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Dammit! Back to the security of the mother hen, who would protect her daughter
and force her to marry the right man. At least the right man in her mother’s opinion. Not necessarily suitable for Emma.
Did she think that would stop him?
Not this time.
And perhaps the first step would be to remove her from her mother’s influence. He needed a plan.
He turned around and walked back upstairs, fighting the exhaustion that tried to knock him back. At least this morning, he’d been able to walk down the stairs and make it halfway up before feeling out of breath.
“Raymond, please send coffee to my room.”
“Of course, sir.”
Simon walked up the remaining steps and then hurled open the door to her bedchamber. Seeing the two letters on the bed, he picked up them both and returned to his room. He sat down at the desk and opened the one with his name.
He read the note in confusion. Why did Emma care if he sold Hell? Her letter said she couldn’t let him sell his business after he’d built it into something so grand.
Grand?
Hell was just a gaming hell. Perhaps a little more fashionable than some of the others, but still, he catered mostly to bored gentlemen spending more money than they should. Vice. Pure and simple.
Could she really think he would want her anywhere near it?
Or perhaps, she only used it as an excuse because she wanted a man with a title. Seeing how she’d stayed with him the past week and her words of love, he assumed she was over the idea of marrying a lord. Maybe he’d been wrong. Perhaps she hadn’t changed at all.
One thing she was about to learn was nothing stopped him when he had his mind set. Hearing her tell him she loved him had set his course. She would understand what made him a successful man: Determination.
He was not about to live his life without her.
“Simon, are you awake?”
“Come in, Duchess.”
Louisa swept into the room with a scowl on her face. “Raymond told me she left.”
Remembering how she conspired with Emma over leaving Worth Hall, he had to ask, “Did you know?”
Louisa’s face fell. “No, Simon. Now that I know you both love each other, I would never have let her leave.”
Simon blew out a long breath. He believed her.
Louisa paced the room. “What is wrong with her, Simon? She loves you. Why can’t she forget about what Mamma wants for her?”
Simon held up the note for her. “I’m not sure that is the issue. Read your note and let me know what she told you.”
Louisa grabbed the paper and tore it open. Her blue eyes widened as she read the missive. Slowly, she started to giggle, which turned into a great laugh.
“What the bloody hell is so funny?”
She looked over at him with tears in her eyes from chortling. “She thinks Hell is the only thing you have. If you sell it, you will be left with nothing and have nowhere to live. Even with the ten thousand from Harry, living in town is so dreadfully expensive that once the money was gone, you’d come to hate her.”
Simon chuckled. “Does she have no idea what the duke left me? And about the house in Berkeley Square. And the house in Kent. I could keep her in silks for the rest of her life.”
“No, she most likely doesn’t know. But I don’t think she’s concerned about herself, only you. She also fears you will have no purpose in life without Hell.”
Simon relaxed for the first time since watching Emma walk out the door. Warmth spread from his heart to his entire body. He couldn’t remember the last time someone cared for him, much less loved him.
