“That doesn’t mean you throw all opportunities away with a misalliance.”
“I could see how you would declare the duke was making a misalliance, though I might not agree with you. But that’s not the point here, I just want to marry the woman I love. The woman I’vealwaysloved.”
“This is not going to sit well with His Grace. He is inconsolable. He’s saying all sorts of outlandish things.”
“And he will for a while. But he will recover. He will find someone else to love. Kate is mine.”
Lucy had to hyperventilate a moment. Bran ignored her, walking back to the front room. His earlier restlessness was gone, replaced by certainty. He was in love. This was what love felt like. He could even imagine their future. They’d set up house together. She’d quit the theater. Take care of him. This was not a bad plan. Being in love was convenient.
“And what of Christopher?” Lucy asked. She leaned against the hallway wall.
“He will be angry but this is a lesson Winderton needs to learn—”
“Angry? He is furious. Especially about your money. He demanded to know what we have been living on since the estate isn’t in his name.”
“Did you tell him?”
She looked stricken. “I had no choice. I told him about the allowance you gave us.”
“And he didn’t take that well.”
“Did you not hear me? He is livid. He went running out of the house like a madman. I don’t know where he has gone. I don’t know what he is doing. Could we not have kept it our secret—at least a bit longer?”
“We kept it a secret too long. Here is the push he’s needed to go out into the world—”
Lucy interrupted him with a mother’s cry of alarm. “I like himinMaidenshop.”
“Maidenshop is too small a place for him. He should be in London.”
“Where there aremoreactresses. Who knows what trouble he will find for himself? Just like his father did. What if he has a penchant for gambling the way his father did?”
There was the root of Lucy’s fears. “I will talk to him.”
“Right now he despises you.”
“Right now, if he is anything like he was an hour or so ago, he is drunk. Once he sobers up and accepts that Kate’s not for him, then we can discuss his future. I told him I have no desire to keep Smythson. But before I let go, he has to know how to manage a property such as this and be responsible enough to do so.”
Large tears welled in his sister’s eyes. “Come, Lucy, stop this. All will be well.”
“For you and your actress, perhaps. If you have your way, my son will be in the city, but what about me, Brandon? Everyone will be leaving me.”
Here it was, the heart of the matter... and he’d believed her fears were for her son. “Your Grace,” he kept his tone soft, compassionate, “the time has come to set aside your mourning. No woman could have been a better wife to your husband than you. However, rusticating here is not doing you good. You would also benefit from a bit of Town bronze. You can stay at my house since the place Winderton owns is not comfortable.” Or truly habitable. Gone were the days when the Duke of Winderton kept two staffs, one for the country and one for the city. “You can call on old friends.”
“They have all forgotten me. No one likes young widows.”
“Perhaps, but they do like single duchesses.”
“I’m adowager.” Her wail made it sound as if it was a crime.
“Lucy, let go of the black. Come back into the world. Who knows what adventure awaits you?”
A tear she had struggled to hold back slipped down her cheek. He wiped it away. “All will be well,” he promised.
“Even if it is not,” she admitted sadly, “the damage has been done.”
“Or we have opened ourselves up to embrace the new.”
“I don’t want to sit at a table with an actress.”
