“Well, you let me worry about Levi,” Caroline said. “You just rest up, all right? And I’ll come and get you when it’s time to have dinner.”
She left her sister in her room. Prudence was right. There was no telling how Levi was going to take this. But whatever his reaction might be, Caroline was sure of one thing—it wasn’t going to be simple.
CHAPTER 24
“Tell me, Caroline, will your cousin be hammering on the pianoforte all afternoon?”
Three days had gone by since Caroline’s family had arrived at the estate, and things had gotten progressively worse. The first day, Levi had thought he might find this bearable. They’d mostly kept to their rooms, coming out only for meals, and Levi had been able to forget they were there for the most part.
On the second day, Lord Highgate had arrived with a whole carriage full of flowers and profuse apologies. He’d begged his wife to forgive him and come back home to him. And she had refused.
That was too bad. Levi had thought he might be rid of her that day. Instead, their visit had dragged on, and now Bridget was playing the same tune over and over on the pianoforte, loud enough to wake the dead.
“She’s only practicing,” Caroline defended her cousin. She pulled Levi aside so that she could speak to him without being overheard.
“Well, I think she’s done enough practicing. She’s just playing the same song again and again, and she’s not improving at it. I am a man who likes my silence, as you well know!”
“Please, Levi, give her a bit of space,” Caroline said. “They’ve all been through so much lately. She’s not going to be able to go to any more events this season, because Mother wants the girls to stay close to home—and, truly, I don’t blame her. I think all Bridget has right now is the power to daydream about her future and to prepare herself for a day when she might be able to look to marriage. Let her play the piano.”
“It drives me mad.”
“This is a huge manor. Go to a different room if you don’t wish to be around her.”
Levi couldn’t deny that she had a point. He didn’t like the idea of being forced out of rooms he wanted to occupy in his own home, but he had to admit that there was nothing really wrong with Bridget wanting to play the piano. And Caroline was right—he was more than capable of walking away.
He did so and made his way up to his study, closing the door behind him. How long were they going to be here, he wondered—and how long would it be before he lost his temper completely?
“Constance, please come home!”
Lord Highgate stood in the foyer, a bundle of flowers in his arm. His daughters and his niece were on the second-floor balcony looking down at him, and Lady Highgate stood on the stairs facing her husband. Levi moved toward the baron from the sitting room, where he had been reading and drinking his evening scotch, and positioned himself between Lord Highgate and the rest of his family.
“I’m going to have to ask you to leave, sir,” he said firmly.
“You can’t order me away,” Lord Highgate growled. “You have my family here. I’ve every right to see them.”
“Only if they wish to see you, and they don’t,” Levi said. “I won’t allow you in my home without my permission, Lord Highgate, even if they are your family. If they want to see you, I will extend my consent for you to pay them a visit, but I don’t believe there’s anyone here who desires your company. Unless I’m mistaken?” He turned to look at Lady Highgate.
“No,” she said. Her voice was slightly shaky, but her expression was firm. “We don’t want to see him. We want him to go.”
“There’s your answer,” Levi said firmly. “They don’t want to see you. Do yourself a favor and leave of your own volition—don’t make me throw you out of here.”
Lord Highgate didn’t acknowledge Levi. “Constance,” he said. “Prudence is my daughter. I’m her father. And you are my wife. Your proper place is with me. You’re embarrassing yourself by running away like this.”
“You mean she’s embarrassingyou,” Levi interjected. “You’re afraid people will find out you couldn’t keep your wife in your home, and that they’ll judge you for it.”
“Well you’d know all about that sort of thing, I suppose,” Lord Highgate said nastily. “Left by a lady the night before you were to marry. Forced to marry the least appealing of my daughters because no other would have you.”
The rage that surged within Levi at hearing Caroline described as unappealing rendered him momentarily incapable of speech.
When he found words, they were not for Lord Highgate. He turned to his butler, who stood in the corner. “Take this man out of here and throw him into the street,” he growled. “He’s not to be allowed on the property anymore. If he is seen on my land, remove him, and use force if it’s necessary to get him out of here quickly and without trouble. I don’t want him around from this moment on.”
“You can’t do this!” Lord Highgate howled.
But the footmen were already on him, dragging him out the door. Levi turned to face Caroline, to make sure she was comfortable with what had happened, and she inclined her head ever so slightly, letting him know that she was.
Her father wouldn’t darken their doorstep any further—at least, not until Levi was told that the family was ready to see him again.
“The rumors about your marriage continue to fly,” Levi’s solicitor, Bradley, told him.
