Windham’s eyes narrowed. “Milton has changed his mind and wishes to marry this season.”
“Even better then!” Isabelle forced a smile and closed her book, leaning closer to him in the pretense of becoming deeply invested in the conversation. “I should think that the two of us would get along even better.”
“I heard that he does not suffer angry old geese.”
Though she knew he was just trying to provoke a response from her, she wasn’t about to give in. He wanted to spar with her and see who was going to come out on top.
Isabelle was tired of sparring.
She stood and dropped the book on the coffee table between them. “I should retire to bed. Lord Milton has asked me to promenade with him tomorrow and I must be well-rested if I wish to put my best foot forward.”
Windham rolled his eyes. “You are wasting your time with a man like him and we both know it. He’s never going to give you the mental stimulation that you need.”
Isabelle swallowed a lump in her throat. She hated that he was right. “You do not know what you are talking about. As soon as his schedule permits, he’ll be asking you for my hand.”
The words were sour on her tongue, but lashing out at the duke felt good. It felt like a relief to say the words out loud and to know that they were true. There was nothing more to be done.
She would be wed to Lord Milton and Windham could continue standing there looking like she had slapped him.
“I knowyou, Isabelle. I have spent weeks with you and whether you like it or not, I know what makes you tick. Henry Milton is the last man on this earth who can make you happy.”
She gave him a bitter smile. “I think you have already appropriated that title.”
The room was silent as she stalked from it.
Thankfully, the tears didn’t fall until she had returned to her chambers. With the door tightly locked, she could sift through the ashes of her hopes and dreams without fear of interruption.
Twenty-Two
Felix glared out the window as Lord Milton and Isabelle strolled through the gardens of Windham House, leaning their heads close together and whispering while Mrs. Peregrine trailed behind them as a chaperone.
Stanford smirked and leaned against the alcove wall on the far side of the drawing room. “If you keep frowning like that, I suspect Miss Alden is going to figure out how much you care for her.”
“I donotcare for her!”
“She is out there promenading with Henry Milton for the fifth time in two weeks.” Stanford smirked and pushed away from the alcove, striding to another window in the drawing room. “Mrs. Peregrine is hovering nearby, but she appears to begiving them the amount of space a couple would require when they are beginning to discuss marriage.”
Felix’s spine stiffened and he fought the urge to punch Standford in the nose and see for himself.
Even though they had disappeared from his view, Felix knew that Isabelle was only feigning an interest in Milton. She had to be. The man wasn’t entertaining enough for her.
That idiot Milton does not have a sense of humor that would mesh well with my little imp. He is far more likely to dull her light. He will take away everything that makes Isabelle who she is.
Milton is far too vain to allow Isabelle to continue to dress as she pleases. He will only want her clothed in the latestfashions. He will expect her to host his guests, and when she wishes to lose herself in her painting, Milton will demand that she return to his orbit.
He was the last man that Isabelle should be with. One of them at least. There were nearly a dozen others that she shouldn’t be with.
Stanford crossed his arms and shook his head with a condescending smirk. “If she marries him, you get everything you want.”
“If she marries him, I will be forced to watch her live out the rest of her life in a loveless marriage, during which she will spend most of her days hoping that things will improve , but they will not.”
“You are speaking as though you know something about him that I do not.”
“I simply do not care for the man as much as I once did. He has made some unsavory comments here and there.”
“And this change of heart has nothing to do with the jealous monster clinging to your back?”
Felix shot him a withering look and watched as Isabelle and Milton came back into view. She leaned her head on his shoulder for a moment as she laughed.
