Her reply was a snort. “Then you haven’t been properly schooled.” She sat up straighter. “Allow me to be blunt.”
Genevieve wasn’t sure she could be any other way.
“The stipend that my son has granted me isn’t enough to keep up with the lifestyle that I should have had in my advanced years. I need him to double it.”
“I’m sure whatever my husband offered has been very generous—”
“Are you daft, girl?” She interrupted crossly. “Didn’t you hear what I just said? I demand more!”
Genevieve was starting to understand why Cortland was reluctant to see his mother. Something had obviously upset her mind. She saw the butler appear out of the corner of her vision, but she held out a hand to him, indicating that he should not intervene. “It is not my decision to make. You will have to speak the matter over with the duke when he returns.”
“Worthless gel!” The dowager shouted. “Haven’t you spread your legs for him yet? If you do it properly, he’ll lay the world at your feet.”
Genevieve had to admit she had a way with words when it came to being crass and uncouth. “If you don’t wish to talk to the duke, then it appears we have nothing further to discuss and I must ask you to leave.”
She walked over to the parlor entrance expectantly.
The lady sniffed in a haughty manner, before she stood. “You will regret this.”
She stomped out of the room and slammed the front door on her departure.
Cortland hadn’t been entirely truthful with his wife. But then, he hadn’t wanted to spoil the surprise.
He’d gone to London that morning, that much was true, but it wasn’t for business purposes. At least, what he might have led her to believe. Instead, he had gone there to pick up the belated wedding gift that he’d commissioned for her. He’d received word just that morning that it was ready, when he had hoped it might have been done before they’d left London. But at least he had it in his possession now, and he hoped this was a step in the right direction to winning her love. He no longer had any doubt in his mind that he was head over heels in love with her. She had made his life whole, when he hadn’t realized he needed more. But from the instant he’d spied her at his house party, the first word that had crossed his mind wasn’t an obscenity, or some word that might show his annoyance otherwise.
Mine.
He’d wanted her out of that house as quickly as possible, because he hadn’t wanted to take the chance her head might have been turned by another. From that very first meeting, he was infatuated, even though it had taken him a while to understand why she might be different from the other females of his acquaintance. It was because she wasn’t anything like those women. She was the furthest sort from his mother that he could possibly imagine, and that alone made her worthy.
He still might not know Genevieve’s favorite color, but he knew she would be loyal to a fault. She was someone who would stand up for what she wanted without backing down. The rest of it would surely follow. After all, they had a lifetime to talk about their likes and dislikes. But tonight, she would know how he felt about her without reservation.
Cortland wasn’t the type to believe in love at first sight, but it hadn’t taken more than a second glance before his heart had become engaged.
He rode his mount up the drive to the estate but paused when he saw a lady stalking down the front steps and getting into a hired carriage. His entire body stiffened, because he knew who it was. His mother had dared to step foot on this land again when things had become too difficult for her, or so she claimed. She was hardly left to rot in the wilds of Scotland as she liked to bandy about to whomever would listen. She liked to play the victim at the hands of her ruthless son who gave her a pittance to live on, when in truth, it was a very generous allowance.
He kept his horse in the middle of the path, forcing the carriage to stop. He ordered the driver to remain where he was, and his authoritative voice must have been convincing, because he bobbed his head respectfully.
He maneuvered his horse around the side of the carriage so that he could peer inside. As suspected, his mother was inside. She didn’t appear to notice they had stopped moving, because she was muttering to herself, but then she shouted out the window, “Driver! I didn’t order you to stop—” Her command abruptly ceased when she saw him. “Cortland, my dear. There you are.”
“Stop with the theatrics, Mother. Why are you here? To try to get more money from me? It won’t happen,” he said flatly.
Her eyes started to fill with tears, a tactic she had tried many times to gain his sympathies. What she didn’t realize was that she’d done it so many times to his father that it didn’t faze him anymore. “You don’t understand. I’m sick. Would you throw me to the wolves, instead of offering me comfort in my last days?”
He snorted. “What sort of illness is it you purportedly have this time?” Again, it wasn’t a new claim that he hadn’t heard before.
Instead of replying to his question, her lower lip trembled. “Do you still hate me so, Cortland? I’m your mother! I gave you life!”
“I don’t hate you. I simply don’t care about you.”
She leaned closer to the window and offered a whisper that could be heard across the country. “I have syphilis. The doctors have confirmed it. Before long, it shall affect me with open wounds that will not heal, blindness, and eventually death. I merely want to feel at ease when I pass on. Can you not grant me that much mercy? Or are you that cold hearted?”
Cortland warred within himself. He had the feeling that, for the first time in her life, she was actually telling the truth. “I will consider it. That is all I can promise at this time.”
He kicked his horse in the flank, causing it to continue moving forward.
“I love you, my boy!”
He ignored the call behind him, because he knew it wasn’t true. It was never true. She was a charlatan who preyed on his emotions to gain what she wanted. It hadn’t changed since the time he was a child, and it hadn’t changed now.
