Page 6 of The Duke’s Wager

In fact, she turned away with the smallest of sighs, and when she turned back to him, the disappointment in her eyes was evident.

“Edward… I am not going to even begin to talk about the company the pair of you offer one another. I will say this, however. These visits and both your and Lady Margaret’s ‘need for company’… is getting a bit too frequent.”

Edward opened his mouth to speak, but Evelyn held her hand up to silence him. Gone was his grandmother, and in her place stood the matriarch of the Lockhart family, the stern Duchess of Hartford.

“The staff is beginning to gossip, my grandson and I do not appreciate being fodder for their idle minds. And before you say that they are talking about you, not me… I would like to remind you that I am the one who raised you. My good name is attached to yours.”

Edward could only nod at this, but it was seemingly far from enough.

“I realize that I cannot expect you to end things with this woman, but I can ask you to be discreet.”

Edward exhaled. He could not care less about his good name or what the servants were gossiping about. In all honestly, he did not really care much for the Lockhart name, especially as he had no desire to pass it on.

Evelyn continued speaking before Edward could even get the opportunity to open his mouth. “If not for your own sake, then for mine… I know you do not care about being gossip fodder, but I still do. And I ask that you respect me enough to care about my name, even if you are intent on throwing away your own.”

There was not much to say. She left no room for argument, and in truth, Edward wanted to leave and get to the gentleman’s club where he could drown his sorrows.

“Yes, grandmother. Of course. I will be more discreet.”

He had hoped that his words would pacify her, but by the looks of it, she was everything but.

“Edward, you know that you have responsibilities. With your parents… not with us, rest their souls, the dukedom falls to you. Your grandfather and I…” She hesitated and sighed deeply. “We are not getting any younger, and we will not live forever. The Lockhart family and all it means is soon going to be yours.”

Edward’s stomach dropped. He hated talking about his parents, or even thinking about them. He still missed them every single day, but on most days he was able to suppress the emotions that arose within him.

When others spoke about them out of the blue, such as now, his emotions got overwhelming. It was worsened by the idea of losing his grandmother and grandfather. They were all that he had left, and he did not want to entertain the thought of losing them even for a second.

In truth, it terrified him.

“Edward?” Evelyn looked at him worriedly. Clearly, he had not managed to hide his turbulent emotions well at all.

“Don’t worry, grandmother. Please. Everything is going to be fine… you will see.”

Evelyn shook her head, the worry still evident in her eyes. Edward leaned forward and pressed a kiss to her forehead.

“I will be discreet. I promise.”

She suddenly seemed older – and quite frail – as she watched him. A part of Edward wondered what it was he was doing with his life, but he could not allow himself to get pulled into his turbulent emotions. He was not ready to explore what it all meant.

She nodded and waved him away quietly. The tired picture of his grandmother bothered him as he climbed into his carriage. The thought was soon replaced by his parents once he passed the cemetery where they had been laid to rest.

The truth of his mother’s death still haunted him. His father, who had loved her beyond all reason, had been devastated – or so they said. Edward had been but an infant when she had died, but in time he had learned from those around him that the loss of his mother was paired with the loss of all anyone had known about his father.

William Lockhart disappeared when his wife died and in his place was a weeping drunk.

He had wanted his father to comfort him. Instead, William had mostly left him to his own devices and if it had not been for his grandmother, Edward did not know what would have become of him.

In the years after his mother’s death, the house had turned into something akin to a mausoleum. He had been a frail, terrified young boy who only found a whiskey-induced glaze in his father’s eyes, rather than the love he so desperately sought.

That love he eventually found in Evelyn. The strict woman had taken the scared young boy under her wing. She took care of him when he was at his most vulnerable. And now that she was becoming vulnerable, Edward feared that he was little more than a disappointment to her.

He was terrified of losing her, but he had no idea how to communicate that to her. As much as she spent time comforting him, teaching him, and raising him, Evelyn was not an overly emotional woman. She would not accept that her callous mention of her impending death had sent a terrifying chill down Edward’s spine.

He could not even begin to imagine a world without her.

If he allowed himself to think about it, he would vividly remember how he had cried in the darkness of the kitchen one evening in his youth. His father had been drinking all day, and on that occasion, it had made him cruel. Perhaps Edward resembled his mother too much and it brought up painful memories; perhaps he was merely an easy target; perhaps he resented Edward for having taken her. Either way, the man had chased him out of his study with jarring ferocity, and the boy had fled to the kitchen, where he had sat in the dark for what felt like hours.

It was his grandmother who had found him there, and to his utter surprise, she took a seat next to him. They did not speak – emotions and tears were not easily discussed in the house. Instead, she merely sat there, and later she offered him a cup of tea. After that, when his tears had dried up, she said,