Cecily shrugged, indicating a nonchalance she did not feel. “As have I,” she said. “I believe it is right around 12,672 pounds.”
Mr. Nottingham stilled. “Ah, so you are your father’s daughter, after all.” An uncomfortable silence fell as their eyes locked. His changed slowly from admiration to accusation. Had he thought she was just another empty-headed dimwit?
Had he thought her father would not inform her of the terms within her own dowry?
“You are spending Flave’s allotment.”
Cecily shrugged. “As is he.”
For a moment, she thought she saw amusement on his eyes, but it didn’t last for long.
“My lady,” he began, “this elaborate spending is over. I’ve sent Flave to meet with my lawyers and have the money allocated as specified in your marriage contract. I’ve also designed the investment accounts to make available an allowance for each of you, which will begin disbursements next month. Meanwhile, you’ll have to make do with what you have. If necessary, I shall have Flave give notice to the vendors that you patronize and tell them to withhold credit from you. I sincerely hope this will not be necessary.”
How deliciously commanding!
Contrary to what Mr. Stephen Nottingham must be thinking, Cecily was not at all angry with him for curtailing the reckless run she and Flave had put on her dowry. In fact, she was slightly relieved.
Her father had worked his entire life and would be extremely disappointed in her for the thoughtless spending she had done over the past few weeks. Not that she was thrilled with the arrogance Mr. Nottingham displayed while doing so, but she understood arrogant men. He had laid down a gauntlet and now obviously expected her to cry and pitch a fit so that he could exert his authority over her.
She would not give him the satisfaction. Besides, she possessed personal funds that she could draw on at any time, of which Flave had no knowledge. This mandate of his cousin’s would cause Flavion far more discomfort than her.
And yet, this entire situation brought her anger flaring back to life again. Her father’s hard-earned money would not have been squandered away if her husband hadn’t used her so callously.
“You think to save him from my father,” she finally said.
“I do and I will.” Mr. Nottingham’s eyes narrowed slightly. His tone was matter of fact but unyielding.
“He does not deserve it.”
The inscrutable man shrugged. “Perhaps not. But he is the only family I have, and I would wish to see him grow into an old man.”
Cecily turned her head and gazed unfocussed out the window.
“I did not foresee that a person could be so calculating and cruel,” she said. “Especially a person I loved. That is the very worst of it, you know. The fact that I believed him to be in love with me. And that I believed myself in love with him.”
Stephen frowned, looked down at the desk, and cleared his throat. “That was not well done of him.”
Cecily still gazed out the window. “I would rather he had pointed a gun at my heart and stolen my dowry in an outright robbery. I could then have preserved my self-respect.”
Apparently, Mr. Nottingham had no response to her proclamation. He seemed a decent-enough sort. But his physical resemblance reminded her that Flave was his cousin.
One, unfortunately, did not have the benefit of choosing one’s relations.
“What would you have now?” he asked suddenly. “What can be done to convince you to call your father off?”
At his question, she jerked her face away from the window and studied him. There had been enough deception. “I would have my freedom. I would have my self-respect, my dreams… my innocence.” With a self-deprecating laugh and a flip of her hair, she added, “Flavion’s head on a platter would not be unappreciated.”
Cecily watched as he seemed to mentally catalogue her demands.Freedom, self-respect, dreams, innocence, and Flave’s head.
“What if Flavion apologizes? Mends his ways and realizes that he loves you after all?”
Ah, but Cecily knew the truth of Lord Kensington. He would never apologize and mean it. He would never mend his ways, and most of all, he would never love her.
Which was a moot point anyhow, she realized with a start. She no longerwantedhis love.
“Fool me once, shame on him. Fool me twice, shame on me. I shall not be a fool twice, Mr. Nottingham. I do not even believe that Flave loves Miss Cunnington. The only person my husband loves is myhusband.”
At her words, Mr. Nottingham changed tactics. Perhaps he knew the truth of his cousin’s character as well. “Your freedom. What of an independence? You can have your own home, your own staff and never see Flavion again. Would that be freedom enough?”
