Wasn’t she supposed to be his partner in crime?
“Listen to Sophie,” Kate urged, rising from her chair and coming over to embrace her friend. “It would be best if we all enter into the conversation as calmly as possible. Perhaps we ought to send her a note to ask for an audience with her in the drawing room at eight o’clock.”
“I’ll have Mr. Giles take a note to her now,” Theo said, clapping Nicholas’s shoulder as he strode past them in search of the butler.
When he returned, they sat for dinner.
The meal was nice, and conversation flowed well, but there was an undercurrent of tension because everyone present knew what was to come and dreaded it. That said, Nicholas didn’t think Sophie and Kate comprehended just how manipulative Lady Blackwell could be.
“I’m sure it will be fine,” Sophie said when a particularly taut silence descended.
Nicholas sighed and wished he had a glass of brandy todrink with his supper rather than wine. “I don’t believe you grasp how strong her propensity for drama is.”
She acknowledged that with a slight nod. “Then all I can do is assure you that I’ll be by your side whatever happens.”
“Thank you, love.”
“As will we,” Theo said, more firmly than Nicholas might have expected. He must have noticed Nicholas’s expression, because he added, “I may not approve of how this happened, but I’m happy for you, and you’ve done everything you reasonably can to make things easier for Mother. You shouldn’t be expected to sacrifice more than you already have, and she needs to realize that.”
Nicholas’s chest grew tight. “You’re the best brother I could have asked for.”
Theo’s lips twitched. “Now, let’s finish our meal and get this over with.”
When they gathered in the drawing room, Nicholas noticed that the furniture had been rearranged. The chairs and chaise were now positioned in a circle so they could all talk without the attention defaulting to any one person.
That must have been Mrs. Tubbs’s idea, because he couldn’t see Mr. Giles thinking of it. They were fortunate to have such devoted staff.
He and Sophie sat side by side. Theo and Kate arrived shortly after, and Theo claimed the chair on Nicholas’s other side.
When their mother entered, she was pale faced and tight-lipped. She surveyed the room, stalked to her chair, and dropped onto it with little finesse.
“Well?” she demanded. “You had the audacity to summon me here as if you didn’t create a scandal of such proportions that it could implode my social standing within theton. What do you want?”
Beside him, Sophie tensed. There was a quick intake of breath, and he was certain that she was about to spring to hisdefense, so he nudged her with his knee and gestured for her to stop.
She deflated.
Nicholas met his mother’s gaze and did his best to keep his chin up despite her fierce glower that would have slayed him as a child. “I’m very sorry for any distress I might have caused you.”
She scoffed, her mouth twisting bitterly. “If you really cared, then you wouldn’t have done it.”
Nicholas stiffened. Did she really think it was that simple?
He shook his head. He was sick and tired of her controlling attitude. Maybe Kate and Theo were right—as their father had been many years ago—and it was time for things to change.
“I love you,” he said, watching her expression carefully but it didn’t so much as flicker. “My relationship with you is important to me, as is my relationship with Theodore, but Father knew our current situation couldn’t stand, and he was trying to change things.”
She flinched back as if struck. “Don’t bring your father into this.”
Guilt pinched at Nicholas’s insides. He hated to cause her distress and knew she still missed the late Lord Blackwell terribly, but they’d danced around the matter for too long.
“After he passed, we indulged you more than we should have because we didn’t want to upset you, but he was right. It’s time to move on from worrying that the decisions you made in the past might come back to haunt you.”
As he said the words, something in his soul lightened. He’d been carrying such a weight, and he was ready to share it.
But he didn’t have the time to enjoy the sensation because his mother’s jaw dropped open, and she gasped.
CHAPTER 29
