Page 14 of A Bride for the Beastly Duke
Ava took a vindictive kind of pleasure in her annoyance. “She is a child,” she said coolly.
“Back in my day, we all knew that children were to be seen and not heard. I thought you would have taught her to be less gregarious by now. Nobody wants their illegitimate?—”
Ava shot to her feet and glared daggers at the Dowager Marchioness. “I beg your pardon?” she hissed.
Fortunately for her, Lady Lanton knew when to keep her mouth shut. She simply looked down at her plate with an inaudible humph and focused on her food.
Slowly, Ava lowered herself back down to her seat and picked up her fork. Lily blinked at her innocently. “What does illegitimate mean, Mama?”
Ava’s heart veritably sank.
“Nothing you need to worry about, Lily. Eat your food.”
Lily, being the obedient child she was, did as she was told, but Ava could not help fuming.
When dessert was brought in, she turned to Lady Lanton who she had been studiously ignoring. “Where is your nephew? Will he not eat?”
The Dowager gave a dramatic sigh. “My nephew is something of a night owl. As we speak, he is hard at work, trying to decipher the circumstances around his brother’s death. It has been almost a year, but he still cannot let it go.” She shook her head slowly.
Ava’s curiosity was piqued. “What happened to his brother?”
“Killed in the service. War is a dangerous game, but Edward just will not accept it.”
Ava blinked a few times, slightly taken aback by this. “Well…” she shot to her feet, “…perhaps someone should let him know that this behavior is not acceptable either.”
She thought she heard Lady Lanton call her, but she was already bound and determined to confront Edward. She was already seething with anger and frustration with nowhere to put it except on him. She barged into his study, seeing him behind the desk with a full bottle of whisky, bent over a sheaf of papers.
She cleared her throat when he did not immediately look up. He put the drink aside and lifted his head with a sigh, his longhair covering the injured side of his face. “May I help you with something?”
She growled, angry at his long-suffering tone when it was she who was forced to contend with so many things with absolutely no help from him. “I brought my daughter to dinner, so she could meet with you, Your Grace. Instead, I got your lovely aunt who proceeded to call her illegitimate!” Ava almost screeched.
Edward’s brow furrowed, but he did not say a word.
“Now your aunt tells me that you lock yourself in here, obsessing about your brother. Well, the time for that is over. You have a wife now and a stepdaughter.”
He rose to his feet, towering over her, his expression gruff—looking both imposing and intimidating. She took an involuntary step back in fear and gasped. Immediately, he turned his head so that his injured side was facing away from her and looked down so that his hair covered his face.
I am sorry.She wanted to say the words aloud, but she knew it would just make things worse, not better.
“Your child has no need of a monster for a guardian. I trust that you will continue as you have been, raising her on your own. As I said, you are free to make any changes you deem fit to the castle, but I am not one of the things under your jurisdiction. Kindly recall that this is a marriage in name only.”
Ava stood there, hands fisted and bosom heaving in her helplessness.
“But you can’t just?—”
“Leave!” he growled.
She took a startled step back, stumbling and almost falling on her rear. He simply stood there, unmoving and unmoved. Whirling around, she ran out of the room, and then turned toward the dark end of the corridor as the tears rolled down her face, trying each door in order to find somewhere to break down. She ended up in the conservatory where she threw herself on the bench and sobbed.
This was absolutelynotwhat she wanted for her life.
Chapter Seven
Ishould not have spoken to her like that…
Guilt was eating at Edward. He had not meant to be so harsh with Ava even though she had barged into his office and shouted at him for no reason. He had not meant to scare her either—but that had seemed to be out of his control. There was nothing he could do about his face after all.
What does she want from me?
