Chapter 17

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

“ W hat is the meaning of this?” the Dowager Duchess demanded furiously.

Aaron forced himself to remain calm, more concerned with Selina’s well-being and salvaging their reputations than the wrath of his stepmother.

“It is not what you think. We were merely discussing —”

“Discussing what? Do you think we are fools? What could have been so important that you both had to sneak away to speak in private? While the woman you are actively courting is under the same roof? How could you be so selfish?” Bridget snapped angrily.

Aaron could see the situation quickly slipping out of control as the guests began to whisper amongst themselves. At the same time, Eleanor stood silently with a red face.

“We were merely talking,” the Duke insisted with a cold glare that had Bridget looking nervous. He was frustrated that this had to happen just as he had gotten so close to what he wanted — to whom he wanted.

As Aaron prepared to dismiss them all, he noticed Selina and her father slipping away in the chaos, the lines of her shoulders weighed down by humiliation.

All at once, Aaron felt every ounce of anger and frustration he had been holding all evening bubble up to the surface, and for once, he didn’t care to smother the flames of his wrath.

“Everyone, get out. Now!”

The guests fell silent, staring at him in shock.

“I assume that no one among you is hard of hearing, seeing as you were all chattering eagerly moments ago, absorbed in your latest gossip. You can do that away from my property. The party is over; I appreciate your presence. Now leave,” Aaron reiterated.

Sensing that he was in no mood to jest and was quite serious, the guests began to file out of the library.

“Sending them away will not change what you’ve done. You have soiled —”

“That’s enough out of you, as well,” he snapped, cutting the Bridget off. “One more word out of you, and I will make sure you regret it for the rest of your miserable life.”

Bridget fell silent, and Aaron inhaled deeply, opting to tackle one problem at a time in order of priority.

He approached Eleanor, who hadn’t left when the others did, hoping he sounded remorseful despite the feeling of urgency in his bones.

“I understand what this looks like, and I deeply apologize for putting you through this. If I had been clearer, more honest, perhaps this wouldn’t have happened. I am sorry, Lady Eleanor. I promise I will explain all of this later, but for now, you must return to your home.”

He looked back at Bridget, who was staring at him as though she did not recognize the man before her.

“Stay there. I will deal with you in a moment,” he ordered in a tone that left no room for arguments before leaving the library, despite Bridget’s protests.

Please, he thought as he walked to the front of the house. Please still be here. Don’t go.

But because it seemed nothing was working out in his favor, by the time he arrived outside, Selina’s carriage and her along with it were gone.

Aaron stood there, overcome with regret, anger, and disappointment, all of which he was to blame.

If only he had been more honest, more forward about what he truly felt and wanted, perhaps things wouldn’t have ended this way.

Wearily, he returned inside, confronted by his stepmother almost immediately.

“What have you done, Aaron? You claim to be a gentleman, yet you are involved in a suspicious situation in your own home? I thought you were really as smart and as proper as you claimed to be, but look what you have done to us both! I should have known a bastard like you would be our undoing in the end.”

Something in Aaron broke open, and years of silence faded away, replaced by the urge to put an end to this cycle of disrespect, once and for all.

“Watch your tone. You have wagged your tongue without care for the last time, and henceforth, you will reap what you have sown. Everything is in my name, and you have nothing. You will do as I say or face the consequences.”

Bridget stared at him, shock written all over her face as she sputtered in disbelief. “How dare you? Just who do you think you are, you arrogant —”

“I know you did this.”

She quieted down when he spoke.

Aaron fixed his angry gaze on her, voice cold and quiet as he continued, “Did you think I didn’t notice you watching me as I left the table? For all your feelings of superiority, you are quite lacking when it comes to subtlety. Not to mention you decided to take the guests on a tour without informing me first. You said nothing about a tour before the dinner began, and you failed to mention it after when I was still at the table. I know you authored this scandal on purpose.”

He gave her a moment to defend herself or deny his claims, but she merely stayed silent, telling him all he needed to know and making him even angrier.

“Orchestrating my humiliation is one thing, but it is an entirely different story to involve an innocent woman — two , actually, because Lady Eleanor is going to suffer from your mistakes as well. And I am done putting up with your insults and complaints. Henceforth, you will no longer live in this house.”

That was likely the very first time he saw her facade crack.

“What?”

Aaron inhaled shakily, the throb in his chest reminding him of the burdens he had shouldered alone for so long.

“I did my very best. I went above and beyond to prove my worth. To prove that I did not just come to take the title because I was given the name as well. I spent my life trying to be perfect, working to put my duty above all else. I was always right by father’s desk every day, learning whatever I could — even though I was sickly as a child. I did all of that just to prove that I was worthy of being his heir. And that ends now. I have nothing left to prove, not to anyone and certainly not to you.”

It felt freeing to release all the weight he had carried for both himself and the woman who had chosen to ignore the fact that he had no say in the manner of his birth and had gone right ahead to punish him for it.

She seemed to realize he was serious, and her expression turned apologetic.

“Aaron — Aaron, let’s not get hasty over a simple misunderstanding. I was wrong. I am sorry, Aaron —”

“It is far too late. You are years too late for this last-ditch attempt to be better. I have no interest in your or your affairs, and I do not need your problems in my house. The last favor I will do for you is letting you stay in one of the family estates in the countryside. But that is under the conditions that you apologize to Lady Selina.”

“Aaron…” Bridget gasped in shock.

Aaron shook his head at her, determined to stick to his decision.

He turned away from her and began to walk off, saying as he put some distance between them, “Those are my terms. You will do what I ask, and then you will never set foot in London again.”

“I do not wish to speak about it, father.”

Jerome inhaled deeply in a bid to curb his anger.

“Selina, my dear petal, please help me understand. You claim nothing happened. He said it was not what it had looked like. Despite that, what we saw tells a different story. You both were alone in a room with the door closed. And whether or not anything happened, you have been ruined. The only thing we can do now is attempt to spin the story in our favor.”

Selina groaned in exasperation.

“There is nothing to spin , father. Nothing happened. I was in the library, and he happened to walk in, and we began to talk. That was all.”

Selina was simply tired at this point.

She understood the implications of what had transpired at the Crauford estate.

And frankly, it was a truly terrifying thing to face.

But she was so tired. She had been exhausted for weeks, running around in a bid to forget that she had wanted someone who would never come to want her.

And tonight, she had been forced face to face with the object of her affection, forced to reconcile herself with the fact that the man she had hated at first and grown to love would belong to another soon.

So, truly, she couldn’t be blamed for not wanting to face every single problem on her plate currently.

“But Selina —”

“Do you trust me, father?” she asked softly.

He paused then he nodded. She smiled at him gently and held onto his hands.

“Then believe me when I say that I will be just fine. I know that you are worried about me. You fear that I might end up alone and unloved. I assure you that as long as I live and breathe, I will be just fine.”

Jerome hesitated, then he said, “I am sorry I cannot do more for you, my dear.”

Selina felt her heart break at the sight of her father in dismay.

“Father, no. Please do not feel this way —”

“I wish I were stronger. Then I could have taken you to more events. You would have attended more balls and made friends, at least, rather than devoting your time to care for your sickly father. I feared that I started it… I ruined your life first. I am sorry, Selina,” Jerome said, voice hoarse.

Selina shook her head, rapidly blinking back tears.

“Father, no. This was not your doing at all. This is not your fault. I do not blame you for anything. Neither do I feel as though I have missed out on much or made sacrifices for the sake of caring for you. I would do it all again without a second thought because you are my father, and I love you. You have been so kind to me — even now as I have ruined our family’s reputation, you have been nothing but understanding and caring towards me. There is nothing I would rather be doing in place of this — being here to grant you comfort however I can.”

Jerome smiled at his daughter and let out a watery laugh as she embraced him. Selina clung to her father, soaking up every bit of comfort his hold and scent gave her.

No matter how scary or uncertain the future was, she would be fine as long as she had her family.

“I’m sorry to call on you so early. I have to be elsewhere soon, and I do not wish to do things out of order.”

The woman seated across from Aaron had an open expression, as always, her demeanor calm and collected.

“As expected of you, Your Grace. Even now, you are still so kind and noble,” she said quietly.

Aaron shook his head a little.

“If I had been truly so noble, things wouldn’t have gotten this far. You wouldn’t have been pulled into this fiasco if I had been honest about my feelings. If I had been kinder to her ,” he stated tiredly.

Eleanor nodded slowly.

“So there is someone else. You are in love with another woman.”

Aaron was getting tired of being so transparent to others except the one person his heart yearned for.

“Yes. I never expected to fall in love with her. But I suppose that is the thing with love, isn’t it? It carries no warnings but manifests when one least expects it. Of all the people I imagined I could be with, I never would have guessed that she would be the one I would want. I still don’t understand it, not completely. But I still wish to do right by her. And I cannot do that when she believes I am courting another. Not when I haven’t ended our courtship either.”

Aaron had felt a little out of his mind as he set out today. All he had was a general scheme he had put together, taking with him more hope than anything else on whether or not he would succeed.

He didn’t know if the odds were in his favor. But he had to try.

Because Selina was worth it.

Eleanor sighed with a nod.

“I understand. While I am a little disappointed, I was not interested in you because I had feelings for you, Your Grace. So, it is all right; I am fine with ending things between us here, like this.”

Aaron sighed in relief, thankful that at least one thing on his agenda had carried a bit of ease.

“Thank you. And I am sorry, again. I know that what happened last night will bear some consequences, and we both have an idea on what they might be. Perhaps I could be of assistance to you in some way — whatever I can do to at least attempt to make up for the pain you were granted,” he stated apologetically.

Eleanor shook her head gracefully.

“There are worst things in life than being referred to as ‘ one who nearly became a Duchess’ . Ultimately I will learn to grit my teeth and bear it as I have much more. Do not trouble yourself, Your Grace.”

Aaron might not say it out loud, but he greatly respected Eleanor. While their conversations had lulled because he missed Selina immensely, he couldn’t deny that she was far more intelligent than he had given her credit for.

“Still, I insist. Let me owe you a favor at least — one you can request at any time in the future. Please.”

Eleanor sighed then she nodded. “All right, Your Grace. You may owe me a favor to be used at any point in the future.”

“Good. I wish you all the best,” Aaron told her honestly, rising to his feet to leave.

“And I, you.” She smiled up at him. “I really do hope that you both are happy together — whoever she is. I hope that that she is better suited to you than I could’ve hoped to be. And I do hope she is a woman who wouldn’t mind raising a bit of hell on your behalf.”

“That… does sound like her, my goodness,” Aaron said with a gasp, as if he’d only just now considered the implications of wanting to be with such a dangerous woman.

“Good luck,” Eleanor laughed, looking the most relaxed since Aaron had arrived.

He meant it when he told her, “You too.”

Selina had decided at some point during her stressed tossing and turning the night before that it would be in her best interest to get away from her house for a while.

She would go to Thalia’s estate, visit her new nephew, and spend some days there soaking up love and affection before she could consider facing her problems.

Jerome had easily accepted her suggestion, so all Selina had to do was prepare her things to leave.

She wished to depart early in the morning, so she did all she could to ensure she was all set in time for her trip.

“Goodbye father.” She kissed her father’s cheek and walked to the door, excited to see her sister again.

But then she opened the door, and standing at her doorstep was the Duke of Crauford.