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Chapter 51
‘What do you think you’re doing?’ Carys had found Oliver in his rooms in the Hall, packing two suitcases.
He glanced over his shoulder. ‘Leaving – what does it look like?’
Carys stared at his back as he continued to pack. ‘You can’t leave. What about Somerville Hall?’
‘What about it?’
‘This is your home.’
‘No, it isn’t.’
Carys carried on watching him pack, trying to figure out what to say to make him stay. ‘This doesn’t change anything. I won’t let it.’
Oliver zipped up his suitcases and turned around. ‘It’s not up to you, is it?’
‘I’ll speak to Daddy.’
‘I’m not his son, Carys. Nothing you say is going to change that fact. He will have a grandson. The family line won’t be broken.’
‘What about me? What am I going to do without you?’
‘Hugh will take care of you. But if you need money, I have some savings.’
Carys shook her head. ‘Where will you go?’
‘I’m going to stay with my father.’
‘Albert?’
‘Yes.’
‘Oh, Oliver, if I’d known how this would play out when I agreed to do a DNA test …’
Oliver picked up his suitcases and walked over to where Carys was standing in the doorway. ‘Carys, it’s not your fault. You know, it’s a shame primogeniture is so … last century. You would have made a far better Lord Somerville than me. I know you could do those accounts standing on your head. You were always the smart one. I know why you hired Abigail – my match-making, beautiful, meddling sister … cousin.’
Tears rolled down Carys’s face. ‘You’ve lost everything!’
Oliver held up his two suitcases. ‘I have all I need right here.’
She frowned at him as she followed him down the stairs to the vast entrance hall.
‘I still can’t believe you’re going to give up all this without a fight, Oliver.’
He turned around to face her. ‘Do you want to know a secret?’
‘What is it?’
‘I’ve never told anyone, but all this …’ He swept his gaze around the grand entrance hallway. ‘It’s never what I wanted. I did it out of duty. I had to. Now, I’m free.’
‘But you stormed out with me when you found out about the baby. You thought she was after the Hall.’
‘I wasn’t angry about the Hall.’
‘Because of the baby?’
‘She should have told me.’
