“I have certain skills. Now. I am not letting you get away so easily.”
“No. Because nothing is ever easy with you, is it?” He strode into the drawing room, making his way to the cabinet on the far wall and pouring himself a glass of brandy.
“And you judged me for drinking at three in the afternoon.” Mrs. Gillingham crossed her arms, watching him.
He sucked the brandy down, closing his eyes as it burned down his throat. “Please leave.”
“I feel as if you need to talk.”
He shook his head, smacking his glass onto the cabinet. “I really don’t.”
“And that is why you are drinking before eleven in the morning.”
His eyes swung toward her, and he forced himself to unclench his jaw. “Why do you even care if I marry? It is none of your concern.”
“Perhaps I find it a sad circumstance.”
He thought about her being a widow, and part of his ire faded.
“You said you don’t wish to marry because it is expected of you and your brother cannot accomplish the task. Surely that must put some guilt on your brother as well.”
“My brother is the reason I do what I do without much fuss. It is him I work to please, not my father.”
“But you will not marry . . .”
“If I marry and provide the son my father desires, then he wins.”
She scoffed. “It is hardly a game. Your brother is unwell, and your family line will not continue without you.”
“And why has this task been bestowed to me?” He turned toward her, walking up to a chair and holding onto the back of it. “It is a rather ugly lot in life if you ask me. And I am not obligated to do anything. I will—” He stopped to rub his neck and gather his thoughts. “I will do what I must. Help at the estate when Samuel’s health will not allow it. I will even take on the estate myself when he . . . passes. But under no circumstance am I required to marry and have children. It wouldn’t be fair for me to do so when the young lady does not deserve such treatment.”
“All of this because you cannot stand your father? Because you believe she will be treated as a means to an end?”
“Yes.”
“And no other reason at all.”
He hesitated, cursing himself inwardly for it. “No other reason.”
“I think you are lying, Leonard.” Honora took a step closer, and he took a step back, his eyes desperately looking for an escape.
“What would I be lying about?”
“The reason for not marrying and having children.”
“And why would I lie?”
She tilted her head. “I don’t know.”
“Therefore you have no reason to say such outlandish things.”
“I can read people like a book. And while I do not know why you are scared, Idoknow that you are. It is only a matter of time before I figure it out. Do you care to save me the trouble?”
He jutted his chin. “What do you think?”
Pursing her lips, she paused. “I think you are a very stubborn man.”
“Thank you for the compliment.”
