Page 22 of Romancing Daphne

James squared his shoulders. He would not be forced into this.“Deceiving an innocent young lady by undertaking a feigned courtship, choosing a bride based on my father’s ambitions, making a liar of myself for the sake ofsocial standing does not, in my mind, equate with taking pride in oneself.”

“Do you dare presume to lecture me, boy?”

James took a calming breath. He had long ago promised himself to always treat his father with the respect he himself wished he received fromhis sire. Though he often fell short of the mark, he was determined to try.

“I do not wish to give offense.” He kept his voice level. “But I will not yield on this matter, even if doing so casts me into difficult straits.”

Father was unshaken.“I control more thanyourincome, you realize. Bennett quite appreciates his quarterly allowance.”

James’s younger brother more than merely appreciated the income he received from their father; he required it.

“How would he live if he were cut off?” Father spoke more quickly, more forcefully, apparently realizing he had struck a nerve.“Bennett has far more to lose than you do should he find himself short on funds.”

Their maternal grandmother had bequeathed to Bennett a small estate in Lancashire. The bequest had come as a lifeline only a year earlier when Bennett had grown desperate to escape the tyranny of their father’s household. He had sunk every ounce of his strength and every penny he had into turning the rundown estate into a livable bit of property. That land meant the world to him, and without the quarterly allowance he received from the Techney estate, he hadn’t the means to keep his inheritance. It was not yet self-sustaining. He would lose everything.

“You would take away Bennett’s income?”

“I will not allow you to throw away the future of this family.” Determination had turned Father’s expression hard and unyielding. “If you will not act in their best interests, then I must.”

James didn’t move, his mind spinning. How could he deprive his brother of the one thing they had both longed for all their lives: freedom? Losing Halford Grange would destroy Bennett.

“You choose, Tilburn. You can defy me and strip your brother of his land and future, or you can accept the good fortune that has been laid in your hands and do the right thing by your posterity.”

“I cannot—”

“I control your mother’s pin money as well.” Father’s piercing gaze didn’t waver in the least.

“You would punish your own wife?” Just how far was Father willing to go?

“I am doing nothing of the sort. You are tying my hands by refusing to do what is best for your relations.”

James couldn’t breathe. How had he found himself in such a position? Holding his ground, refusing to bow to his father’s dictates would destroy his mother and brother, rob them of their incomes and contentment. Bowing to his father’s demands would save Bennett’s land and Mother’s income and grant her entry into the Society of which she’d once dreamed of being a part. But giving them those concessions meant feigning an interest in a young lady who did not deserve his deception, who, if his assessment of her character was accurate, would be hurt quite personally by such ill treatment.

He needed to think, to find a way around this dilemma.

“You cannot expect me to make such a decision without so much as a moment to think it through.”

“I foolishly expected you to act rationally from the beginning.” Much of Father’s anger had dissipated, replaced by a calm James found even more unsettling. Father had made his decision; he would not be dissuaded from his threats. He would follow through, even if it meant making every personin his family miserable for the rest of their lives.

James was too upended to even pace. He could only stand there, frozen and mute, desperately thinking. Only one thing was truly clear: he could not allow the people he cared for to be hurt by Father’s selfishness.

Hehadalready decided to continue being a friend to Miss Lancaster—although pretending a sincere interest in courting her was hardly the act of a friend. What he knew of her, he liked. That aspect of their acquaintance would not be a lie. There was the very real possibility that she wouldn’t accept his suit and an even greater possibility that the duke, should he discover James had not taken on the role of suitor with any degree of willingness, would simply challenge him to pistols at dawn, shoot him through the heart, and leave his carcass for the various wild beasts to devour.

How did this happen?He made a quick circuit of the room, trying toformulate some kind of plan. He could continue calling on her but keep his efforts as circumspect as possible, perhaps even helping the causes of any number of her other suitors. Father might be in a position to forceJames into a courtship, but he would never be able to force Miss Lancaster to accept.

That was his answer: continue his efforts without truly working to convince Miss Lancaster. She would choose someone else in the end. He could do that, and she wouldn’t be hurt by Father’s schemes. Neither would Mother or Bennett.

“I will have it in writing,” James said.

“You will havewhatin writing?”

“Your promise that should I pay suit to Miss Lancaster as you require, you will never deny nor diminish Bennett’s quarterly allowance nor will you deprive Mother of her expected pin money. And that you will never force Bennett into a courtship the way you are forcing me.”

Father raised an eyebrow in obvious surprise.“My word should be more than enough—”

“It is not remotely enough,”James said.“If I am to bow this much to your demands, I will protect my family from you.”

“Youwill protect the family fromme?I, who am doing this for them?”Father shook his head, though whether in amusement or denial, Jamescouldn’t say. “You are quite mistaken, my boy. It is Iwho am protecting them from your selfishness. None of these threats would have been necessary if youhad been thinking at all of their well-being from the beginning.”

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