“No, I deal in far more rational realities.” He leaned back in his chair, apparently watching the next young lady on the altar of sacrificial performance. “As does your husband, the duke. Irrationalities such aslovedo not exist in our spheres.” At whatever expression was on her face—she did her best to hideit, but her heart felt as though it pounded against her ribcage—he gave a mock sigh. “Ah,poor little fledgling, trapped in her gilded cage with the eyes of the world on her. Better to have been my mistress, sweetness, as your mother was. I would never have given you such a pedestal from which to fall.”
“No, you would have given me shame instead.”
“I would have given you honesty at least.”
“Sebastian has been honest with me!” she snapped suddenly.
“Hashe?” Lord Redwood arched a brow. “Keep your voice down, my dear, or you will attract unwanted attention. Such a shame you were never brought up as a fine lady; that will hamper your chances of ever impressing theton, don’t you think? But not to fear—you are still pretty. For the next ten years, you will have your beauty on your side. Beyond that… well, you will always have my pity.”
Aurelia rose, knowing the attention of the room was on her, but unable to sit by quietly while Lord Redwood insulted her so thoroughly.
“You are mistaken,Redwood,” she gritted, her chest rising and falling with the strength of her anger. “I may not have been born to a title, but in turn, I have learned something you never did—position does not command respect, it reveals whether you deserve it. And the truth is, if not for your name and your coin, no one would tolerate you long enough to find out how empty you really are.
“Perhaps that is why you cling to them so fiercely!”
To her irritation, he smirked, the corner of his mouth pulling up. “I enjoy seeing your naivety. Goodbye, little duchess. Don’t forget to ask that duke of yours what he intends to do with you when the dust settles. Like mother, like daughter.”
Rather than storm from the room, as she might have done a few months ago, Aurelia retreated to sit by Mary Ann, who had been watching the exchange with wide eyes.
“Don’t ask,” she said tightly.
“I wouldn’t deign…”
Aurelia sighed. The sooner she returned home and spoke to Sebastian, the better she would feel.
CHAPTER THIRTY
Sebastian knew the moment the door slammed behind Aurelia that something had gone terribly wrong. As she swept her way to his study with the grace of a typhoon, he poured himself a glass of Scotch and tossed it back—he would need it.
“Well?” he asked mildly as she burst through the door. “The charm offensive did not go as we hoped, I presume?”
“I must know something.” She came to stand before his desk, looking magnificent in her gown of deep garnet silk, diamond earrings dangling by her cheeks, and her face flushed with something dangerously close to irritation. “And before you answer, please consider what you have to say extremely carefully.”
Sebastian’s heart immediately plummeted.
There were no more skeletons left in his past, but she had the expression of a woman who had been wronged. What had he done to so irk her?
“Very well,” he said slowly. “Ask away.” Feigning nonchalance, he leaned back in his chair, arms braced behind his head.
She drew herself up. “Did you or did you not marry me with the intention of siring children through me and sending me away again in disgrace?”
He dropped his arms. Tremor catapulted through him. As far as he was aware, he had spoken to no ladies about that aspect of his plan. In fact, he thought he had confided in no one in particular about it. Yet here she was, throwing the long-buried truth in his face.
Long-buried truths he had longer since questioned—that he was no longer sure he wanted to do, regardless of their combined reputation.
When he didn’t immediately speak, her nostrils flared. “So Lord Redwood was right?”
Sebastian stood so fast he almost knocked his chair back. “Redwood was there?”
“He attended in the stead of his aunt—who, I assure you, I had no idea had been invited. I gather it was rather a concession on Mary Ann’s part for her father’s sake. But that is not the point.He wanted to goad me, and he succeeded. But Sebastian, tell me it’s not true.”
He searched for the words to make her believe him, but came up empty. He could lie, but she would see right through it. They had been spending too much time in each other’s proximity for him to hide too much from her.
But beyond it all, she deserved the truth.
He pinched his nose. “Please, just take a seat, Aurelia.”
She stared at him, aghast. “Sebastian…”
