Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

L illy waited until after the wedding breakfast, held at the duke's townhouse not far from the church, to pull her mother aside. "You won't be going with me to Autumnwood Hall," she said, feeling satisfaction and relief but also sadness that she and her mother couldn't get along better. She loved her but had never felt as though her mother felt the same. "Hadrian has arranged a small townhouse and an allowance for you here in London."

Her mother blinked, then shook her head. "I don't understand. You will need me at Autumnwood Hall. Who will make certain the servants don't walk all over you?"

This comment made her guilt diminish significantly. What had she ever done to make her mother believe she was so incapable of achieving anything on her own? "I will take care of it myself, Mother. You may find it hard to believe, but I have had enough of your veiled insults and nastiness. My new life will be free of that."

"Free of me, you mean?" her mother asked indignantly.

"Yes," Lilly murmured, finding it hard not to wither beneath her mother's glare. "I'm sure you'll be much happier here, where you can still have a social life and no longer worry about marrying me off."

"You ungrateful..."

Hadrian suddenly appeared beside them, clasping Lilly's hand in his. "Careful," he said softly, his voice even more menacing because of its gentleness. "You're talking to my wife."

Lilly squeezed his fingers tightly, shocked and grateful that he had come to her defense.

Her mother gasped, the feathers on her hat vibrating with the force of her emotions. "You're just going to abandon me?" she whined, obviously deciding to change her tactics and paint Lilly and Hadrian as the villains. "What am I supposed to do?"

"I have arranged for you to be transported to your new home this evening. If you need anything that has not been provided, feel free to send word to me, and I'll accommodate you within reason," Hadrian replied calmly. "As Lilly said, you'll be far happier here in London."

Her mother looked as if she would like to protest more, but she must have realized that she needed to stay on Hadrian's good side to keep her situation. Or perhaps it had just occurred to her that she would be able to lord the fact that she had a home of her own and her daughter would one day be a duchess over her friends. In any event, she took a deep breath and turned on her heel, no doubt going to complain to anyone who would listen about her ungrateful daughter.

"Thank you," Lilly murmured. "No one has ever stood up for me like that before."

He gave her his most charming smile, the one that turned her to complete mush. "That's what husbands are for."

Dear Lord. She could get used to this.

"We need to talk," the duke told Hadrian soon after he and Lilly had dealt with her mother.

Hadrian frowned. "Can't it wait? I need to visit with our guests."

His father shook his head. "No, it cannot. Meet me in my study in ten minutes."

A bad feeling took root in the pit of Hadrian's stomach, but he smiled and greeted a few more people before making his way down to the center of his father's vast empire, a room he had rarely ever been allowed in, even as an adult. By the time he entered, his father already sat behind the large, teakwood desk, a stack of papers on the polished surface before him.

"What's this about?" Hadrian asked, sinking into the chair in front of the desk, his unease growing at the self-satisfied look on his father's face.

"Did you read the marriage contract?" the duke asked, tapping his finger on top of the papers.

"Of course," Hadrian answered, though the truth was that he had just signed where the family solicitor had instructed him to.

"I didn't think you did," his father said tightly. "If you had, I believe you might have protested the arrangement."

Hadrian cleared his throat, feeling like he was ten years old and had been caught in a lie. "What should I have protested?"

"Did you really think you were going to outsmart me? That you could take advantage of that poor girl's situation to stash her away at Autumnwood Hall and go about your business as though you had never wed?" his father asked bitingly. "Did you think I'd let you avoid your responsibilities, your duty to perpetuate our line, forever?"

"I had no intention—"

The duke held up his hand, giving him a withering glare. "Don't make things worse for yourself. I am disgusted enough with you as it is."

Hadrian fell silent, wondering why he had ever thought he could get away with this and dreading whatever his father was about to say.

"This contract obligates you to provide an heir as soon as possible," his father told him smugly. "You are to journey to Autumnwood Hall with Lady Lilliana and stay there until you do so. While there, you are to learn from the estate manager and begin to take the reins of the estate. I have given you plenty of time to sow your wild oats and have your fun. But you are an Oakfield, for God's sake. It is time you started acting like one."

"You can't expect me to rusticate in the country for months!" Hadrian protested, aghast at the very idea.

The duke flipped the pile of papers to a page about halfway in and tapped a paragraph that outlined what would happen to him if he did not do what the previous pages must have outlined. With a sinking heart, Hadrian discovered he would be cut off entirely and not allowed to stay in any of the family homes.

"I told myself that if you showed up breathing fire about my highhanded ways, we could discuss the matter like adults," the duke said with a shake of his head. "But you did not even read it. Something as important as your marriage contract, and you could not be bothered to even skim through it. And I am supposed to leave you a dukedom? Good Lord, Hadrian! You should never sign anything without reading it!"

Hadrian sunk lower in his seat, shamed and embarrassed. "I assumed you had my best interests at heart," he managed, knowing how pathetic that sounded. "I thought if you had signed off on it, I should too."

"You asked for stipulations for your bride and her mother. What if I had left those out? It would be too late now to change it."

"Did you?" he asked, his guilt intensifying at the realization that he might have failed Lilly as well as himself with his carelessness.

"No. I provided for them as you asked," the duke muttered. "Because I have the honor it seems you lack."

"So, you're forcing me to go to Autumnwood Hall right now?" Hadrian asked, feeling as though he had been punched in the gut.

"I'm not forcing you to do a damned thing," the duke snapped. "If you do not like the terms of the contract you signed, you're free to walk out the door and live your life on your own terms. I am certain your experience with gambling and whoring will open many doors for you. But if you do, I am done with you, son. I will cut you off, and I won't feel one bit bad about it."

The tone of his father's voice was different than any Hadrian had ever heard before. No anger, just total apathy. With a sinking heart, Hadrian realized how close his father was to truly turning him out. And as he had pointed out, the son of a duke was woefully unprepared for life without his father's money.

"You'd like that, wouldn't you?" Hadrian said in a shaking voice. "The chance to turn me out without guilt?"

His father merely stared at him in disgust.

"I'll go to Autumnwood Hall," Hadrian said numbly because he didn't have any other choice.

The duke nodded sharply. "Good. And Hadrian, don't you dare make a mockery of this marriage. Lady Lilliana may have been forced to agree to this union, but that doesn't mean you get to treat her poorly. You will honor your vows and responsibilities as a husband."

Hadrian clenched his jaw, realizing that this time he deserved his father's disappointment. "I understand."

With a dismissive wave, the duke indicated that the meeting was over.