Nevertheless, she continued. "Have you not taken enough already, Oliver?" she asked, desperately trying to contain her ire and bitterness.
"Oh, but I never took anything, Natalie," he responded at length. "Everything I got, I earned. Throughyourcarelessness.”
"And you are proud of it?" Natalie whispered, horrified. She held her breath to deal with the fact that he had just blamed her for her family's misery.
"On the contrary, I am simply stating the truth," he smirked.
"Hannah will not marry you," Natalie said matter-of-factly.
"It is not your decision to make," he shot back.
Natalie had never felt more hopeless in her life, but she maintained her stance. “You will keep away from my family. What you took from us is enough.” If they were to emerge defeated after everything, then she wanted them to walk away with their pride and dignity, at least.
“I see you wish to be homeless.”
“You are not my maker or the keeper of my fate. We will keep our house, and Hannah will not marry you.”
"You are making a grave mistake." He shot to his feet. “Do not allow your foolishness to birth another disaster in your life.” He turned without allowing her to say anything more and walked out of the shop, leaving her fighting an internal war she was no longer sure she could win.
The waiter brought the tea, and she told him that the man who ordered it had left, then she took her leave, too.
Dejected, she returned home, and when she walked into the front hall, she met the butler bearing a tea tray for George. “I will take it to him,” she mumbled, collecting the tray.
He was in his study, a deep frown on his face and his bespectacled eyes moving over lines of correspondence. He was still occupied despite the physician’s visit.
George looked up, and he was surprised to see her bearing the tea. “I thought you would be abed after Dr. Rivers’ visit.”
He winced. “Did the butler tell you about it?”
She poured some tea into a cup for him and placed some biscuits onto a smaller plate, taking them to him. Then she sat before the desk and regarded him.
"Whatever it is, say it." George took a sip of his tea. "What could possibly be worse than the recent events?"
"I spoke to Dr. Rivers myself," Natalie announced. "He told me everything.”
George let out a curse under his breath. "I warned him not to—"
"Why, George?" Natalie interrupted. "If he does not tell us,yourfamily, who should he share it with? Who should give you the support you need?"
"I should be the one giving you and Hannah support," George said miserably. "But every day, I am failing to bear that responsibility. Look at you, Natalie. You were raised with every luxury afforded to man, but you now live toiling like a commoner. My heart breaks every time I see light streaming from underneath your bedchamber door because I know you are by the candle sewing.”
Natalie knew his fears without him telling her, and she wished, more than anything, that she could change his feelings of inadequacy.
She countered what he said, and she reassured him. "We will get through this, George." Natalie reached for his hand across the table and held it tightly. “We can weather this if we stay strongtogether.”
There had to be another way to defeat Oliver. She had been trying not to think of Jasper, but he continued to come into her thoughts.
Chapter 22
Lady Phoebe Dawson’s soiree was resplendent, but we were disappointed before it ended. Lady Natalie Reeves, the newly crowned darling of the beau monde, fled the event. Why? If you have the answer, please come forward and aid us in solving another mystery that has descended upon us.
“You know, I think I just might heed Lady Phoebe's advice,” Oliver declared.
Jasper quirked an inquisitive brow. He had called upon Oliver, and they were playing billiards in his game room. Jasper was playing to distract himself. Natalie had left the soirée without her family, and he wanted to know why.
He could write to her, but he wanted her to tell him whatever it was in person. He had been conversing with another gentleman while she danced with Oliver, thus, he did not know what happened after the dance that chased her away.
"I am considering marriage," Oliver elaborated.
