Aurelia placed a gentle hand on his arm, and he suddenly felt some of that violent rage dissipate. “Don’t,” she whispered.
“They had no right to treat you like that,” he growled.
“But who won in the end?” She tugged at his arm, forcing him to look at her. Her eyes were large and earnest. “I married you, and Lord Redwood will frolic until he’s old, grey, and miserably lonely.”
Sebastian didn’t bother informing her that if Lord Redwood hadwantedto marry, he might have done so easily enough, and although it would not have been a love match, or even a marriage with mutual respect, it would still have fulfilled its purpose, which was to produce heirs.
That was the only reason many men married; why, in theton, marriages were treated with the care of political treatises.
Men such as Lord Redwood had no personal desire for a wife, and he would not think his life missing a thing without it.
Still, here was not a place to kick up a fuss. He would seek out another means of getting back at the man.
There would be ways.
He forced himself to relax—helped immensely by Aurelia’s touch, keeping him on earth—and was guided to a nearby seat.
Aurelia smiled beside him, sitting up very straight. In her beautiful chiffon gown, she looked every inch the duchess. The seats on either side of them were empty, but he knew that would not last long—and indeed it didn’t.
The Duchess of Fenwick, her smile like poison, came to sit on Aurelia’s other side. “My…” she uttered by way of greeting. “How you’ve moved up in the world.”
Aurelia gave a giggle that was very unlike her. “Do you like my husband? He is exceedingly handsome.”
The duchess reached across and tapped her fan against Sebastian’s arm. “Cruel of you to take such a decision when you refused to answer any of my letters or invitations.”
Sebastian was not so naïve as to be unaware that she only ever wrote or sent invitations because she wanted a taste of the gossip that swirled around him. “I wasn’t under the impression I was required to ask you for permission,duchess.”
“Oh, well, of course not.” She simpered, but there was a hard light in her eyes. No doubt she saw this as a personal slight.
After hearing what her nephew had done to Aurelia, Sebastian was happy to consider it one.
“I hadn’t so much as known you were acquainted,” the duchess said with another poison-sweet smile. “Did you know that our dear Duchess of Ravenhall lived under my roof for a time?”
Sebastian returned her sickly smile. “Idid. And I also heard that Lord Redwood made some inappropriate advances and offered her no honorable offer in compensation.” The pleasantry dropped from his expression. “It seemed only right that I repair the damage.”
The duchess’s eyes narrowed a fraction. “Is that so?”
“I believe inhonor,” he muttered.
“And is it honorable to offer your name to a girl who has no decent name of her own?” The duchess spat the words out, under her breath for now, but Sebastian knew it was only a matter of time before she would make her accusations far louder. “Is that what you think your dear parents would want for you?”
Aurelia stiffened, her hands clasping one another, her back painfully straight now.
Sebastian took her hand in his. “The heart wants what it wants,” he said, mimicking her words from earlier. “And I see nothing more honorable in offering a good woman a good life.”
“No, indeed.” The Duchess of Fenwick rose in a swirl of skirts and an air of outrage. “I suppose the two of you are perfect together in that regard.”
“I suppose the two ofyouare also,” he answered mildly.
Aurelia’s fingers trembled as they wrapped around his, and she released a long, shaky breath.
“I am not insensible of the honor he offers me,” she said to the duchess’s retreating back. “But is our birth the only maker of virtue? Do one’s actions not also leave a mark?” She paused, the implicit reference to Lord Redwood stinging the air between them. “I would rather have the birth I received and be proud of the person I grew to be than have a high-ranking mother and father—only to become cruel and entitled with my privilege.”
Sebastian inclined his head in the mockery of a bow. “Your Grace.”
The Duchess of Fenwick’s jaw clenched, and she returned to her seat halfway across the room without another word.
Aurelia released a long, shaky breath. “I always knew she would be vindictive,” she whispered. “But you did not have to imply that you married me because Lord Redwood would not.”
