CHAPTER 29
James
“She’s gone, then,” Gideon said as he settled in the drawing room at James’s townhouse a few days later.
“Yes,” James confirmed. “She has gone. I have made inquiries about how to secure an annulment, but I have not yet decided on the best way forward.”
“But she does not want it,” Gideon pointed out.
“She will want it in due course. She is utterly miserable, according to my aunt.”
“As are you, by the looks of it.”
“I am quite all right,” James insisted.
Of course, that wasn’t true. He had barely slept for a week and a half, what with thoughts of Frances haunting him at all hours. And whenever he wasn’t thinking of her, he thought of his brother.
He brought nothing but misery to the people around him.
“And Somerset Trust?” Gideon asked, clearly trying to steer the conversation elsewhere.
“I have requested a meeting when I return to the country. I will explain to them that I should not have had to go to the lengths of finding a wife—fake or otherwise—to appease them, and that the estate’s success since I have taken over should speak for itself. If not, I will sell this place. I will sell every painting and candlestick I have to get out from under their thumb. I should’ve done so from the beginning. I was stupid and prideful not to.”
“It would be easier if you had not pushed away the one woman who knows your darkest secret and still chose to remain married to you. If you’d let her.” Gideon drawled, “If I were Somerset Trust, I would call the loan just because you are such an unreasonable idiot.”
“Thank you,” James said bitterly.
“That’s what friends are here for. To tell you the truth when you cannot see it and?—”
“Excuse me, Your Grace,” Franklin called from the doorway. “Your godmother is here again.”
James frowned and got up. He met his godmother in the foyer and was glad not to see the fury he had the last time they had spoken. There was no anger in her eyes. Although there was something else that was even more concerning. Determination. The look she always got when she had an idea that was going to result in him doing something he didn’t want.
“James,” she greeted. “Oh, and Lord Ashford. I am unsure if it is good or bad that you are also here. We shall have to see. Come into the drawing room and sit.”
She was already acting as if this were her own house. Still, James followed her like an obedient little boy, as did Gideon. The two of them sat down on the settee, while she marched up and down like a schoolmistress.
“Aunt Eugenia, what brings you here? Is something the matter with Frances?” he asked.
“Indeed, there is something the matter with Frances. Her father is coming today. We wrote him a letter to let him know of the developments, and he has come to, in all likelihood, take her back to Bedfordshire.”
“He cannot do that,” James protested. “She is not his to command, is she now? She is still a duchess.”
“Yes, but for how much longer? He knows that you intend to have the marriage annulled. No doubt he also understands that you will pay her a substantial sum, whether she wants it or not. And no doubt he has his eyes on it.”
“Well, that is not his money to have,” he huffed.
“Well, technically, it will be,” Gideon piped up. “She will be unwed once more. And while legally speaking, she could own property, you know as well as I that her father would have considerable influence over how she manages it. He would pressure her, control her access to it.”
“Well,” James raised his hands, “what can I do? I cannot allow this to happen. The property is hers. The trust is hers.”
“A woman cannot own property that easily,” Aunt Eugenia said, her tone matter-of-fact. “The same is true of money. He will try his very best to get his hands on it. I doubt he is trying to enrich himself. It is likely his wretched wife. Regardless, they will do their best to turn a fortune. They always know how to make a situation benefit them. But that is not truly why I am concerned. I can keep the money in my account. I am more concerned about her well-being. They will attempt to take her back to Bedfordshire, and even if they fail to do that, it will surely be a less-than-pleasant encounter.”
“What can I do?” James asked.
“You can come with me, and you can take responsibility. They will try to blame her and cast a bad light upon her, make it soundas though she made a mistake. It must be made clear to them that it is you. It is all you. Your decision. You are the one who presents the problem in this marriage.”
Gideon chuckled beside him. “I always thought your aunt was most astute, most magnificent.”
