“Then why didn’t she stay there?” he raged.
“Do you really have to ask?”
“What was the problem?” he sneered. “Wouldn’t my dear mother turn over the reins?”
“Regina took her rightful place there, if that is what you mean.”
“Then they got along famously? Well, why not?” he laughed derisively. “They have so much in common, both despising me as they do.”
“That is unfair, Nicky.”
“Don’t tell me you’re going to defend your sister at this late date?”
“No,” Eleanor replied sadly.
“I see. You’re taking sides with Regina. Well, you wanted me to marry her. Are you pleased with the way it’s turned out?”
Eleanor shook her head. “I swear I just don’t know you anymore. Why did you do it, Nicky? She’s a wonderful girl. She could have made you so happy.”
Sudden pain welled up in his chest, choking him. Happiness with Regina could never be his, no matter how much he wanted it. But Eleanor couldn’t understand why because Miriam had never told her the truth. The sisters had been estranged for as long as he could remember. And if Miriam or Regina hadn’t told her, he certainly wasn’t going to. Sweet Ellie would pity him and he wanted none of that. Better she think him the detestable character everyone else thought him.
He stared down at the glass in his hand and mumbled, “I don’t like being forced.”
“But the deed was done,” Eleanor pointed out. “You did marry her. Couldn’t you have given her a chance?”
“No.”
“All right. I understand. You were bitter. But now, Nicky, can’t you try now?”
“And have her laugh in my face? No thank you.”
“She was hurt, that’s all. What did you expect when you deserted your bride on her wedding day?”
The hand on the glass tightened. “Is that what she told you? She was hurt?”
Eleanor looked away. “Actually…”
“So I thought.”
“Don’t interrupt, Nicky.” She frowned sternly. “I was going to say she won’t talk about you to me at all. But give me some credit for understanding the girl after living with her for four months.”
“She’s wise not to tell you what she thinks of me. She knows you have a soft spot for me.”
“You’re just not going to unbend, are you?” she cried. He refused to answer and she lost her patience. “What about yourson?Is he to grow up in a household of strife—as you did? Is that what you want for him?”
Nicholas shot out of the chair and hurled his glass against the wall.
Eleanor was too shocked to speak, and after a moment he explained himself by saying in a hoarse voice, “I am no fool, madame. She may have told everyone the child is mine, but what else can she say? Let her try and tell me the baby is mine!”
“Are you saying you and she…that you never…”
“Once, Aunt Ellie, only once. And that was four months before I married her!”
Eleanor’s expression softened. “She gave birth five months after the wedding, Nicky.”
He stopped cold, then stated flatly, “The birth was premature.”
“It was not!” Eleanor snapped. “How would you know?”
