CHAPTER 34
“Of all the pig-headed, mule-stubborn, goose-brained, ridiculous fools I have ever known—and I had to endure a dance with the Viscount Deerborne—youare the king of idiots!”
The voice cut sharply across the rear lawns, where Philip and Zachary were foil to foil in a rather vigorous fencing bout. Indeed, there was just one point between them, and Philip was not in a losing mood. He did not want the distraction of his sister roaring insults for all to hear.
“Donotignore me!” Lizzy barked, striding down the grassy slope to the flat patch where the gentlemen had decided to challenge one another.
Zachary used the opportunity, lunging forward and driving the blunted tip of the foil into Philip’s chest. Philip attempted to parry it too late, his patience fraying to mere fibers as he whirled around to greet whatever complaint his sister had now.
“To what do I owe the displeasure of this interruption?” he asked tersely.
He had not been himself since leaving Selina’s room, which felt like an eternity ago. He knew she had not left that room since, and though he had thought about knocking a thousand times, he had refrained.
She had asked for time to think. She had asked him to leave. He had not wanted to make matters worse by intruding, nor did he think he would be able to comply if she tried to send him away again.
“Oh, I think you know very well why I am calling you a pig-headed idiot!” Lizzy ranted, coming to a breathless halt, her hands on her hips.
Zachary cast Philip an amused look, but Philip was anything but entertained.
“Is this something I should stay for?” Zachary asked.
Lizzy shot him a cold look. “Stay or go, it does not matter to me. It does not matter to me who hears this. Indeed, maybe youshouldstay, so you can help me in telling my brother that he is the greatest dolt in Christendom!”
She has spoken to Selina.
Philip knew it in the depths of his heart. It was right there in the fierce loyalty that shone in his sister’s eyes. These were the words and actions of someone angry on her friend’s behalf.
“This is none of your concern, Lizzy,” he said sternly.
“None of my concern?” she blustered, puce with rage. “It isentirelymy concern when you have put my friend in this position. She will be ruined publicly if she breaks off the engagement, and she will be ruined personally if she stays in a marriage with a husband who will not give her children! So, I repeat, you are being a pigheaded idiot!”
Zachary turned his back and pretended to clean his foil, no longer so obviously amused.
“Has she asked you to speak on her behalf?” Philip asked.
Lizzy glanced back over her shoulder, her jerky movements rife with guilt. “No, but?—”
“Then it is between me and her,” he interrupted. “I will not explain myself to you.”
Lizzy’s eyes burned, her hands balled into fists at her sides. “IknowI was lucky, Brother. IknowI was fortunate to be raised by Grandmama instead ofhim. IknowI can’t even begin to understand what you suffered, how cruel he was to you, and though I am aware we are not close, I have never thought youto be anything like him. You have never been cruel. That is, not until now.”
“Pardon?” Ice laced Philip’s voice.
“If you remain stuck in the past, seeking revenge on ghosts instead of looking toward a future with Selina, then you are being cruel to yourself, and you are being cruel to her,” Lizzy replied fervently. “If you deny her this dream and force her to break off this engagement, you are being cruel indeed. You are feeding her to the wolves.”
Philip shook his head. With all the preparations that had been ongoing within Ashbrook Manor, he had assumed that Selina at least intended to proceed with the wedding. Yet this was the second time his sister had mentioned his bride breaking off the engagement.
“She means to cancel the wedding?” he asked, his chest sore and tight in a way he could not explain.
“If you continue with this idiotic notion of denying her children, then yes,” Lizzy replied. “Yes, she does. For reasons I cannot fathom, I believe she likes you very much, and this will break her. But she will do it if she has to.”
Philip pressed his knuckles to his chest, trying to push out the unease. “She doesn’t understand about our father. She doesn’t understand what might be hiding in my blood.”
“She does understand,” Lizzy shot back. “And even if she didn’t, it is ridiculous. Forget about that twisted old devil. He cannot hurt anyone now, butyouare letting him hurt Selina.”
Philip flinched inwardly. Was that really what he was doing? Was he allowing his father to hurt the woman he cared for, the only thing he had cared for in a very long time, even though the wretch was dead and buried?
“Think of whatyourchildren could be like,” Lizzy continued. “Children with Selina’s eyes and wit, sneaking into your study to steal books or running through these gloomy hallways, filling each one with laughter for once! Children who will change this place from a mausoleum to a… well, it might be a circus, but at least it would be a thing of joy!”
