Chapter 14

Chapter 14

"Well now, what a rare treat I am being given."

Dorian paused dead in his tracks. He had barely stepped foot inside, only had one glove pulled from his hand, and already Dolores was starting in on her nonsense.

"Good morning to you, as well, sister," he groused as he started to move through the house once more.

"That is all that you have to say for yourself?" Dolores said in an accusatory tone as she followed him. If only he could make it to the bedroom, certainly she would not think to follow him in there.

"Sister, if you could enlighten me as to the words you wish most to hear, then I can repeat them to you and this interaction can be finished." Dorian sighed and tucked his gloves under his arm as he started to untuck his shirt.

Dolores crinkled her nose and crossed her arms over her chest as she quickened her step to keep up with him. "Perhaps you could start with an explanation as to where it is that you have been all night? You ruined my ball! You put everything out of order with your selfishness, as per usual." Dolores huffed. "I suppose I should not be surprised that your own selfishness is the only thing that matters to you,."

Dorian stopped so abruptly that Dolores nearly barreled into his back.

"I told you I did not wish to host a ball. I asked you to exclude me from it. You ought to be grateful that I indulged your party with my presence at all. You expressly went against my wishes and yet you stand here and have the nerve to call my actions selfish?" Dorian said as kindly as he could muster.

Dolores did not care. "Of course you know nothing of duty and obligation. Of course you will spin this around all on me to be the villain when I am anything but! Truly, brother, your lack of foresight is shocking. How is it that I can know all of these things and you are so obtuse?"

"Ah, the insults have begun. I do not have the energy for this exchange quite so early in the morning. Now, if you excuse me, I wish to return to my room to change and wash up."

"Why?" Dolores demanded and jogged in front of him to stop him walking away from the conversation that she was so insistent upon having. "Just what is it that you have been doing all night that you need to hastily change from?"

"Must your first guess always be a nefarious one? Perhaps I went for an early ride and wish to wash the stables from my skin."

Dolores' eyes widened in a moment of shock, and then something seemed to occur to her as her eyes narrowed accusatorially. "You were doing something naughty again, were you not?"

Dorian did not feel the need to dignify that with a response. He chewed on the inside of his cheek to keep from saying anything that would further incense her temper and sidestepped her with the last shreds of his carefully contained temper as best as he could manage.

"Old habits do die hard, do they not, brother? How long did you wait before seeking her out? Was our father's funeral the first occasion or did you plot this in advance? Oh, how Mother would cry to think that you were consorting with that harlot all over again," Dolores continued, her tone smug and victorious.

He could see it in every word that she spoke and the way her posture changed—She would strike at him any way she could. He would not allow it.

The knuckles of both of his hands popped as he balled his hands into fists and forced himself to take a steadying breath. "I do not pretend to understand the venom you have toward a woman who has never done anything to you. I also do not pretend to understand just why it is that you feel you have any right to inquire to my personal affairs. I owe you nothing . Certainly not an explanation. However, as you never seem to know when to take no for an answer, or have the ability to separate your business from my own, no, I was not with her."

"You lie!" Dolores snapped, her voice cracking as she shouted in Dorian's face.

He blanched, lifting a hand to wipe the spittle from his face. He flicked the spittle away and waited for an apology from his sister that he knew was never going to come. She was not capable of remorse or empathy, she had shown that to him time and time again.

"Why did you seek me out? Why bother asking questions of me at all if you believe that you know all of the answers to them already!" Dorian asked, his voice shaking with controlled temper.

"I wish to hear the words from your mouth, brother! I wish to hear that your plan is to condemn this family to scandal all over again! I have worked tirelessly and alone for years to correct the mistakes you made. I have built our reputation, handled everything for you, and you are ungrateful!"

"Enough, Dolores!" Dorian nearly shouted. "It is a source of constant amusement how you seem to have a perfect memory for everything other than your own personal misdeeds. Do you claim to have forgotten your role back then? Do you think that I have simply forgotten your own transgressions?"

Dolores snapped her mouth shut so quickly that her teeth clicked. Her expression soured as she pursed her lips together. No doubt the amount of venom brewing in her mind would make a sailor blush.

"I know you are up to something, brother, and I am going to find out."

"I am sure that even if you do not find me guilty of whatever crime you feel, you will invent one to place the blame on my shoulders. If only there was a way to leash your own ambition and cruelty in the same way that you wish to keep all of those around you on a leash." Dorian sneered.

Dolores only smirked. "And yet, it still seems your own leash is not nearly tight enough, brother."

"I am finished with this conversation."

"I have not dismissed you!" Dolores grabbed hold of his shirt and yanked him back. Truly, she was wholly and utterly shameless. "You owe me an apology, you know! I demand to hear that as well."

"You do that a lot, do you not?" Dorian clasped his hands behind his back and heaved a long-suffering sigh. "Make demands of those around you."

"And yet if I were a man, I would merely be considered diligent."

"If you were a man, any number of the people you have harmed would have retaliated against you far differently," Dorian said matter-of-factly.

He had personally been on the end of more than a few fists of gentlemen whose wives had been egregiously insulted by Dolores and her sharp tongue. She did not care who she harmed or the consequences of her own actions because she was never the one who had to endure those consequences.

With hush money doled out by their father, fights that Dorian had endured, all of the times he had had to defend her own honor from those dalliances that she pretended never had happened—yet Dorian never was given credit for the actions that he, too, did on her name.

There was simply no point in attempting to seek her gratitude. He would never have it.

"That poor girl last night was simply beside herself with grief that you snubbed her so!" Dolores made an expression of feigned pity and sadness, going so far as to pout out her bottom lip in protest. "You have broken her heart!"

Dorian's brow arched. He doubted that very much. The young girl did not have any true interest in him; she had only been interested in appeasing her own mother. Their conversation had been forced, and both parties had been happy enough to part from one another.

"I find that difficult to believe."

"That is only because you constantly think the worst of me, brother. Can you not see that I am only helping you in fulfilling your duties as earl? You are to take a wife. You must."

"I will take a wife when I desire one." He returned her smirk. "Just as you will find a husband. Perhaps I ought to put as much energy into securing an advantageous marriage for you, dearest sister, as you put into mine." He pretended to ponder for a moment. "Lord Bettington, perhaps?"

Dolores paled.

Lord Bettington had not shown his face in the last year, according to rumors. Mother had told him via correspondence all about the affair Dolores had had with him. She had cried so much while writing the letters to him that they had had splotches in the ink. She had explained at great length that the stress of covering up the two of them being discovered in their very own library had forced Father to take to bed for a week.

Dorian had invited the whole family abroad to visit with him, and spent a great deal of money ensuring that Lord Bettington was not going to expose Dolores as he had absolutely no intention of marrying her. Well, no chance of marrying her was perhaps a more accurate description of what had happened.

If Lord Bettington was to be believed, he had proposed marriage to Dolores after one of their trysts, and she had laughed in his face. The man had been smitten enough to think her fiery temper to be charming at the time. But Dorian knew it was simply because Lord Bettington did not have a high enough rank or nearly enough influence to tempt her. He was handsome of face, but she tended to look upon her loves like horses to be bet on.

"You would not dare," Dolores snarled.

"Do not test me, Dolores. Unless, of course, you agree that our choice of spouse should be at our own choosing?" Dorian challenged, waiting for her to change her tune. Though, he doubted she would surrender that easily.

If she sided with him that they should be allowed to choose their own spouses, then she would have to stop insisting that he meet every woman that she chose to deem eligible. If she disagreed with him, she was consenting to Dorian finding her a husband whether she liked it or not.

"There is absolutely nothing wrong with the women I have chosen for you, brother. There are a great many of them with lovely qualities and accomplishments. Any size and of any caliber you wish! I do not see why you are being so damnably stubborn about all of this!" Dolores said with such temper that she actually stomped her foot.

"And I do not see why you are so insistent to have your way that you forget that marriage is about more than simply choosing some breeding partner!" Dorian countered.

He could not and would not look at the women of the ton like they were a meal he was to choose from the buffet. Never mind that he had only had eyes for one woman in his whole life. Any woman he could hope to choose would be compared to Claire for the rest of his life, through no fault of their own. He simply would not be able to help it. She was the only woman that made his heart race.

"Go and wash up, brother. I expect you will cool your temper before dinner," Dolores said dismissively. She was not getting the desired outcome of this conversation, and as such she was simply going to stop talking to him. Most of their arguments ended this way. She thought she could still "win" by simply declaring it so.

"I have plans this evening," Dorian lied.

Interest and irritation seemed to spark in her eyes at the same moment. He almost placed a bet with himself as to which question she would ask him first. Would she demand to know what plans he thought he had, or would she simply bark at him that she had chosen their evening and he was duty bound to comply?

She went with the latter.

"You will attend dinner, brother. I am hosting a lovely meal that has required quite a lot of time and planning, actually. It is the very least you can do in order to atone for your terrible behavior last night! I have invited two perfectly eligible ladies to come and dine with us. Sisters. You owe it to this family to do some damned damage control!"

"It is rather presumptuous of you to claim all of my time, is it not?"

"Somebody has to run this family, Dorian!" Dolores snarled.

He merely smirked. The implication that she was not and never would be the one to hold that role hung in the air between them. "Actually, upon second thought, you are right."

Dolores' whole demeanor shifted. "Why, yes… I am… but—"

"I should go attend to Father's books. I do have quite a lot of work to do for the earldom. How kind of you to remind me. Perhaps you could be a dear and send up a tea service. Go on, thank you," Dorian said haughtily with a grin before turning to head down the hall toward Father's office.

His office, he supposed. Though he did not know if it would ever truly feel like it actually belonged to him. As a parting shot, he called over his shoulder to his sister who was still fuming behind him.

"Do send the Earl Gray blend, would you?"

Chapter 15

There was a part of Dorian that had very seriously considered canceling tonight's dinner. He had thought it would have further proven his point that he was not here to do Dolores' bidding.

She had claimed over and over again that the reason she needed him to marry was so he and his new bride could resume his worldly travels. She was of the opinion that he would never want the duties and responsibilities of being an earl. The surest way to vex her properly was to keep refusing to abide by her wishes. But at the end of the day, they all had to live in the same house together. He needed to rise above, even if he did not prefer it.

He stood in the dining room with his hands clasped softly behind his back, waiting for their guests to be ushered inside. He knew the meal Dolores had planned would be delicious, of course. The hall was decorated perfectly. Candles and the soft aroma of freshly cut flowers lingered in the air as a lone violinist played in one corner. She certainly had gone out of her way to ensure the ambiance was alluring for the sisters he was supposed to entertain.

Sisters. It was somewhat laughable to think about. He could not imagine what it must have been like in their carriage on the way here. If they were at all the competitive sort, he did not see how they were both going after the same man. Worse yet if their mother was equally ambitious.

He would play the part required, but nothing more. An hour or two, and then it would all be over. There were only so many women in London. Dolores would learn sooner of later that he was not easily swayed.

Dolores entered the room only a few moments later, her dress for the evening a dark navy blue with a high collar and long sleeves—certainly not fitting of her age or the current fashions. In fact, it seemed more matronly than the dresses Mother tended to gravitate toward.

She circled the table slowly, inspecting the decor placed over the long table as she went. She trailed an ungloved finger over the surface and inspected her skin for debris. She did the same to him when she moved closer. She walked in a half-circle around him, but he refused to be intimidated by her, no matter what she chose to do.

"I suppose I do not have to tell you to be on your best behavior tonight, brother," Dolores said dryly. "Do not think that I have not noticed that you have been avoiding me all day long since our little conversation this morning."

Dorian could not help but grin. "Your audacity continues to astound me, Dolores."

She shrugged. "Just do what you are supposed to do. I think you will find that if you stop attempting to fight me at every turn, things will be a good deal simpler for you."

"For me? Or for you?"

Noise from the entryway of the hall alerted him that Dolores' guests had arrived. Mother, still dressed in her black mourning gown, was poised to greet them in the foyer and lead them inside. It was no more than a few minutes before the soft sounds of conversation could be heard coming down the hallway.

Lady Wheaton and his own mother, Mary, arrived arm in arm. The girls entered the room after them. Dorian remembered her now that he could see her more plainly but he could not recall her daughters' names off the top of his head. He was fairly certain that she had an older son named Bradley who was a couple of years behind him in school. Absently, he wondered where he must be this evening.

"Presenting Lady Wheaton, Lady Agatha Argent and Lady Tiffany Argent." The servant announced them at the door, nearly too late as they were already headed for their seats.

Lady Agatha and Lady Tiffany, that was correct. Lady Agatha appeared to be the older of the two. Both of them were fair of skin like their mother, but Lady Agatha had a chestnut brown tint to her hair, where her mother and sister favored red a hint more strongly.

Lady Agatha had a long, straight nose with freckles dusting over her cheeks and forehead. Her sister had a more rounded face and an upturned nose. Perfectly presentable, as all three women had chosen to wear different shades of green for their gowns this evening. A unified front. They even curtsied in perfect unison.

But they were nothing like Claire. They could not hold a candle to her.

Throughout dinner, he listened to their accomplishments and their petitions as to why they would be a perfect wife. Their mother all but presented her daughters on a platter for him. Yet every time he attempted to speak to either one of them, Dolores spoke over him. She interrupted and altered the course until the dessert was being brought out for them.

It was abundantly apparent that Lady Agatha was, in fact, the competitive type. She was the one to look out for. Somehow, she managed to scoot her chair closer and closer to him throughout the evening without him even being properly aware that she was moving. She was not subtle in her flirting, making him more than a touch uncomfortable.

"You know, you have always had something of a mysterious reputation," Lady Agatha said as she swirled her tongue obnoxiously over her spoon as she savored her custard.

"How is that?" Dorian sighed and leaned back into his chair. He could not eat when it was so obvious what she was attempting to do. She was succeeding in drawing attention to her mouth, but it did not have the appeal that she thought it did.

"Do you not believe that you are mysterious, my lord?" Lady Agatha asked as she ran her tongue over her lips, and then followed it with her napkin.

"Hardly."

"The circumstances of your disappearance all those years ago… staying away and all of your travels… A great many rumors have followed you, wondering what you could be up to and why you took so long to return to London. Many people wonder if you are finally ready to take a proper wife."

"And if I am?"

Lady Agatha batted her eyelashes at him. "Well, I think that would be very much in my favor if you are."

"Presuming you are the sort of wife that I would take?"

She smirked. "I have yet to meet a man who does not find me alluring in some capacity or another. My lord, I think you will find that I am very adaptable, should you give me proper consideration."

Dorian's brow furrowed and he glanced down the table to where her mother was very pointedly pretending to ignore their conversation.

"And if I think your sister is more to my tastes?"

"You don't."

"You seem rather sure of yourself," Dorian said. He was not sure if he intended the words as a compliment, but she seemed to preen regardless.

"I am merely a woman who knows what she wants and intends to have it."

Dorian shook his head. "So you are willing to become whatever sort of woman I desire? Would that not be exhausting? Would it not be more advantageous to simply be yourself?"

Lady Agatha considered his words with a tilt of her head. "A romantic, are you, my lord? I would not have guessed that about you."

The servants stepped up to clear the last rounds of plates, and Dorian leaned forward, speaking lower so Lady Agatha would have to lean in to hear him properly. "And if I should require you to simply be yourself? Would you even know who that was?"

Her nose crinkled as their mothers both stood. "Shall we continue this evening's festivities in the parlor?"

Lady Wheaton and Dorian's mother took each other's arms and left the room, Lady Tiffany trailing behind them with a wistful look in his direction. Dorian was only too happy to take the excuse to leave and was quickly on his feet, heading out of the room. Yet Lady Agatha lingered.

He paused in the doorway, waiting for her to join him. "Is something the matter?"

"Would it be such a shame for me to dawdle a moment when it means I get to have your company all to myself?"

"It is highly improper," Dorian said thickly, glancing to the servants lining the walls. He hoped they would not be foolish enough to leave him alone with her while in the course of their duties. He just needed to stay here, where there were witnesses.

"Do you expect me to believe that you truly care about such things?" Lady Agatha giggled.

It was as if her personality was shifting in front of his eyes. He had not responded favorably to the overly flirtatious version of her, so now she seemed to be trying another tactic. He did not care for it. It felt manipulative.

"I think you have made sweeping assumptions of me by a reputation crafted by those who do not know me well enough to keep my name on their lips," Dorian said plainly. He needed to shut down her tactics, and very quickly.

No doubt Dolores would be thrilled to witness Agatha's brazen attitude. She would capitalize on the fact that they were standing here alone. Dorian needed to be careful. Dolores would attempt to make this into something it was not merely to entrap him with this woman. He simply could not allow that to happen.

"We ought to join the others," Dorian said, sharply turning on his heel to stroll down the grand foyer.

A moment later, Lady Agatha was there, brazenly grabbing hold of his sleeve. Dorian attempted to protest, but she held the front of his waistcoat and jacket and pushed him off balance, the pair of them tumbling into the first open hallway.

Alarms of panic resounded inside of his skull. This was bad. "Unhand me at once!" Dorian protested as he tried to dislodge her.

"I thought you said you wanted an authentic woman?" Lady Agatha purred. "I understand what you want, even without you saying it outright."

"I would much prefer that you listen to the words I actually say instead of making up fictions." Dorian shook his head as he spoke. Whatever she thought she needed to do, he did not want it. Yet she pawed at him all the same.

"I would have avoided playing so coy and hard to get if I had known liked such a forward woman. Now that you have called me on my reputation, I shall act according to your own." Lady Agatha trailed one hand down Dorian's chest as she spoke.

"That was subtle?" Dorian scoffed and tried to sidestep her, but she was persistent.

"I am willing to be physical with you, my lord, as I know that is what it takes to catch your eye," Lady Agatha continued.

Perhaps to some, her motions would be considered alluring or seductive, but he felt opposite. "What is that supposed to mean?"

Dorian caught her hands and dislodged them from his person. He did not wish to injure her or use force, but he would not stand for her behavior either.

"You must stop this. If I have not been plain enough until now, I am not interested. These games and tactics will not work! You should be ashamed of yourself, acting this way!" Dorian huffed as he held her arms away from his person. Despite his words, Lady Agatha still attempted to touch him again.

"And yet you still play those same games, my lord!" She giggled as her fingertips brushed against his shirt and pulled with a pinching grasp.

"Have you no shame?" Dorian pushed her away, holding her thin frame at arm's length of himself.

Lady Agatha dropped the pretense, a look of cold fury taking over her face. "How can you speak to me as if you possess a shred of modesty? This is what you want, is it not? The whole of the ton knows what sort of light-skirted woman you like!"

She might as well have slapped him. He dropped her wrists as if her skin had burned him and put at least a foot of space between them. "I suggest you choose your next words carefully lest I have you thrown from my home."

Lady Agatha laughed uncomfortably. "The woman that you were tied to before your grand disappearance. Everyone knows of the sort of woman that she is… what sort of woman you fancy. I can be that; I can do what is needed."

Her hands dropped to her skirts and started inching them upward, exposing ankle and then stocking-covered calf. Dorian looked away. His tone was icy when he spoke again.

"Is that the sort of rumor you referred to? Unfounded speculations about the woman I might or might not have been associated with?"

"All of the ton knows! Oh, you should know better than most that those in the ton have long memories. There were plenty of rumors wondering if that was why you stayed away for so long, to have your low-born, common harlot break your heart and run away. Or perhaps it was the other way around." Lady Agatha giggled.

"We all like a good distraction from time to time, but tell me, were the pair of you truly engaged or was that just another pathetic, grasping attempt at relevance from… oh, what was her name again?"

Dorian understood now how Lady Agatha and Dolores were such close friends.

"Claire! That was it, was it not? Oh, your darling sister has told me all about your struggles. She's told everyone, really. Such misfortunes, but it is all in the past now."

Dorian's teeth ground together. He would not abide Claire's good name being dragged through the mud. Least of all by this horrible woman.

"So interesting, though, is it not? Did she not rush off into marriage so suddenly after your departure? Just how many men a woman like that must have had." Lady Agatha tapped a gloved finger to her lips in faux contemplation. "It shows how good breeding and a match with a woman from a proper family goes. You never would have endured such hardships had you not scraped the very bottom of the barrel."

Dorian's eye twitched. He could not recall the last time he had felt this enraged.

Perhaps at Lady Agatha for the sheer nerve and poison that spilled from her lips, but more so at Dolores. Just how involved was she, really? Did her manipulations know no bounds? He would have words with her.

"Get out," Dorian seethed.

"I beg your pardon?"

"Yes. You should beg for my pardon and yet you will not receive it! I will not linger in the company of such a hateful woman. Go, gather your family, and get out, or I will have my staff throw you out." Dorian's voice was a lethal sort of calm.

Lady Agatha seemed to finally understand that he was not teasing, that this was not some sort of game. She took a half-step back and bowed at the waist. He was not the sort of man to be entertained by trivial gossip, and even less so about the woman he loved. She had crossed more than one line this evening.

He needed them gone, and then he was going to have a whole other conversation with Dolores.