Page 102 of Love in a Mist
“What about Adèle?” Aldric asked.
She was grateful her niece had such a fierce champion, and his concern for her was touching. However, the fact that he didn’t look disappointed thatCélestewould be gone and made absolutely no effort to convince her to stay only drove pain deeper into her heart.
“With Lord Mowbary here”—she thought it best to address Crofton and his family by their titles when speaking of and to them—“I think Adèle would be happier remaining in the Norwood nursery. She would have a friend.”
Aldric nodded. “A wise plan. The Beaumonts should be able to make room for you quickly.” He returned to his meal.
That was to be it, apparently. Until that moment with the ice of his rejection wrapping itself around her, she’d told herself she hadn’t been so entirely mistaken in thinking that some tenderness had been growing between them, simply more on her side than his. But he wasn’t sorry to see her go. The entirety of his anticipated sorrow was for the fact that Adèle might leave with her.
“You would likely do best to ask the Beaumonts if they would be willing to make room for your niece,” Crofton said. “She’ll need to join you once Aldric has departed.”
Departed?She looked at Aldric and saw that he appeared confused as well.
“I have told you of no plans for travel,” Aldric said. “And even if I had them, Mlle Fortier and her niece would be welcome to remain here for as long as they needed.”
“Ah, but you don’t have the right to extend that invitation, do you?”
“I most certainly do. This is my home.”
“Father gave you use of it.” Crofton’s mouth curved in a look of arrogant satisfaction. “But he did not make it binding in any way. Not onme. I assure you, I have thoroughly looked into the matter. Now that I am the Duke of Hartley, Norwood Manor is mine.”
Chapter Thirty-Five
Aldric would not have guessedthat Crofton still had the ability to shock him. But he did.
“You are reclaiming Norwood Manor?” The question sputtered from him.
“One does not have to reclaim what was already one’s own.” Crofton pushed his plate a little away and eyed Aldric with a smirk.
“You don’t need Norwood.” The fact that it was so unnecessary a holding amongst the vast family holdings was one of the reasons Henri had managed to convince Father to give Aldric the use of it.
“Perhaps I don’tneedit.” Crofton’s sneer remained. “But I like it. It could be a lovely place to spend a few weeks each summer. And making the acquaintance of the Marquess of Grenton wouldn’t be a horrible thing. I outrank him, of course, but he’s well liked in London and has made connections I would very much like to cultivate myself.”
Aldric’s home, stability, and future were being snatched away so Crofton could have a summer escape for a couple weeks each year and could toady to a Peer he thought could help him. It was both infuriating and entirely fitting.
“This, then, is why you were here when I arrived. You were waiting for my return so you could tell me this in person.”
“Do not make this about you, Aldric. It is the summer, and this is a summer home. Roderick and I are here enjoying Norwood. This will, of course, one day be his, so I thought it a good idea to begin his acquaintance with the quaint little estate.”
Aldric did not believe for a moment it was mere coincidence. Crofton would not have denied himself the satisfaction of this moment.
“I, of course, don’t mind you staying for a few more days,” Crofton continued with a wave of his hand. “I hadn’t intended to have houseguests, but I can be accommodating. Perhaps when the Greenberrys arrive, you can ask them if they would allow you to be a guest in their home. Your friends would make space for you. They have done so before.”
It had actually never come to that before. While his father hadn’t cared for him, and Aldric had done his best to avoid the man, he’d always beenpermitted to lay his head at any of the family estates he chose to stay at. He’d simply always chosen one that didn’t include his brother or the late duke. Aldric suspected instructions had now been sent to all the Hartley holdings declaring Aldric to be persona non grata.
He was not merely to be robbed of his home; he was to be relegated to the status of interloper in everyone else’s.
At some point, Céleste had set her utensils down and pushed her plate away as well. Aldric only noticed because she spoke into the awkward silence hovering over them all.
“Please forgive me,” she said, “but I’m exceptionally weary from our journey and would like to return to the bedchamber I am using.” She didn’t look at him and only glanced at Crofton.
As unwelcome as Aldric was feeling, she must have felt it a hundredfold. They weren’t in the same danger they’d run from in France, but everything was still in upheaval.
She rose, necessitating that Aldric and Crofton do so as well.
“I believe I will write my letter to the Beaumonts,” she said. “Now seems a very good time to do it.”
“Any of the servants would be happy to deliver it for you,” Crofton said, as if it were a generous offer rather than a gleeful dismissal of a guest he hadn’t invited.
