Page 53 of The Madame Catches Her Duke

But, what now?

Should they go their separate ways, put the past behind them, and simply learn to live with everything that had transpired between them?

Leaning his head back against the coach wall, he closed his eyes. The gentle sway of the conveyance on the maintained London streets soothed his aching head but did naught for his frayed nerves. “Have I been gravely wrong all these years, Tobias?”

Tobias chuckled, and Rowan squinted at him across the dim interior.

“This is important,” Rowan sighed. “Do you think my father meant for Marce and her family to have Craven House upon his death?”

Saying the words aloud was much the same as admitting his entire life had been an utter failure. He’d despised his father for so long before his death that they’d never discussed things that were important. Marce retaining the deed to Craven House could have been one of those things. He’d been too stubborn and absorbed with his own feelings of hurt that he had no inkling of his father’s wishes.

“As you know, I didn’t know your father well; however, I can attest to the fact that Lady Marce thought it was so.”

“If anything, I am more confused now than before.” Rowan shut his eyes tightly again, not wanting to witness Tobias’s reaction to his musings.

“Mayhap there is more you should speak to your wif—Marce—about.”

Rowan sat up straight, pinning Tobias with a questioning glare. “How am I to do that? I have been banished from Craven House.”

“She said that?”

“Of course not,” Rowan scoffed. “She would never speak such a thing, but I was curtly dismissed and shown to the door without a backwards glance.”

“She is angry, Ro,” Tobias said, crossing his arms. “And rightly so.”

“I cannot argue with that.”

“And likely hurt.”

“Hurt?” Rowan sputtered. “Are we not both reeling with pain? I told her she could keep the bloody house. I don’t want it…I never wanted it.”

“A threat going on for nearly eight years is not something one forgets overnight.”

“Her life would have been completely different if I hadn’t sought her out—”

“Perhaps, perhaps not,” Tobias said on an exhale. “However, at least it would’ve been her own.”

It was true…he’d made the decision for her. She hadn’t had a genuine choice at the time when he proposed their arrangement. And Rowan had been master of his life since he was a mere boy. Making decisions and choosing his course with a mind clouded by anger or resentment. And he’d forced Marce to make her decisions based on her fear and his threats.

He’d sought to give his mother happiness, even for a brief time, but he’d only succeeded in causing Marce harm. It would crush his mother to know that her son was a liar—a deceitful man not above his father’s sins.

All the time he’d spent dedicated to protecting Leona had done nothing but cause everyone pain. In the end, Rowan realized he’d decided what was best for his mother without asking her, as well. The duchess would never have chosen to love a woman as if she were her own daughter only to have her stripped away.

Rowan had not given Marce the option where Leona was concerned either.

He had done what was best for Rowan—and Rowan alone. And had deceived those around him to assuage his own guilt from the past.

Chapter 23

“Very good, Mr. Adams.” Marce stood, walking around her desk to stand before the wiry solicitor as he pushed his round glasses up his nose. “Thank you for meeting with me again, and for all your hard work securing a property for me. I know my funds didn’t offer many options.”

He shook his head, his brown hair flopping into his face. “My lady, I have endeavored to find and acquire a suitable home with land that will fit your needs explicitly. Do not worry yourself. The three properties I laid out for you are all within your means, and the home you chose, in Kent, will do nicely.”

“Your assistance is very much appreciated,” Marce said, her smile genuine for the first time in quite a while. She’d been pleased to find properties in Northumberland, Kent, and a grand house outside Bristol. She’d chosen the home near Kent without a second thought—or perhaps she’d known that being close to Hadlow, even if an hour’s coach ride away, would give her the possibility to visit Leona at some point in the future. “I will call on Miles at the Bank of England on Threadneedle tomorrow and have the funds readied.”

“And I will have the papers drawn up by midday.” Collecting his satchel, Adams gave her a quick bow and hurried out of her office and into the hall beyond, where Darla waited to show him out.

Marce dared a glance at the clock behind her—nearly seven o’clock.