Theodora shook her head, panic rising. “I could not?—”
“Do not lie to me,” he snapped.
Her mother stepped forward. “You are the liar! How dare you force our daughter to keep your sick secrets from me? She is not like you and she never will be!”
He rounded on her and Theodora placed herself between them. She was afraid that her father would strike her mother and Theo could not let that happen.
“She told you lies, Diana.” Lord Dowell almost sounded like he was begging but her mother did not believe him.
Theodora’s voice cracked. “Father, please?—”
“You will keep your mouth shut or I will disown you and send you far away from us!” he roared.
Theodora flinched so hard that she almost stumbled into her mother. Lady Dowell placed her arms around her and held her steady.
“Do not raise your voice at her.”
Lord Dowell stared at his wife as though he didn’t recognize her before they began arguing again. Theodora’s hands shook violently. Her whispered prayer echoed in her mind.
Please, help my mother. Help me. Protect us from his wrath.
But the wrath was here. And it was growing.
CHAPTER 24
“Two days,” Alexander muttered, dropping heavily into the chair opposite Spencer. “Two entire days, and not a single message from her.”
Spencer looked up from the ledger he had been reviewing with a raised brow. “Yes, you have mentioned that.”
“I will mention it again,” Alexander said stubbornly. “Because it has been two days.”
“Did you write to her?” Spencer asked drily.
“No, I am waiting for her to write first.” He dragged a hand through his hair, got up, and paced the length of the study.
Spencer watched him and his lips twitched. “You are ridiculous and it is making you unusually agitated.”
“I am not ridiculous nor agitated,” Alexander snapped, then immediately grimaced. “I am merely… unsettled.”
Spencer’s brows rose. “About Miss Dowell?”
Alexander stopped pacing.
He hadn’t meant to speak about her. He hadn’t meant to bring her into this room at all. But the moment Spencer asked him what was troubling him, something inside him loosened, as though he had been holding his breath for two days straight and once he spoke about it, everything spilled out of him.
Well, certainly noteverything.
His last night with Theodora was what truly left him completely unsettled. And it did not help that his bed sheets kept her scent. She occupied his senses and his dreams. At every corner of Hawthorne House, Alexander saw her, smelled her, and craved her. He had to control himself or else he would march to Dowell House and demand to see her. Even the Iron Pit could not dissolve this intention, so he decided to meet with Spencer instead.
“Yes,” he said finally. “Miss Dowell unsettles me.”
Spencer set the ledger aside; his interest was piqued. “I did not realize that the two of you were close.”
“We are not,” Alexander said too quickly. “Not in the way you are implying.”
Spencer waited patiently for an explanation.
Alexander exhaled sharply and sat down again. “She helped Rosalind. More than anyone else ever has. And she is brilliant. Did you know that she is a scientist?”
