Mrs. Hunsaker nodded. “I will see that it is taken care of straight away, although you didn’t have to bother coming down here yourself to relay the message.”
Mara caught the barely hidden meaning.Don’t do it again.“Of course.”
Since there was nothing else she could say or do to help the situation, she gave a sigh before taking her leave.
* * *
“I was wondering when you were going to run me to ground.” Roarke made no apologizes for his crass tone when his mother dared to invade his private sitting room without being asked to enter. Luckily for her, he was fully dressed.
“I wasn’t sure if you were going to come down to dinner.”
He turned away from his dressing table where he’d just finished tying his cravat and splayed his arms wide. “As you can see, I am fully presentable for my guests and this twisted little house party where I seem to have become the reluctant host.”
He shrugged into his jacket, and ignored the irritated sound she made in reply.
“I trust that you are going to behave in the manner of a gentleman?” she prodded.
He merely set his hands on his hips and regarded her calmly. “Do you know what happens to a badger when it is continuously baited?”
For the briefest second, her eyes flared with uncertainty and alarm, but it was quickly veiled behind her usual wall of testiness. “You are my son. You don’t frighten me. Now I expect you to—”
He cut her off. “Don’t tell me you want to do thisnow.”
She blinked. “What do you mean?”
He shook his head. “I suppose you want me to pretend that everything is fine, that I should simply walk downstairs and play the consummate lord of the manor to suityourwishes. If that is the case, you can forget it. After what you’ve done to me, I owe you no such esteem. I no longer dance to your tune, Mother, and the sooner you realize that the better for you.”
“How can you be so cruel?” she cried.
Roarke ran a hand through his hair. She just didn’t know when to stop, and he’d reached the end of his tolerance.
“Enough!” he shouted, ignoring it when she flinched. “You want special consideration from me? How about you explain the fact that you can live with your conscious after you told me my fiancée had died and then turn around and lie about the circumstances regarding my father’s own demise?”
Lavinia lifted her chin. “A mother does what she can to safeguard her children’s welfare—”
“I’d believe that if there was any sort of honesty to it,” Roarke snarled ruthlessly, “But the only person you’ve ever thought to protect is yourself. You never once had a care for my feelings, or Mara’s, or evenLyra’sfor that matter. You hated the thought of no longer being the darling matron of the ton, so you covered up a murder and made sure to pay off anyone that might challenge you. Can’t you see you’ve been playing with people’s lives! Doesn’t that affect you in any way?”
Her eyes flashed. “For years I did what I must to protect the Garrott name, including covering up your father’s petty liaisons. Mara Miller…” she practically spat the name, “…was merely onein a long line of servant girls that he tried to seduce. Some succumbed to him in the hopes that it might further their position in the household, and others dared to hold out and try for blackmail.” She stiffened her spine. “When it became apparent that you and Mara were getting close, I assumed it was merely his influence taking over. How was I to know she wouldn’t try to use her association with you to her own advantage? You were both young and naïve, and I felt the infatuation would pass.”
Roarke lifted a censorious brow. “And now?”
She narrowed her eyes. “If you wish to detest me until your last breath, I suppose that’s your choice, but I will not defend my actions any longer. Only know that my marriage was a humiliating sham and I didn’t wish the same for you.”
She spun on her heel, slamming the door in her wake.
Roarke pressed the heel of his palm against his pounding head. He had no idea that his father had been such a libertine, but if what his mother said was fact, then he supposed she’d kept his indiscretions hidden rather well.
Regrettably, that didn’t make the knowing of it any better.
* * *
Mara was waiting in the parlor with Lyra and Mr. Davis when Lady Eversleigh joined them in somewhat of a huff. Her lips were pinched, and she walked over to the window overlooking the drive as opposed to joining their trio.
Mara had a feeling that Lavinia had just had a rather uncomfortable confrontation with her son, but when Lyra would have gone over to speak with her, Mara laid a hand on her arm. “Let me.”
After a brief indecision, Lyra acquiesced with a nod. Mara wasn’t sure if she was about to help or hinder the situation, but this conversation needed to happen.
Taking a deep breath, Mara walked up to Roarke’s mother and offered her the first attempt at reconciliation. “Are you all right?”
