words. How amusing; she’d never been at a loss of what to say. “Friendship with other men?”
Friendship? I laughed. “No. Although, I appreciate you telling me about my former fiancé’s nefarious habits.”
She didn’t respond. My father watched it all with thinly veiled annoyance. He wanted to scream, rant, but he hadn’t the energy, and it was destroying him to have to sit there like an invalid. How strange that he had been handsome once. But his hatred had taken its toll. He was pale, almost gray in color, his face lined with a map of his bad mistakes.
I downed my drink. “So, Miranda has been cuckolding me. Well, I’d be a hypocrite to feign annoyance, wouldn’t I? So then, it’s for the best that I called off.”
“Don’t be absurd. The wedding is in two months,” my father snapped, his ears red. His ears always went red when he was fuming. A warning sign I’d learned young enough as a child.
“We’ll speak with her and her family,” Mother added. “Explain she must be discreet.”
I set my glass on a small side table. “I’m not marrying her.”
She sighed. “Why must you always be difficult? We will make sure she’s not with child before the wedding. Have you two…”
“No.” I released a harsh laugh. “I didn’t want to frighten her delicate sensibilities.”
“Yes, well, a virgin would certainly be preferable,” my father muttered. “Nevertheless, her family is very wealthy, and they have that parcel of land. If we manage to procure the acreage, Reyonds agrees to sell his lot. Do you know how much property we’ll own?”
The gleam of greed in his eyes would have been troubling, if I wasn’t used to it. Life wasn’t to be enjoyed, my father had told me years ago, it was to be conquered. Perhaps that was why he despised his brother, the heir, so much. His brother had spent his short time on earth actually enjoying life. Perhaps a little too much enjoyment.
“Once you are married you are welcome to do with her as you please,” Mother added.