Page 76 of An Accidental Bride for the Duke
Some men sought marriage. Some sought love and happiness. But Philip? He was better off being alone. He had always known it, for a while he had dared to dream otherwise, but now it was fact. And nothing was going to change that.
“Philip…” Percy rested a hand on his shoulder. “Please, I know you. I know you do not want this.”
“We are done here.” Philip shrugged his brother free and turned about. And then, ignoring the force which tried to keep him in the room, powered through the door and down the hall.
He was hurting now, and he would do for some time.
But the pain would pass. Philip would forget. And in time, all this would be a bad memory. And maybe, hopefully, wherever Iris was and whatever it was that she was doing, she would be happy.
As strange as it was, that singular thought brought a smile to Philip’s lips. She deserved her happily ever after as much as anyone. It was just not to be with him.
Chapter Twenty-Five
“Mother, please,” Iris’ older sister, Eveline begged. “Now is not the time.”
“Oh, I meant nothing by it,” Iris’ mother said with a dismissive waving of her hand. “And Iris knows this.”
“Regardless, now is not the time.”
“I am only trying to help!”
“I know that,” Eveline pressed. “But sometimes, Mother, your version of helping comes off as sounding like…” She let the implication sit between them.
“Sounding like what?” their mother snapped.
Eveline let her face drop. “Like gloating.”
“Gloating!” Their mother threw her hands in the air. “What I would like to know is since when did I become the villain here? Surely, such a title should be reserved for His Grace. He was the one who —”
“Mother!” Eveline cut her off. “Please! Now is not the time.”
The three of them were sitting together in the reading room, even if little reading was getting done.
It had been. Iris had sequestered herself in the cozy space earlier in the day, her intent to be alone so she might drown herself in books and put her mind to anything other than thinking about what had happened.And how much it still hurts me.
Typically, Iris’ mother had other ideas.
When Iris left Philip’s manor, she had chosen Eveline’s estate as her place to hide for a number of reasons. The first was that it happened to be close by, only a few hours north and thus easy to reach. The second was that Eveline and she had always been close, and she knew that Eveline of all people was not the type to judge, nor would she insist on doting on Iris as if that might make her feel better. And the third and perhaps most important was that her mother would not be there. Or so she had thought.
Alas, their mother just happened to be visiting still and where last night Iris had been able to lock herself in her room and avoid her mother’s gloating, masking itself as concern, today she was not so lucky.
Thus, she sat silently on the couch. Eveline standing to her left. Her mother to her right. She had a book in hand, pretending to read it as her sister and mother continued to argue as if she were not there.
“I knew this would happen,” her mother continued, arms folded now. “I knew it—the façade His Grace put up, nothing more than a lie. He has always been a suspect character and this proves it.”
“Iris claims this was a mutual action,” Eveline shot back. “And besides, it does not matter who is at fault. All that matters is that it has happened and how Iris is feeling.”
“Of course it matters who is at fault! What will people say when they hear of this? In fact, we should work quickly to get our side of the events written in stone. So that when His Grace does decide to spread his own tale, nobody will believe him.”
“Mother, that is ridiculous.”
“It is not.” She gave her head a firm nod. “He is a proud man, His Grace. That was what led him to marry Iris in the first place…” She sighed and shook her head. “Which I knew was a bad move. But your brother…” She clicked her tongue. “Not that we can blame him. It is His Grace!”
“This is really not a conversation to be had now.”
“I suppose I have myself to blame also,” their mother continued. “I knew it was a bad idea to leave Iris alone in that house. If I hadbeen there…” Her brow scrunched. “Well, perhaps this might have been averted. I should have known better than to leave as I did. What was I thinking.”
Iris was still pretending to read her book, but she had long since given up on the notion.
