CHAPTER 2
“You are in over your head,” Lady Honoria Ashfield said. “Anyone with two eyes can see it. No… one does not need two eyes. In this instance, common sense will do the trick”
“Is that why you came to see me just now? To mock me?”
“Is it mockery to tell the truth?”
His Grace Marcus Ashfield, the Duke of Calderwick, looked flatly at his older sister. “If I wish for your advice, Sister, I will ask for it. Until then, feel free to go back the way you came. And then, feel free to continue walking. It might be that you come upon someone who cares to hear your opinion.”
Honoria snorted. “Do not get defensive with me.”
“I was not getting defensive,” Marcus said simply. “I was merely pointing out how little I care to hear both your opinion and your advice.”
“It was neither,” she said rightly. “It was fact. I am sorry if you do not like hearing it, Marcus, but someone must tell you as it is. If it makes it easier to stomach, feel free to see it as an act of love.”
This time, it was Marcus’ turn to snort. “If that is love, I would hate to see loathing.”
“Continue to ignore my good advice and you just might.” Then, she grinned. “And that goes the same for my opinions, which we both know, are never wrong.”
“How nice it must be to know everything.”
“It is a gift and a curse,” she said with a sigh before stepping into her older brother and resting her hand on his shoulder. “I worry about you, Marcus. You know that’s all it is.”
“I know it.” Marcus offered Honoria a weak smile before turning back to what he had been doing before she interrupted him. “And while I appreciate it, forgive me for choosing to ignore it at the same time.”
“You always were stubborn.”
“A man has to have a failing,” he said with a sigh. “Let it be known that this is mine. Stubborn to a fault.”
“Only one failing? Shall I list off some more?”
Marcus’ response was a warning glare, which turned into a smile that his sister returned. There were few people in this world who could speak so plainly to Marcus – who would dare to do so. His sister was one of them, and while she frustrated him terribly with her ill-given advice and her tendency to always see the negative in any situation, he appreciated her all the same.
She is the one person who I might be willing to listen to… but only when it suits me. And even then, only when she wears me down like a gale blowing against stone.
With their bickering and bantering finished, the brother and sister stood silently in the doorway of the nursery, their attention now turned on its sole occupant: a sleeping one year old baby.
And thank God that he is asleep.
The babe had been awake most of the night, hollering and screaming as if the world was ending and it wished to warn everyone before it was too late. It was early morning now, the sun having just started to peak its head over the distant horizon but seeing as Marcus had not slept so much as a wink since the baby started to cry, the time of day was vastly irrelevant.
His eyelids drooped. His head throbbed. His entire body felt as if it had been beaten to within one inch of its life. And while Marcus would have liked nothing more than to stumble into hisroom and go to sleep, he felt a need to confirm that the baby was indeed asleep. That it was comfortable… that it was safe.
“I wish to ask you a question,” Honoria began, sure to keep her voice soft to not wake the baby.
“And you’re asking permission?”
“I am warning you of it,” she corrected. “Because you’re not going to like what I have to say.”
He withheld the urge to groan. “Say it.”
“Something needs to give, Marcus.” She kept her hand on his shoulder, and they both stood to face the sleeping baby whose cot sat silently in the middle of the room. “This is what? The fifth night in a row now?”
“The sixth,” he corrected.
“All the more reason to admit that the situation is unfeasible. Look at yourself.” Honoria’s voice cracked, which told Marcus how worried she was. “Tell me truly, how many hours have you slept since…” She hesitated. “Since then.”
“Enough,” he said.
