William scoffed. “I should have known you would take his side,” he grumbled.
“I’m not siding with anyone,” Harred said. “All of these negotiations should have been done before you married Ruth. That way there would have been no surprises when it came time to collect her dowry.”
Tossing his hands up in the air, William asked, “Do you truly wish to rub it in? Don’t you think I have suffered enough?”
“What, pray tell, have you suffered?”
“I married someone far beneath me and now I am dealing with the consequences of it,” William declared, his voice rising.
Harred glanced over his shoulder before he lowered his voice. “Do keep quiet. What if Ruth overhears you say such a thing?”
“Perhaps she would convince her father to release her dowry to me. It is the least she could do since I married her and elevated her status in high Society.”
“You are an idiot,” Harred muttered.
“On that note, I am leaving for the evening,” William said as he turned to leave.
Harred was done with his brother’s disreputable behavior. If William didn’t have enough sense to be a decent husband,then he would force him to do so. “You are not going anywhere,” he asserted.
William narrowed his eyes. “I beg your pardon?”
Advancing towards him, Harred replied, “Until you receive Ruth’s dowry, you are still dependent on me and I expect you to take care of your wife. If you don’t, I will not give you one farthing.”
“What would you have me do?” William asked. “Should I pretend to care about Ruth when I know nothing about her?”
“Have you even made an effort to get to know her?”
“Why should I?” William demanded. “By marrying her, I was supposed to be rich. Now I’m in the same position I was in before but with a wife in tow.”
“That was by your own doing. You have always acted too impulsively for your own good. If you had only thought through the repercussion of your actions—”
William cut him off. “I do not need a lecture from you. Not now! Not ever!”
Harred was not about to be dismissed by his brother. He drew himself up to his full height and his next words brokered no argument. “If you want to remain in my townhouse for another day, you will go upstairs and invite your wife to the ball this evening.”
“Yes, because the soiree was such a rousing success,” William mocked.
“Ruth needs to be out in Society, and often. Furthermore, her devoted husband needs to be by her side,” Harred said. “You made your choice by marrying her. It is time you at least attempt to do the honorable thing.”
William glared at him. “Father would never have threatened to remove me from our family home.”
“I am not Father, am I?” Harred asked in a stern voice. “I am doing things my own way from now on.”
Harred held William’s irate gaze, knowing his brother was trying to see if he was bluffing. But he wasn’t. Octavia wasright. He had tried too long and hard to be like his father. It was time that he acted more like himself and carved his own path.
William must have sensed his determination because he dropped his gaze. “Fine, you win. I will see if Ruth is even interested in attending a ball this evening.”
“That is the right thing to do.”
“Is it?” William asked as he brushed past him.
Harred turned on his heel and watched as his brother ascended the stairs. He didn’t feel bad for William, not one bit. His brother had rushed into a marriage to prove a point, but now he was dealing with the consequences that came from his actions.
Mitchell stepped out of a side room and informed him, “Your coach is readied and is out front, my lord.”
“Thank you,” Harred acknowledged.
As he stepped out of the townhouse, he saw Steven was standing next to the coach with a tool in his hand.
