Page 73 of In Compromise with the Earl
He rubbed his face. “Neither is Mother, she’s moving to the Dowager House, Sweetling. Seems she cannot live with you around her after all.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
Stunned, Aphrodite could only sit and swallow over the words Oswald had just uttered. She reached out for the pup. “When?”
“I am not sure,” he sat near her. “But it might be very soon.”
Shaking her head, Aphrodite laughed hollowly. “And I can bet she will be making it out that I am the reason. The bad seed that has sewn discord in her home.”
“I don’t think it will go that far,” Oswald said. “But it is disheartening overall.”
“Is there anything I can do to change her mind?” Aphrodite asked dully. “I never wanted to break up your home.”
“You are not,” he said deeply. “Mother chose to leave instead of listening to common sense. I cannot believe she will take the misguided beliefs she has and use them to push herself out the door.”
“I…” she faltered, “I wish I could do something. I feel so powerless here.”
He wrapped an arm around her shoulder and tugged her into his side. “Sadly, you cannot force anyone to like you. When she is ready to see the truth, I hope it will not be too late.”
The pup came to nuzzle at her hands and lick her palms. “And if it is?”
“I wish I could answer that,” he replied, laying a soft kiss on her temple.
While mulling over the situation, Aphrodite felt a strong disquiet in her soul. This should not be happening, and though she knew it was not her fault, she felt responsible for it. Determined, she said, “I must talk with her.”
“I don’t think that’s advisable,” Oswald said, his lips titling wryly. “But you’re going to do it anyway, aren’t you?”
She stood. “Come with me.”
“I wouldn’t go anywhere else,” he rose and joined her.
The pup’s head perked up and he made to follow, but she shook her head. “Stay.”
His rump hit the floor immediately and with a tenuous smile, she left the chamber with Oswald a step behind her. They made it to the Dowager’s drawing room and Aphrodite knocked on the door.
“Come in,” the Dowager said.
Stepping inside, Aphrodite did not recoil from the stiff look she received from the Dowager “What are you doing here?” the Dowager asked.
“To ask you not to leave,” Aphrodite said. “You and I have our differences, but will you abandon your home because of this misguided prejudice against me and that Oswald should have married someone else?”
“He should have,” she replied.
“But he has not,” Aphrodite replied placidly. “I have tried to extend my hand to you, but you’ve batted it away every time. I mean you nor your son any ill will and if you are going to leave because you still believe that I will, I will be one to leave instead.”
“Aphrodite—” Oswald cut in.
“No, Oswald,” she said. “If I am the bone of contention, I’ll remove it and take myself away. That’s all. I would rather not to leave, but I will not have it that I forced a woman from her rightful home.”
The Dowager stopped from shuffling the cards on her desk, but her knuckles were white as she gripped them. Her eyes were shifting and her jaw spasming a little before she asked, “Where would you go?”
“Back to my fathers if I must,” Aphrodite replied.
“Isn’t there going to be contention there?” the Dowager asked.
“Yes, but I can handle my father,” Aphrodite replied as she sensed a change, a minute shift in the Dowager’s demeanor. “But before either of us leaves, I ask again that you stay. I only want peace between you and I, can we not meet each other on the viewpoint of the things we have in common and work out our differences? I swear on my life, I will never do anything to hurt Oswald and I need you to trust me on this.”
A stifled silence hung in the room and started to grow oppressive until the Dowager sat back. Her eyes were guarded, her face still and waxy pale. Her fingers drummed on the table, the soft thuds the only sounds in the room except the breaths that Aphrodite felt in her ears.
