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“Ina! Where’s my wife?” he asked the butler.

The housekeeper, Mrs. Riley, came rushing across the grand entryway of the house. “Sir Gavin, is everything all right?”

“It will be when I see my wife. Where is she?” he asked.

A glance slid between the butler and housekeeper, and his stomach flipped.

“Where is Lady Barrett?” he asked again, his voice taking on a sterner tone that sounded all too much like his father’s. He’d never be the man his father was, but he could now understand the appeal of having one’s commands obeyed the moment they were uttered.

“My apologies, sir, but I thought you knew of Lady Barrett’s plans,” said Harper.

His blood went cold. “Plans to do what?”

The butler’s eyes once again slid to the housekeeper, but before either of them could decide how to tell him whatever ill news was holding them back, his mother appeared.

“Gavin,” said his mother who, he noted, was still in residence despite his instructions, “you will join me in my sitting room.”

Her sitting room. The one place she summoned people when she wanted to speak to them in complete privacy. It was where his mother had told him that Grace had chosen his brother. It was also where his mother had laid out the rest of his life for him. His father would purchase a commission in the army, or the navy if that suited Gavin better. While he served, she would review lists of eligible women who’d settle for the second son of one of the most powerful men in Northumberland. He’d do the season and clap eyes on these girls before choosing one who’d bring to their marriage a healthy influx of cash and, if he was truly fortunate, a bit of property her family had settled on her. He’d retire from his role as an officer and live out his days in bucolic bliss.

He’d rejected his mother’s proposal flatly, packed his bags, and taken the train north to Edinburgh. In that room, the first chapter of his life had ended just as the second had been reborn.

“Where is Ina?” he demanded.

His mother’s cold stare bore into him. “That is a matter I will not discuss until you agree to come to my sitting room. Now, you can continue to shout like a heathen or you can speak to me like a reasonable man.”

He bit the inside of his cheek hard enough to taste blood but fell into line behind his mother as she progressed slowly up the stairs.

Once in the sitting room, he watched his mother sit down in a large pink and gold chair.

“Won’t you sit?” she said, gesturing to one of the less plush chairs grouped around her.

He crossed his hands behind his back and rocked on his heels. “I’ll stand.”

Her eyes narrowed, but he hardly cared. He was done with the games she’d been playing since he’d returned to Oak Park.

“Where is Ina?” he asked for the fourth time since returning to the house.

“Not here,” said his mother.

Fear rose in his throat, sour as bile. “What do you mean she’s not here? What did you do?”

That earned him a quirk of brows. “Why is it that you immediately assume I have something to do with it?”

“You’ve hated the idea of Ina from the moment you opened my letter announcing our marriage,” he said, accusation lacing his words.

“You don’t know that,” she said.

He leaned forward. “I do know. I’m not stupid, although you’ve made it clear for a long time that you have no great faith in my abilities.”

“Another false accusation,” his mother said, her lips falling into a thin line.

“Let’s stop playing games, Mother, and speak frankly to one another for once,” he said.

“Fine.” Her tone took on a brittle edge. “If you’d like to know the truth, I’ve always thought you something of a disappointment.”

“I know,” he said. “I wasn’t Richard.”

Despite her seated position, his mother still managed to look down her nose at him. “You weren’t Richard. That is a statement of fact. You never could be, and I never wanted you to be.”