“I don’t understand,” Fitz spoke up, voicing Sidney’s own confusion. “You were engaged to Nick and he has sadly passed on. What does any of this have to do with Sidney?”
“No, I was not engaged to Nick. According to the contract, I was engaged to Viscount Hasting. Nick is never named specifically,” she said triumphantly.
Shaking, Mr. Carlton stood and reached out his hand. “May I please see that contract, Lady Ephegenia?”
“I prefer ‘Lady Effie,’” she said with a huff as she passed along the papers. “You’ll see you made a mistake, Mr. Carlton. And that mistake is not my problem. I expect this contract to be fulfilled with a marriage to the current Viscount Hasting within the next year.”
Sidney saw red. There was no way in hell he was ever going to marry this scheming, pathetic woman. His brother may have decided it was a good idea because he was blinded by love for his daughter and desired an heir, but Sidney wasn’t falling for her act. All she cared about was securing another husband with a title and a healthy bank balance, and he certainly was not going to be that man.
“Now, Effie, wait just a minute,” Davenport spoke up. “This is highly unfair. Absolutely no one will believe that Sidney needs to uphold the promise of marriage his brother made.”
“That doesn’t matter, it’s a legal issue. Is it not, Mr. Carlton?” Lady Effie asked. Sidney intently watched the lawyer who was now sweating as he closely pored over the document.
Nervously clearing his throat, Mr. Carlton proceed to kill any remaining hope Sidney still possessed after the past week. “I’m afraid the lady is correct. The contract refers to the viscount in general, it does not specifically refer to the late Lord Hasting. She does have legal precedent to ask for the terms of the agreement to be honored.”
“No,” Sidney said, too exhausted by the situation to protest further. Hanging his head, he shook it in disbelief. “No, I will not marry you. I’m sorry, Lady Effie.”
“I know this is a shock, so I’ll let you have some time to digest it. We can talk again tomorrow.” With that, Lady Effie stood and exited the room in perceived victory.
“How did this happen?” Fitz demanded. “Let me see that contract.”
Mr. Carlton handed it over without a word before gathering his belongings. “If I don’t leave now, I’ll never make it back to London today,” the lawyer said. “I do apologize, and my office will be in touch to help you negotiate this.”
“I think you’ve done enough, we’ll be asking for a second opinion,” Fitz said.
“Fair enough. Gentlemen,” Mr. Carlton said with a resigned nod as he exited the room.
At the sound of the door closing, silence descended on the room. Davenport looked dumbfounded, and apologized profusely for introducing Nick to Lady Effie, then went in search of his wife, hoping she’d talk sense into her friend. Fitz followed suit, storming out to get Reid and Henry, leaving Sidney alone. He didn’t know what to feel. Adding this on top of everything else was enough to finally tip him over the edge. Once again, he just wanted to feel numb. Standing, he made his way over to pour some whiskey into his tea as Lady Effie had suggested.
CHAPTER24
“This is outrageous,” Reid said, shuffling through the papers of the marriage contract. “There’s no way a court will uphold this. You’re a peer now, you can’t be forced to marry against your will.”
“I won’t marry that woman. I won’t do it,” Sidney spat. “I finally have my chance with Angeline, my chance to be happy, and I won’t let that woman ruin it.” After his third glass of whiskey, he was feeling roused and ready to fight. Henry silently picked up Sidney’s empty glass and put away the decanter, a message he’d had enough as it was only mid-day.
Ever protective of his sister, Fitz growled, “You won’t have to, we’ll make sure of it.”
“I know a good lawyer you can talk to. I used him last year when I was trying to figure out what my father had been doing attempting to sell off entailed land. Fitz has used him before too,” Reid said.
“You mean Stanton?” Fitz asked. “He’ll be good, he deals in contract law and primarily looks at wills and other agreements,” he said when Reid nodded.
“Who is he?” Henry asked. “How do you know him? We need the best.”
“Hugh Stanton,” Reid spoke up again. “He has a law firm in London with his partner, John Beaumont. They’re good men and excellent lawyers. We can go to their offices right away and have Stanton look over this.” Reid waved the papers about for emphasis in his irritation.
“Thank you all,” Sidney said, finally speaking up again. “I don’t know what I would have done without you here, and I’m going to need you until all of this is settled. But for now, it’s been a truly awful morning, and I need it to end. I’m off to find Angeline, and we can depart for London in the morning.”
* * *
Sidney couldn’t find Angeline when he retreated upstairs and figured she must be in the nursery. He knew he needed to visit Hazel himself, but he was too upset. Guiltily, he used the whisky he had already drunk that morning as an excuse not to visit until he was fully sober. Exhausted from the emotions of the week and the shock from that morning, he headed to his bedroom to sleep off his intemperate state.
The lack of sleep from before must have caught up to him because he didn’t wake until early the next morning when the first rays of light began to peek through his curtains. He groggily sat up and got ready for the day, splashing water on his face while his valet found fresh clothes suitable for the trip to London.
It was still early, but Sidney was famished, and he made his way down to the kitchen to beg a scone off the cook before breakfast was laid out.
“My lord,” the cook said upon seeing him. “What can we do for you?”
“Please don’t ‘my lord’ me,” he said with a wince. “I’ve always been Sidney, and I should like to remain so to you.”
