Chapter 16

Just as William's demeanor had improved, it was destroyed again.

As the evening unfolded and the jovial laughter of their guests echoed throughout the halls, William found himself growing increasingly agitated by the three young lords and the sister of one of them. Their constant chatter and laughter grated on his nerves, and frankly he wanted them gone. They were incessant, as if he had a herd of children there.

And it was only his brother, two friends of his brother, and a lady.

But try as he might to suppress his mounting frustration, William found himself growing increasingly irritable. The carefree laughter of their guests overwhelmed him, exacerbating the feeling.

With a clenched jaw and a furrowed brow, William made a valiant effort to mask his growing discomfort, forcing a strained smile onto his lips as he attempted to engage in the spirited conversation swirling around him. But despite his best efforts, he couldn"t shake the gnawing sense of unease that lingered within him, a palpable tension that seemed to hang heavy in the air.

As the evening wore on and the revelry continued unabated, William felt a sense of suffocation closing in around him, the walls of the house seeming to press in on him from all sides. Suddenly, the young lady approached William with a bright smile, her eyes alight with curiosity.

"Your Grace," she began, her voice sweet and melodious and her curtsy deep, "I"ve heard so much about you from my brother. Tell me, what do you enjoy doing in your free time?"

William"s response was polite but distant, his attention clearly elsewhere as he offered a vague reply.

"Oh, you know," he murmured, his tone lacking enthusiasm, "The usual pursuits of a gentleman."

Undeterred by his lackluster response, the young lady pressed on, her eagerness undiminished.

"Surely there must be something that brings you joy," she persisted, her gaze searching his face for signs of interest, "Do you have any hobbies or interests that you"re passionate about?"

Yes, he wanted to say, the irritating young lady I found here when I arrived. Mathematics, and problem solving. Certainly not, however, engaging in lackluster conversation with an equally lackluster lady.

Frankly, William"s disinterest was palpable, his mind preoccupied with thoughts of escape rather than engaging in idle conversation. With a forced smile, he offered another vague response in the hopes that she would understand eventually.

"I dabble in various pursuits," he replied noncommittally, his gaze wandering towards the door, "But nothing that I would consider particularly noteworthy."

As the conversation faltered and the young lady finally moved on to engage with other guests, William couldn"t help but feel a twinge of guilt at his lack of engagement. Try as he might, however, he found it difficult to muster any genuine interest in the small talk and social niceties that surrounded him, his thoughts consumed by a longing for solitude and the quiet solitude of his study. And as the night wore on and the festivities continued unabated, William resigned himself to enduring the relentless onslaught of conversation, his mind already drifting towards the sanctuary of solitude that awaited him once the guests had gone to bed.

Eventually, William made his way towards his brother, pulling him aside with a firm hand and a steely gaze.

"Scott," he began, his voice low and measured, "I have never seen that girl before. Who is she?"

"She"s... she"s just the sister of a friend. Can you not see the resemblance?"

But William wasn"t convinced by his brother"s evasive answer, his intuition telling him that there was more to the story than Scott was letting on.

"Scott, I need you to be honest with me," he insisted, his gaze unwavering, "Is this young lady the same one you"ve been housing in our home?"

"Yes, she is," he admitted reluctantly, William sighing immediately, "But please, William, you have to understand that she needs our help."

"I understand perfectly," he replied tersely, his jaw clenched with barely concealed anger, "And rest assured, Scott, we will discuss this matter further once our guests have departed. She has a brother, so she can stay with him, can she not?"

"Yes, but they do not get along well. They haven't for a long time."

"In which case I shall ask her brother to pay for her to stay there. Which one is he?"

"He is… well…"

"She is not their sister, is she?"

"No," he said finally, "But they are friends."

"Scott, if you lie to me once more you shall be out of this house, as will your friends, and your lovely companion shall be sent away. Do you understand?"

"Yes, fine, but it is not particularly a threat of yours to send me away. I am only here because Mother requested it. She told me you wanted a party, and there wasn't a chance that I was letting that escape me."

William thought he had misheard him. Surely he knew the real reason why he was there?

"Wait," William interjected, his voice tinged with incredulity, "You mean to say you have no other reason for being here? None at all?"

"Well, I... I wanted to see Mother, of course," he stammered, his words lacking conviction, "And see you again, though I am sure you have been loving your time without me.

William did not wish to answer that, not after he had told his brother the importance of being honest.

"I knew it," Scott sighed, "Everyone sees me as a burden, you know."

"That isn't true."

"Yes it is. I know what people think about me, you told me yourself. I am reckless and immature, there is no doubt about it. Forgive me if I wanted to escape it for a while."

"So your manner of escape was to gather your friends and… companion, and drag them all here?"

"I suppose I thought it would be the last place anyone would think to look for me."

Amidst Scott"s explanations and the jovial atmosphere of the gathering, a troubling thought took root in William"s mind.

Scott had no idea why he was truly there.

In that moment, he realized two things: his brother was going to find out that he would be a husband, in spite of his dismissal of the idea, and his mother had not been honest with them.

He knew that he needed to speak with his mother, and even though she was engaged in conversation with Miss Staunton he could not let her pretend that she wasn't keeping such a secret from her son.

"Yes, Your Grace?" Miss Staunton asked, "You seem perturbed."

"Mother," William said, immediately turning his attentions to her, "May I speak with you privately?"

Virginia looked up from her conversation with Olivia, clearly unimpressed at the interruption.

"Of course, William," she replied, "But Olivia is right, something seems wrong. Is everything alright?"

"It will be."

"Well, what is it?"

"It"s important," he replied, "Come along."

"We will not be long," Virginia said to Olivia, and William scoffed.

"Have I done something wrong, Your Grace?" Miss Staunton asked.

"You? Oh, no, not at all."

"So this has nothing to do with me?"

He winced. Of course it was to do with her, to do with her soon-to-be husband, but he couldn't tell her that. He did not want her to know that there was a problem. This was his problem to resolve, not hers.

So he did not answer. He knew that it wouldn't help the matter, but it was easier to be silent, and wait until his mother decided it was important enough to listen to him. At last, she rose from her seat and followed him into the hallway.

"What is it, William?" Virginia asked, "Poor Olivia is probably beside herself now. Has she done something?"

"No, of course not."

"Then why did you do that? She has been acting strangely this evening, and you are not helping."

"Do you know what is not helping?" He asked, exasperated, "Telling your son that he is required here urgently, only to conveniently leave out the reason why."

"William, I..."

"What is it, Mother? Do you not have anything to say to that?"

"You do not understand."

"You are certainly one to talk about hiding things. Miss Staunton does not know about this, and you have yourself to thank for that. How dare you talk of hiding things when you have done exactly that, and you plan to continue?"

"William, please, you mustn't be like this. I am only doing what I think is the best thing to do."

"Then why, pray tell, do you think it is a good idea to spring this on him later?"

"I haven"t told Scott about my plan because I wanted him to get to know Olivia first."

"But why?" William pressed, his tone tinged with skepticism, "Why keep it a secret from him? It is not as though he has any trouble with ladies."

"I didn"t want him to panic," she confessed, her voice barely above a whisper, "I thought it would be better for him to form his own opinion of Olivia before he learned of my intentions."

"As honorable as they are, is that what you mean to say?"

"William, are you aware of how you treated her when you first arrived? The poor girl has been through enough without Scott also arriving angry with her through no fault of her own."

He wanted to tell her that she was wrong about him, but of course he could not. He had been terrible to her when he first arrived, and only now was he being kind to her. He couldn't imagine what he might have been like if he had arrived knowing he was to be married to her.

"Fine," he huffed, "I see, but you are to tell Miss Staunton what you have done."

"But she will not like it!"

"In which case, what do you plan to do when she lets it slip to Scott herself? You want them to get to know each other. Have you not considered that?"

"Alright," she sighed, "I shall tell her in the morning. She shall be furious with me."

"She will understand, but you cannot let her go on not knowing."

"I know," she replied gently, "I really have missed having you around, William. I need someone to keep an eye on me, and to hold me accountable. I always could count on you for that."

His mother returned to the room, and William almost did not. It had been a long enough night, and he had lost any will to listen to his guests that he might have had, which was very little to begin with.

He did return, however, deciding that if he was completely dedicated to that evening, he would not need to make too much of an effort with his guests for the rest of their stay. He had done his part, especially given how insufferable he thought they were.

"Well, well, well, if it isn"t the new duke," one of them quipped.

Ah, exactly as he thought.

"And who might you be?"

"Do you not remember?"

"No, I cannot say that I do."

"Nonsense, of course you do. Everyone knows me."

He truly did not, but the gentleman was clearly so certain otherwise that he did not tell him his name. William made a note to ask Scott his name when he had a chance.

"You must be positively overjoyed about your father"s passing, I imagine," the gentleman said, seemingly deciding that if William did not wish to speak, he would do so himself.

"I assure you," he replied through gritted teeth, "My father"s passing was not a cause for celebration."

But the gentleman seemed undeterred by William"s response, even going so far as to laugh at him.

"Oh, come now, Duke. Surely you must be relieved to be rid of the old man"s shadow at last. Scott has told us all about him, and if you ask me I say good riddance to him."

"That"s enough," he said sharply.

He did not like his father, nor did he love him, but he disliked this gentleman practically dancing on his grave even more.

"I am only trying to lighten the mood."

"Well, you are not succeeding. I do not care what your opinion of my father is, and so do not give it to me."

"In which case, why don't you indulge me a little? What grand plans do you have for the dukedom now that you"re in charge? Have you finished fixing the mess left behind by… the last duke?"

He noticed Miss Staunton watching them, and he knew that he could not be unkind to him. No matter how irritated he was, he was also aware that this man was insignificant. Once he left, William would never see him again, and he was grateful for that, but he did not feel the need to burn a bridge that he would never need again, and so he steadied himself.

"I haven"t had much time to consider it," he replied, knowing what he was saying was untrue, "But I plan on improving my community and doing everything that I can for the people in my county."

The two gentlemen exchanged knowing glances at William"s response.

"Of course, of course," one of them replied, "And I"m sure you"ll do a splendid job. After all, it"s not like you have much to live up to. It would be more difficult to do worse."

He wanted to remain calm. He truly wanted to keep the peace. Unfortunately, they seemed to be enjoying testing him, but before he could intervene, Scott"s voice rang out.

"That"s enough," he declared firmly, "I won"t stand here and listen to you disparage my father"s memory any longer. If you have nothing respectful to say, then I suggest you hold your tongues."

The two gentlemen recoiled at Scott"s rebuke, their expressions shifting from amusement to discomfort and back again as they exchanged uneasy glances.

"You," Scott said firmly, pointing at William, "Outside."

William did not typically like being spoken to in such a manner, but he was rather proud of how his brother spoke to the two gentlemen and so he allowed it. Not only that but it was another opportunity to escape.

"I must say, Scott," William began as they stepped outside, "I"m impressed with how you handled those gentlemen. I do not know how you put up with them."

"This behavior of theirs is becoming more and more frequent," he admitted with a shrug, "And frankly, I"m growing tired of it. I rarely raise my voice around them, so I suppose it has more of an impact, that's all."

"I can only imagine how frustrating it must be," he replied, "But I must say, I have warned you to be careful with the company you keep."

"It has been noted, believe me. I just wish they"d show some respect," Scott sighed, "They have been friends of mine for a long time, but now I can hardly stand them."

"Then you ought to remember that there are many people that would love to be around you. If these people do not bring you joy, then find people that do. It is that easy."

"Thanks, Will," he said gently, "It means a lot to have your support. I only wish that I could have friends like yours. How are they?"

William then remembered that he had not notified his friends of his whereabouts. They would have likely noticed by now, and he could only imagine what they were thinking.

That would be a problem to handle at a later moment. For the moment, he was with his younger brother, and he was proud of him.

It was simply a shame that William had to lie to him