“Don't be long, nephew,” Frederick called over his shoulder as he headed down the hall. “Business is booming, and we should not delay.”
“Of course, uncle,” Alex responded, a shiver running down his spine.
Oh, how he loathed this kind of business. But for now, until he was able to invest enough money into more honorable ventures, it was their bread and butter and without it, his dukedom would be penniless.
His sister's education would be over. Sean would be forced to return to the father who sold him. His uncle would be left to run entirely riot. And his staff would all be let go. Then there was Emmaline…
Hell, what have I done?He asked himself once more, realizing that he may well have simply dug himself deeper into the hole he had hoped to pull himself out of with the India investment.
Yet, the moment he stepped back into the drawing room to say farewell to her, he knew once more why he had dug deeper into that hole.
Emmaline was simply too rare a beauty, too rare a person, for him to have simply let the opportunity pass him by.
She rose from her seat with what appeared to be a genuinely happy smile.
“Alexander? Is something the matter?” she asked, and Alex's stomach twisted, his heart aching. She had called him by his given name without prompting. It was the smallest gesture and yet, it meant everything to Alex. Why did it have to be right as he was about to leave her to do something terrible?
“No, my darling, nothing is the matter,” he assured her as they met in the center of the room, and he took hold of her hands. Bringing them to his lips, he kissed both sets of knuckles before he explained, “But I am afraid I must leave.”
Emmaline raised a brow at him. “Leave? Right now? But we were just…” she trailed off and glanced down. “Forgive me, I have no right to question you.”
Pain lanced through Alex’s heart again. He placed his fingertips under her chin and urged her face up to look at him. “We were getting so close,” he finished for her, smiling in a way he didn't think he would ever smile again. “I promise you, on my return, we shall be close again. But for now, I must attend to business.”
A questioning expression crossed his lady's face. Though he had known her personally for only a short time, he sensed he knew what that look meant. She wished to ask him what his business entailed.
And had she asked, he was certain he would have begrudgingly told her, for as he had come to realize, he wished to share every aspect of himself with her.
But he was most relieved when she did not voice the question. He wasn't sure he could bear to watch the admiration die in her eyes just yet, for he hadn't seen a look like that in a lady's eyes since his accident. And he had never hoped to again.
Though he felt a terrible urge to kiss her farewell, to finish what they had begun in the garden, he knew he would not be able to leave it at that. And so, instead, he leaned in and kissed her forehead before he told her, “I shall leave Sean behind to keep you company while I am gone. Perhaps the two of you might get to know each other a little better too.”
Emmaline looked at him with a gentle smile. “If you wish, Your Grace.”
Alex cringed at the title. How he wished he could always just be Alex when he was with her.
It took everything he had in him to release her hands and step away.
With a deep bow, he said, “I shall return as soon as I am able.”
“You will be careful, won't you?” Emmaline asked and Alex looked at her in shock. He quickly removed the expression from his face.
How had she known he was about to do something that required such words?
Because she is no fool,he thought, remembering another reason he had been so enamored with her.
Unable to promise her anything, he merely dipped his head again, and forced himself from the room. Over and over as he walked to the front door to collect his devil's mask from the peg, he was forced to remind himself of why he was doing these things.
Masked and silent, Alex sat in Lord Wells’ drawing room. Though it was the middle of the day, the drapes were drawn. The mountain of a man, Tiny, had seen to that, ensuring that not a single person could witness what was to come.
And the candles that had been lit in the absence of sunlight danced eerily for there was no breeze to blow them and yet, they danced their devil's dance.
“You know why we are here, My Lord,” Frederick said, sitting on a couch beside Alex where he was seated in a high armchair, using the fireplace to add shadow to his already horrendous devil's mask. “I shall not bore you with the details. I shall simply encourage you to do the right thing.”
“My… My Lord, I…” Lord Wells stammered and the way he glanced at Alex told him he was not about to plead to Frederick but instead directly to the devil. “I am trying to do the right thing. I brought all I had to the club just last week.”
“A week is passed,” Frederick boomed. “A week is more than enough time for a man such as yourself to gather fifty pounds.”
“In… indeed, Lord Black but… but I… my family have needs,” Lord Wells stammered. The older man, perhaps about as old as Alex's father might have been had he still been alive, was trembling so hard that even in the dim light of the room, Alex could see his hands shaking on his armrest.
