“I confronted him about what he said to you.” My hackles rose again and I wanted to seek out Brown and give him more than a piece of my mind. “It was completely unacceptable.”
“Well by confronting him you only made things worse. This is all because of you.” She glared at me, indignation sparking her green gaze.
The ever present guilt quickened through me. I couldn’t dispute the fact, nor defend myself on that score. “I know it’s my fault and I can’t change it. You need to simply admit to them that your father is dead, provide them with the death certificate, and the investigation will go away.”
“Brown won’t give up on his crusade to shut down your publishing house.” Ash narrowed his eyes at me. “Besides, Birdie is not finished telling us everything. Are you Birdie?”
With a long exhale she lowered her lashes before lifting them again. “My sisters and I were in dire straits without any resources other than our wits. A few years back, my father rented out the house for the season and took us to live in a cottage in the country. After his passing, I continued to lease the house to the family and pocketed the funds.”
“That is theft.” I’d thought she was the most honest person I had ever met. Apparently, I had to reevaluate that opinion.
“Do not judge me,your grace.” Birdie crossed her arms over her chest once more, this time with righteous indignation. A trace of her old self was back in full force, a welcome, if not daunting sight. “As I said before, I did what I had to do to protect my family. The same thing your father did for you after your uncle unfairly tossed him out onto the street. If I was a man, this wouldn’t even be an issue because I would have inherited the title. Unlike you, I would have accepted it gladly.”
“She does have you on that score.” Ash chuckled, a trace of humor back in play. At least he was coming around, or I hoped he would.
“This isn’t about me. This is about Birdie. What are we going to do? She obviously broke the law by renting the house out when it belonged to her cousin. Although, I suppose we could pay back the cousin the earnings he would have made off the property.” While I had amassed some money over the years, I had reinvested much of it in the business. I would have to speak with my banker after finding out exactly how much she had acquired over the years.
Chin jutted out, she shook her head. Birdie began to tap her toe, her temper riled. “You aren’t doing anything. You’ve made your feelings clear. You wanted to distance yourself from me, and that’s where we draw the line,”
“Don’t let your pride get in the way of accepting my offer.” While her accusation stung, I wouldn’t allow her to suffer because of me.
“I have one solution that will work, but you two must listen to what I say.” Ash put up a staying hand, stopping our bickering. “You both are guilty of what you accuse each other of, all for a good reason, I suppose.”
“I will help the Namath sisters in any way I can.” I settled my hand behind my neck and rubbed at the tight flesh. “This is my fault. If Brown hadn’t found out about the Ambrosia line, none of this would have happened.”
“You may be right. However, if Birdie hadn’t broken the law, she wouldn’t have anything to fear.” Ash’s thumb increased its tapping in a steady rhythm against his hip. “My solution is simple. Moran will marry you and all of this will go away, the same as the other charges.”
Birdie released an incredulous chortle of laugher. “Marriage is your solution?Memarry Moran?”
“I am not a bad sort.” Defending myself seemed foolish. There was a point when I had been prepared to propose to her. Her laughter was an unexpected insult. “Although I know how you feel about marriage, it makes sense except for one big flaw. I am abdicating my title.”
Ash rolled his eyes. “And here I thought you were smart. A prat, mind you, but a smart prat. What do you hope to accomplish by giving up the title?”
“I want to get back to my normal life.” I thrived on routine and the ebb and flow of my life was centered around my passion for books. The title came with estates and people dependent on me for their daily lives. Not to mention social events and cringe-worthy state dinners. I shuddered simply thinking about the endless obligations that would pull me in multiple directions.
Ash shook his head with more vigor, understanding and determination in the twist of his lips. “That’s an impossible task. Once that information hits the streets, everybody will know. You can’t go back to your old life because everyone knows who you are. Even if you abdicated your title, you would always be a duke to them.”
I winced at Ash’s truthful words. Resentment bubbled up inside me and I released my fists, stretching my fingers out. “What about my business? Being a duke is a lot of responsibility. I won’t have time to edit manuscripts and publish the books I want to publish.”
“That isn’t possible anymore.” Ash wasn’t giving me any quarter. “You must face up to reality. Youarea duke. You wield so much power yet you want to give it up.”
“You’ve always despised the aristocracy because of the power they wield. And now you want me to hold onto the title? Why? What changed your mind?” Surely Ash, like many people I knew in the past, hadn’t altered his tune simply because of who I was? I know it was unfair, but during the brief time that I lived atthe ducal estates, it was a constant challenge to determine who wanted to know me as a person, and me as the grandson of a duke.
“He doesn’t want you to hold onto it for selfish purposes but because of what you can do with it.” Birdie continued to rock back and forth, her smooth brow furrowed. She had been listening intently to the conversation while glancing nervously at the door.
“I don’t want it. I don’t want the weight of responsibility.” Even thinking about it made my shoulders feel like a heavy burden had been yoked around my neck. I couldn’t do it. I simply couldn’t.
Except it was becoming more and more clear that I may not have a choice.
