“But Mama—” Catherine was all but shouting, now.
“No buts!” The Duchess thundered, drowning her daughter out. Then, she rounded on Raphe. “And while I am glad that you enjoyed your conversation and dance with Miss Wingfield; regrettably, it cannot happen again. I forbid you to associate with Miss Wingfield any further.”
Raphe stared at his mother in disbelief. All the colour drained out of his face, and he slowly shook his head. When he finally spoke, his voice was quiet and disgusted.
“I will do as you say, Mama, but do not expect me to forgive you. I finally found a young lady I could imagine myself happily married to, and now you’ve forbidden me that possible happiness over a petty feud with her sister.”
With that, Raphe spun on his heel and stormed out of her bedroom, slamming the door behind him hard enough to shake the whole house all the way down to its foundations.
Trembling, the Duchess sat down hard on the edge of her bed.
“He danced with the girl once. He cannot mean that.”
Her words came out as an incredulous scoff, and both Catherine and Gabriel winced.
“What if he does, mother? What will you do?”
Gabriel arched a brow at his mother, hoping for any sign of softening on her part. He had never seen Raphe express even a hint of interest this strong in any young lady before, and he hated to think that his mother being temperamental over interference with her plans might ruin Raphe’s chances at happiness.
Catherine simply stood there, wringing her hands, and watching the two of them so intently that she hardly dared to breathe as she waited for her mother to respond.
“There are plenty of other kind, honest, funny wallflowers who have an aversion to being noticed among the ton, and who are not in possession of sisters who’ve made it a point to thwart the marriage plans I had for my only daughter. Raphe may be angry now, but I am his mother, and he will have to forgive me eventually. He will also find another suitable young lady to marry.”
Catherine clapped her hand over her mouth and stifled what might have been a sob, or maybe a noise of strangled frustration. Gabriel couldn’t be sure which. After a moment, Catherine seemed to gather herself.
“Be reasonable, Mama. Please. Raphe is not the only one who enjoyed Miss Wingfield’s company. I like her immensely—”
“No. I forbid it. He cannot court her, and I do not wish you to speak to her, nor any of Lady Seabury’s other connections, Catherine. I mean it.”
Shaking with frustration and dashing tears from her cheeks, Catherine cast a pleading look at Gabriel as she scurried for the door.
“Excuse me, please. I… I need some time to myself, I believe.”
Gabriel’s blue eyes dulled with disappointment, and he looked down at his hands, resting on the top of his cane. The door clicked closed behind Catherine and the wounded, battle-worn former soldier was left to face his mother alone, the last line of defence between her wounded pride and his siblings’ crushed hopes. And his crushed hopes, as well, he realised. Lady Matilda Calthorpe was one of Lady Seabury’s connections, after all, and the sister of Lady Eugenia, who was now to wed Lord D’Asti, rather than Catherine.
His shoulders drooped, and his voice was quiet when he spoke to his mother.
“I would not count on Raphe forgiving you for this, mother, nor on him finding another suitable young lady to marry—”
“Nonsense. I feel a headache coming on, Gabriel. Hush now and leave me be.”
“I will do no such thing.” Gabriel squared his shoulders and stood up a little straighter, looking his mother squarely in the eye. “I am telling you these things because I love you dearly Mother, and I expect you to listen to me because I believe you when you say that you love us and only want the best for us. I do not, however, believe that you are behaving rationally right now, and I want to be sure that you realise the full extent of the repercussions of your choice to snub not only Lady Seabury, but all her connections, as well.”
“Don’t speak to me like I’m a child or an imbecile, Gabriel.”
“Then stop behaving like one and listen to me!”
Gabriel snarled the words, hating the condescension in her tone and the way she tended to browbeat even her own children into submission. Did she even realise that she was doing it? Did she realise how awful she sounded, how unfair she was being? The Duchess sucked in a shocked breath and tears welled in her eyes. Her lips trembled, and she shrank back against her pillows, almost as if she feared he might strike her in that moment, and Gabriel felt as if he might cast up his accounts. He squeezed his eyes shut and took a deep breath.
“I can’t believe you just shouted at me like that. You’ve never lost your temper with me like that before.”
Gabriel gave his mother a hard, assessing stare.
“You’ve never treated Raphe and Catherine badly enough that I felt it necessary to lose my temper with you before, but there is a first time for everything. I know that Raphe is the eldest and usually elder brothers are in the business of protecting the younger ones, but he’s only ten minutes older than I am, and of the two of us I’ve always been the one naturally given to protectiveness, and — when I feel it necessary — confrontation. That’s why I joined the army.”
“You really believe I am in the one in the wrong, that I am mistreating your brother and sister by not allowing them to associate with those who have wronged me?”
Gabriel lifted his chin, his gaze never wavering.
