Page 96 of A Deal for the Duke’s Virgin

“Well, whose concern is that but mine?” he snapped, shifting. “Leave me be, Mother.”

She did not listen. Instead, she stepped further into the room, pushing a wine-stained linen shirt off the chair opposite and perching daintily on the edge.

“I like her very much,” she said. “Thalia, I mean. Many women dread the day a daughter-in-law will appear and unseat them, but I have always been rather excited. I have only one son and one daughter, but I have always thought I would have liked more children. Girls, especially. Of course, it wasn’t to be. But then Thalia came into our lives, and I remember thinking what a fine girl. So clever, so thoughtful, so kind. Not the sort of person one meets every day. She’s perfect.”

He swallowed thickly. “She was perfect.”

“There is no sign of her coming home, then, is there?”

Christian shook his head. “She is angry with me. I am not… not the man she hoped I would be.”

His mother eyed him carefully. “Did you deceive her?”

“No, I never did. But hope is an insidious thing, is it not? I daresay she hoped I would be different. I hoped so, too.” He was silent for a moment, drumming his fingers on the armrest. “I am disappointing everybody, it seems.”

Celestia leaned slowly back in her seat, never taking her eyes off him. “I hardly need to say that your behavior has been almost unbearable these last few days,” she stated. “You snap at your family and at the servants. You spend hours holed up in your room, only coming out to attend to business matters. You have not been yourself since Thalia left.”

Christian swallowed thickly, glancing away. “Enough, Mother. Leave me be.”

“No, it is not enough. I will not leave you be, not when it is so very clear to me that you miss—” She broke off and shook her head. “Over the past weeks, while you searched for your sister, I have seen the old Christian again. The boy I remembered. The child I loved. I was so pleased. And now, I see that it wasn’t simply searching for your sister that brought out your true self. No, it was Thalia.”

He closed his eyes. “Mother…”

“Here is what we will do,” she plowed on, determined. “We’ll throw a ball.”

“I am not in the mood for a ball.”

“You never are. It’s expected of you to throw one, being newlyweds. Your sister and I will manage it all. The ton does not know that Thalia is not here, so she’ll be forced to return for the party. She will do it, I know that much.”

Movement at the door caught his eye, and he glanced up to find Laura hovering there, eyeing him nervously.

“And you agree with this?” he asked. “You think that I am insufferable too?”

Laura did not rise to the bait. She stared back at him, fearless.

“I think that you are hurting, Brother,” she responded calmly. “I think you are sad. I think that Thalia’s return will help you.”

“You’re both ridiculous. It doesn’t matter where she stays or goes.”

“She will stay,” Celestia said shortly. “For a while, at least.”

He tipped back his head, closing his eyes. “I don’t suppose that either of you know what day comes at the end of the week.”

“Yes, I do,” Celestia murmured. “It is the anniversary of Sophie’s death and that of your baby boy.”

“Although it is likely that the boy did not die,” Laura chipped in, receiving a glare from her mother.

Christian let out a shaky sigh. “There you have it. I would like a little solitude now, please.”

Celestia didn’t move. “No,” she enunciated carefully.

He blinked up at her, surprised. Had he ever heard that word from his mother? No, he did not think so.

“Mother,” he began, but she cut him off with a wave of her hand.

“Do you think that Sophie and your son would be pleased to see you rolling around, half-drunk, entirely lost in despair? No, they would not. Now, I remember Sophie from when she worked at this house. She was a clever girl. Bright, sharp, practical. She accepted your father’s offer because she was clever enough to understand that it was the best solution for all. Besides, she knew that it was the best solution for you. She knew that she and her son would be cared for, and she knew that you could go on to live a happy life. She was a kind girl, and I wish she could have lived a happier life. But I can say with certainty that she would not wish this upon you.”

“I lost my son. She died because she got involved with me,” Christian whispered, frowning. “I hardly believe she’d wish me well. It doesn’t matter whether they died in a carriage accident or years later in Edinburgh. It was all my fault. I didn’t even meet my son. That was my fault.”