Victor barely glanced at her. “Indeed.” The woman blinked at the cool dismissal.
Morgan nearly choked trying not to laugh. “You wound the poor creature, Victor.”
Another woman approached soon after, smiling coyly as she touched Victor’s sleeve. “Would you care to dance?”
Victor removed her hand without ceremony. “No.” She stared at him in confusion before retreating quickly.
Morgan watched the exchange with fascination. “You truly are ruined.”
Victor downed another drink. “Be quiet.”
Morgan leaned back laughing. “You used to adore this place…and the pretty things in it.”
Victor looked around the gardens with growing irritation. Music played. Women laughed. Men drank themselves witless beneath glowing lanterns. Yet none of it stirred anything inside him anymore.
Because none of it is Charlotte.
He wanted her sharp wit and warm smile. He wanted the way she blushed when he teased her and argued when he provoked her. He wanted her curled beside him in bed, laughing softly against his shoulder.
Victor shut his eyes briefly in frustration.
“I’ve had enough of your ridiculous melancholy. What troubles you truly?” Morgan asked quietly now, all humor fading.
Victor stared down into his whisky. “I only want her.”
Morgan looked surprised by the honesty. “And you have her, so what is the problem?”
Victor’s jaw clenched. “Children.”
Morgan frowned. “What about them?”
Victor looked away toward the crowded gardens. “She wants to have some, but having children is out of the question. I cannot love them because…” He stopped himself abruptly.
Morgan’s expression shifted slowly with understanding.
Victor swallowed harshly. “Everyone I care for disappears eventually.”
Morgan was silent for a moment. “You blame yourself still.”
Victor gave no answer, which was answer enough.
For once, Morgan did not joke.
Instead, he leaned back quietly and said, “You cannot punish yourself forever, Victor.”
Victor laughed bitterly under his breath. “Watch me.”
Morgan shook his head slowly. “Charlotte loves you, you fool. You have a chance for true happiness, and all she asks in return is to have a family.”
Victor stared down at his drink. The thought should have comforted him. Instead…
it terrifies me completely.
CHAPTER 28
Victor paced the home gardens of Mulford Manor with a pounding headache and a temperament black enough to frighten servants from his path. The late afternoon air ought to have soothed him, yet every chirping bird and blooming rose only worsened his foul mood. His head throbbed viciously from the amount of whisky consumed the previous evening with Morgan. Worse still, not even a drink had managed to dull the ache of Charlotte’s absence.
He stalked along the stone path beside the hedges with his hands clasped tightly behind his back. The gardens were in full bloom, bright with pale roses and lavender swaying in the breeze. Charlotte would have liked the sight of it. The thought irritated him further.
