I cannot believe that. I must hope. For I do love him and I cannot abandon him so readily, even if he has abandoned me.
“Love? What does that have to do with anything? I have watched you pair up your friends with eligible men, making advantageous matches. Were any of them based on love? Or was it simply rank and prestige?”
“Partly,” Violet admitted. “But I would not encourage any woman to accept a man simply because of his wealth or rank. Always, I saw the spark of love, knew that it would grow if those two people were…nudged together.”
Ambrose laughed, throwing back his wine in the first openly ungentlemanly gesture she had seen him make. The laugh was cruel and loud, mouth twisting and expression ugly. It felt as though she were being given a glimpse behind a mask at the true monster that lay beneath.
“Daughter, I shall have to remedy you of this romanticism. It will be your undoing,” he said.
Violet rose, carefully smoothing her skirts and folding her hands at her waist.
“I thank you for the hospitality…father. I call you for what you are but I do not acknowledge your right to that title. I shall renounce the Ravendel name and reject the family, thus robbing you of your victory.”
“And would you renounce your sister?” Ambrose asked, eyes narrowing.
Violet felt her world rock. This was one revelation too many.
“Sister?”
“When you were born, you were not alone. You have a twin sister,” Ambrose told her.
Chapter 34
Alexander barked an instruction at the driver of the carriage who had borne him to the Ravendel house. The driver touched the brim of his hat and murmured an affirmative, feeling the weight of the loaded purse that Alexander had thrust into his hand, after stepping into the road in front of his team, demanding transportation. Alexander hammered on the door with the flat of his hand, then stopped himself. He stood, hatless and without coat. His cravat had been discarded and the laces of his shirt were undone.
And now I hammer on the door of a respectable house tae demand the presence of the lady of the house? I will be refused and constables called. Duke or no.
He took a step back from the door, running a hand through his hair and then his beard, attempting to make both look more presentable. As the door opened, he hastily tightened the laces of his shirt, though standing on a public street in shirtsleeves and waistcoat was unusual enough that it would not make a difference. The servant who answered looked him up and downas though he were a vagabond. Then the man’s eyes widened as he recognized Alexander.
“His Grace the Duke of Lorchester, to see Lady Violet Ravendel,” Alexander said, applying the same rigid control to his voice and accent that he had mastered for his Parliamentary debate.
The man nodded, stepping aside and opening the door wide. Alexander stepped inside, trying to remember the etiquette lessons he had received from Violet.
“Please inform his Lordship that I should like to speak with his niece,” Alexander said.
“At once, Your Grace,” the man said before hurrying away.
Alexander took a deep breath as soon as the man was out of sight. He hoped that it was not too late, that storming out of Westminster and spurning Violet’s comfort had not proved a point that he could not come back from.
God knows but the lass would have an easier life without me in it. These people will never fully accept me, no matter how I speak or behave. I just want to be done with this cause and then go back to my estate. But Violet would never be happy with such a life.
That meant remaining in London, amid the vipers of the so-called Ton. That was where Violet thrived and if he wished to bewith her, so must he. Assuming she still wanted him. Nothing could be assumed on that score.
“No, no, no! Absolutely not!” Came a voice from a distant room.
Hurried footsteps followed and then George Ravendel appeared. He marched with the brisk stiffness of an old soldier and his face was flushed with anger. He caught sight of Alexander and stopped.
“Your Grace. I am afraid it is quite out of the question. You may not speak to Violet,” he said.
Alexander did not like to be told that he could not do something. He had not liked it as a child, often being driven to see a way to do the prohibited thing just as an act of rebellion against his oppressors for its own sake. That had continued as a Duke when he balked at being refused because he now held the rank at which no-one other than a King could give him orders.
But Ravendel being who he was, Alexander had to at least try and win his approval. So, he gritted his teeth behind a smile that felt false.
“Ravendel, can I talk to you, good sir?”
“Do not ‘good sir’ me, Your Grace. I am not your ally, nor intend to be.”
“I do not come here to seek political allies. I wanted to talk about Violet.”
