Chapter 34

I hate it when I am right, but I can do absolutely nothing about it!

Colin glowered at the pile of documents on his desk that demanded his attention. Managing several estates and businesses was tedious work, but at least it kept his mind off Alice, which was rather hard, as Evie had taken to frequently updating him about her every opportunity she got.

I can see where her loyalties lie.

One would have thought that blood was thicker than water, but no. His sister's vexing him took top priority, and she was not one to waste a chance to throw it in his face.

Just two days ago, she took to regaling him with the number of gentlemen who had asked Alice for a dance in the Crandall ball. It was obscene. If Evie was to be believed, Lady Alice Barkley would need three dance cards to accommodate all the men who wanted to dance with her.

Evie had also—quite gleefully, he might add—mentioned every single gentleman of consequence who expressed particular attention to his once-betrothed. Every single one of them was now on his list as well—his to-kill list.

"Well, this looks like a much more pleasant and productive way of spending your time."

He looked up and glared at the one other person who seemed determined to make his torment as unbearable as possible—his own grandmother.

"It is nice to finally see you bathed, dressed, and somewhat properly fed, Colin," she remarked acerbically. "I had thought you had every intention of withering away in your workshop like the despondent heroine of a cheap tragedy."

Colin simply glared at his grandmother. "It is nice to see you, too, Grandmother."

She pointedly ignored him and sat regally on the sofa. Sometimes, she looked so much like his mother that it hurt, but then the late Duchess of Blackthorn did not have the presence his grandmother possessed. She was much too kind and gentle—or was it simply his biased memories that made her that way?

"I suppose your sister has made you aware of her success this Season," she announced. "There have been several gentlemen calling on her, and one had even sent flowers—for the both of us."

"He seems like a paragon of sorts."

"Hardly," Lady Wellington replied with a dismissive wave of her hand. "It has come to my knowledge that he has done the same for Lady Alice Barkley."

Colin clenched his hands into fists. "Who is this idiot so that I may give him a piece of my mind?"

A sly smile made its way into the older lady's normally serene expression. "For Evelyn or for Lady Alice?"

For both, of course!Colin wanted to shout out.

Instead, he merely shrugged his shoulders. "For my sister, of course. Who else would matter?"

"Ah, but she does matter, does she not?" His grandmother smiled, and he knew she was not talking about Evie anymore.

"She matters so much that you have all but become a recluse. If it had not been for our presence here at Blackthorn Estate, you would hardly have interacted with another human being."

"I interacted with my steward," Colin protested, "and my assistant. That makes it two people."

Lady Wellington rolled her eyes. "Yes, but you only started doing that three days ago, when you finally managed to crawl out of your workshop, looking like some bog in the hinterlands just spit you out!"

Three days ago would have been the end of his agreement with Alice. He knew because he had marked it on his calendar, and it had been stamped in his heart.

To celebrate that milestone in his life, he had spent a drunken night in his workshop, surrounded by unfinished portraits of her in various stages of undress. He had never managed to finish a single one because it all became too much to bear—so much so that he could hardly keep his brush aloft, much less possess the strength to actually drag it across the canvas.

Still, he had painted her because she had become the only thing he could paint. It was the sort of mental anguish and torment he would not wish even upon his worst enemies.

Except maybe, perhaps, that bastard who sent flowers to both his once betrothed and to his younger sister.

"Evie and I shall be attending an opera tonight," Lady Wellington announced. "I was going to tell you that it would be beneficial if you escorted her tonight to show your support, but I can see that you are currently…" she trailed off and narrowed her eyes at him. "Indisposed."

I have been indisposed for the better part of a fortnight. I do not see how I can reverse such a malady anytime soon.

"Please convey my deepest regrets to Evie," he muttered by way of an apology.

"Perhaps if you bettered yourself, your apology might be deemed sincere," his grandmother sniffed. "Very well, you need not see me out. I can walk myself to the door."

As if to underscore her point, she stood up smoothly and sailed to the door of his study, her back ramrod straight, her chin tilted regally. Just as she was about to turn the knob, she paused.

"Is there something else, Grandmother?" Colin asked her, bracing himself for another scathing reprimand.

"Whatever you are doing, my boy, I just hope you will not live to regret it," she told him simply.

"Sometimes…" he told her achingly. "Sometimes it is better to hurt a little than to inflict a greater pain in the future."

She smiled sadly at him. "And sometimes, Colin, things are not always what they seem."

Before he could ask her what she meant by that, she had already exited his study and closed the door firmly behind her.

For the better part of half a decade, his grandmother had borne the pain of being one of the last people to have seen his parents alive. Colin had never asked her what happened, back then. He had never wanted to hear just how badly his father had hurt his mother before their demise.

Sighing, he applied himself once more to the documents before him. He had no desire for the opera. Besides, he had heard that the star of the show was Daniel's latest mistress. Thinking of that, his lack of enthusiasm plunged even lower.

As he made some notes on the request submitted by one of his tenants, however, he recalled that in the brief duration of their betrothal, he had not been able to accompany Alice to an opera. He wondered if she liked it as much as she liked her books and then shook his head.

There was simply no point in dwelling on things that could never be.

* * *

Alice did not like going to the opera, and she had even less of a desire to attend a show about a tragic romance. She had had enough of romance and tragedy and saw no need to add more of either into her life. However, Phoebe and Scarlett would be attending as well as all of the other marriageable misses of the ton.

How could she avoid it without setting tongues wagging all over London? It was impossible.

She sighed as she set out the first suitable gown she could see—an elegant, champagne-colored number with capped sleeves and matching gloves. Despite her newfound popularity, she was not in a hurry to find a new betrothed. One might even go so far as to surmise that she had no desire to find a suitable match this Season.

Or the next.

All the way up to eternity.

She was rather fortunate that her failure of a betrothal had her papa reconsidering a match for her in the near future. Alice had no doubt, though, that he still wanted to see her wed. He was simply giving her a chance to recover.

Recover?It sounds more like a nasty fall than an event that potentially ruined all that was good and wonderful in this world.

Still, operas must be attended. Balls must be danced in. And suitors, as vexing as they were now proving to be, must be entertained.

Life must go on whether she cared for it or not.

* * *

Colin managed to finish dealing with the infernal paperwork later in the evening. He had just finished having his supper when the butler announced the arrival of the Duke of Ashton.

Before Richmond could step aside, though, Daniel walked into the dining hall, looking for all the world as if he owned the place. Underneath his arm, he held a rectangular package.

"No need to announce my arrival, Richmond," he told the butler in his usual brisk fashion. He sat down on the chair opposite Colin with a grim smile. "Is your sister around?"

Colin was confused. "Who? Evie?"

"I was not aware you had another sister, Thorn."

Did Daniel come over to see him or Evie? And if it was his sister, why the hell was his friend looking for her?

Colin narrowed his eyes at the man seated across him. "If you have any designs on Evie?—"

"I would not dream of it," Daniel drawled. "Your sister is possessed of a tongue that rivals the sharpest razor and absolutely zero inhibitions in wielding it."

Colin crossed his arms over his chest and glared at his friend. "I had no idea that you were so affected by Evie's barbs. You never seemed to care about them before."

If one were to sum up the relationship between Daniel and his younger sister in one word, it would simply be adversarial. The two of them had been at odds ever since they first met, with Evie declaring emphatically that she had never met a more odious man than Daniel Stanton.

For his part, Daniel showed a drastic lack of understanding for the young girl and had absolutely no compunctions in withholding his rapier wit from her.

Having them both in the same room was an absolute nightmare.

"But I did not come here for that harridan," Daniel smoothly replied. He set the package down on the table and slid it over to Colin. "I believe that its contents might be of great interest to you."

Colin frowned as he turned the package over in his hands. It was neatly wrapped in brown paper and held a little weight. A piece of string bound it, so it did not open and spill its contents.

"I was not aware that you are now in the habit of giving random gifts."

Daniel smiled at him from across the table. "I never do anything without a good reason." He nodded at the package in Colin's hands. "I came here because I needed to talk to you, but first, you have to read that. I have a feeling you will find its contents particularly enlightening."

Colin eyed his friend warily. He had never seen Daniel acting so cryptic before. Other people, perhaps, but Daniel had always been straightforward with Colin and the other Wolves.

As he pulled the string that held the package together, he could not understand why his heart beat so fast.

Just what had Daniel Stanton brought him this time?