“If you think so,” she said. “I will not try to change your mind.”
With that said, Ophelia stormed from the office, not looking back, not allowing herself to break until she was free from Adrian. She rushed down the halls, into her room, slammed the door shut, and fell on her bed.
It was only then, alone, nobody to see her, that Ophelia finally let the tears come. There were tears for her situation, a future that she did not look forward to, just as she knew would be lonely and sorrowful. There were tears for Adrian, the man she thoughthe was, and the man he would never be. And they were tears for what could have been, taken away from her, and never came to pass.
They were tears of mourning, not the first she had shed, and certainly not the last.
CHAPTER 28
“Imaintain that this is a terrible idea,” Rupert said as the carriage came to a gentle stop outside of Delacourt Manor. Rain lashed against the windows, a horrid wind ripped across the driveway, and the manor stood ominously in the gloom as if it were trying to warn them off their approach.
“I heard you the first time,” Adrian said as he eyed the manor through the storm. There were few lights coming through the windows, a sense that the manor was either abandoned or close to being so. “As well as the second, and the third,” he added.
“Fourth time is the charm,” Rupert responded dryly. “And if not, perhaps the fifth will do the trick? No good will come from this, Vermont. Hear me now, know it later.”
“That is where you are wrong.” Adrian continued to watch the manor, struggling with that same feeling of unease that had sat with him all morning. “Even if Lord Delacourt is not Harriet’sfather, he might know who the father is. This is the only way to learn the truth.”
“Or maybe he will lie and insist that the child is his, so that he can dispose of the evidence…” Rupert looked knowingly at Adrian. “The man will not like the idea of his wife’s lovechild running about freely. Such things are bad for business, as well as reputations. He will feign sorrow, pretend at care, and then smother the baby in the crib as soon as he has it alone.”
“It has a name,” Adrian growled without meaning to. “And I do not intend to simply hand Harriet over without first checking that she will be taken care of. I am not a monster.”
“I never said that you were.”
“Then what are you saying?” Adrian turned from the window and glared at his best friend.
Rupert looked at him with pity. “That perhaps with your current mood, you are not thinking as clearly as you could do. That you are so desperate to put everything behind you, that you have not fully considered the repercussions of what might come from this little field trip.”
“I have,” Adrian said sharply. “And as I have told you five times now, this is for the best. The only thing that I can do.”
“Are you sure of that?”
A moment of hesitation, Adrian grimacing as that same sensation wreaked havoc through his innards. But he pushed it down, ignored it the best that he could, and fixed his friend with a warning glare. “I am sure. As sure as I have been about anything.”
“As you say,” Rupert sighed as he shuffled toward the door. “And as there is no chance that I might change your mind, I guess we best get this over with.”
“Yes…” Adrian opened the door, throwing up a hand to block out the rain and the wind. “We best.” With that, he climbed outside, put himself fully into the storm, and strode down the driveway with his sights set on Delacourt Manor.
Rupert followed behind closely. There was a part of Adrian that wanted to do this alone, that old voice in his head demanding that he return to his former self, the type who did not need help. But there was another part, although softly spoken, that was glad for the support of his best friend.
Even if the man frustrates me to no end. Then again, I am not so sure I could do this without him…
He might have liked to have had Ophelia with him instead, but that also was not an option. For many reasons… all of which Adrian was determined not to think about. He needed to put the woman out of his head entirely. He needed to free himself of the child. Once that was done, things would return to how they had been.
Was that a good thing? Was it bad? Adrian could not say, which is why he did not think about it. He simply acted, while praying that somehow, everything would turn out for the best. Not for him, of course, but for Ophelia and those whom he cared about.
Cutting himself off from the world… it was for them that he did it, and while they might never thank him for it, they would know one day that it was the right thing to do.
“Open the door!” Adrian slammed his fist into the closed door, knocking loud enough so it seemed to shake the entire manor.
“They knew you were coming?” Rupert asked from behind him, huddled over to keep the rain off his face.
“They did,” Adrian growled as he continued to hammer on the wet oak of the door. “This is absurd!” He thumped his fist into the door again.
“Perhaps we should try another day?” Rupert called above the wind. “When the world is not threatening to end.”
Adrian was about to tell Rupert that if he did not wish to be there, then he could leave. This was not a task that Adrian took any pleasure in, but one that he would not give up on until it was done.
Thankfully, the sound of the door unlocking from the other side cut him off, and a second later saw the door swing wide open.
