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“I know it was difficult for you.”
“Just don’t fall into the same situation, Aidan,” Jerry warned. “It is alright for the dowager, and the ton, to instruct you on whom you should marry and why. However, it isn’t them who have to sit opposite the breakfast table with their spouse. It isn’t them who have to go to bed with their spouse and try to create the next generation. It isn’t them who have to face the endless round of arguments; or the stoic silences when the relationship becomes unbearable. Take it from me; you are a fool if you listen to any of them.”
“Does the dowager keep going on at you to remarry? I thought that matter was settled between you.”
“I just won’t allow it to be discussed. She has turned her attention to getting you married first. I have no doubt that as soon as she has ensnared you with one of her selections she will turn her rather dubious attention on me. I have no intention of every marrying anyone else of her choosing, and I don’t care if she casts me out or not.”
“She cannot cast you out. She is the dowager. You own the house and lands now,” Aidan reported.
“Yes, but she is a terrible g
ossip who isn’t averse to using society to cast aspersions on anyone, even us. She has tried that tactic on more than one occasion as you know. I have no doubt she will use whatever tactic she can to bully, entrap, or coerce me into matrimony again.” Jerry looked quite frankly at him. “She just hasn’t got a hope in hell of ever succeeding with me.”
“I wondered why you had taken to staying in the country.”
“I hate the aristocracy, and everything it stands for,” Jerry grumbled.
“I completely agree with your sentiments,” Aidan sighed.
They were interrupted by a quiet knock on the door. Aidan frowned. Usually, neither Petal nor Rollo bothered.
“Enter.”
An unknown servant appeared in the doorway and looked hesitantly at them as she bobbed a curtsey.
“You rang, sir?”
“Where’s Petal?”
“We have swapped duties, sir. My name is Aggy. I am to take over the upstairs work for a while,” she reported.
Aidan stared at her in disbelief. At first, he was coldly furious, but that was quickly replaced with concern.
“Where is Petal? Is she alright? What’s happened to her?” He threw a dark look at Jerry, who lifted his brows askance at him. “Who the devil are you?”
“I am Aggy, sir. I am the downstairs maid, sir.”
“Does Rollo know about this?”
“Yes, sir. It was Rollo’s idea, sir.”
“Where is Petal?”
“She is downstairs, sir.”
“Does Edwards have anything to do with this?” His voice became crisper the more his temper began to bubble.
“Edwards, sir?” The maid looked confused.
Aidan threw a dark look at Jerry. “All of this siring is driving me crazy.”
He glared at Aggy, who looked utterly terrified. “Get me Rollo.”
Aggy scurried out of the door without a backward look.
“You terrified her,” Jerry chided. “Petal wouldn’t be that scared. I rather suspect she would have put you in your place.”
“I know what this is about,” Aidan grumbled.
