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Oliver tightened his hold on his glass at the sound of his wife’s name. “I will be sure to inform Baldwin that you are looking for him.”
Jane turned to leave, but she stopped at the doorway. She spun back around, then said, “I have never taken you for a coward before.”
“Pardon?”
“I have taken you for a blackguard, jackanapes, rake, gambler, and a nincompoop, but never for a coward.”
“Thank you for that, dear sister,” he mocked.
Jane walked further into the room, stopping at the chair next to him. She placed her hands on the back and asked, “Why aren’t you going after Emmeline?”
Oliver clenched his jaw. “I’m afraid you wouldn’t understand my reasons.”
“I am not a child anymore, Oliver.”
“I am well aware of that.”
“Then please do not treat me as such,” Jane asserted.
Oliver leaned to the side and placed his glass onto a side table. “My reasons are my own, and I have no intention of sharing them with you or anyone.”
Jane stared at him for a long moment before saying, “You are a fool.”
He grunted. “I see that we are back to the name calling.”
“You willingly let your wife leave Hawthorne House, and you are doing nothing about it.”
“Emmeline said she would return, and I am taking her at her word.”
Arching an eyebrow, Jane asked, “What if Emmeline is having a deliriously enjoyable time in Whitstable and decides not to return?”
“That is her choice,” he grumbled. “I will not force Emmeline to reside with me.”
“I don’t understand you, Brother,” Jane said. “You have changed so much these past few years that I hardly know who you are anymore.”
“I am the same person.”
Jane shook her head. “After Charlotte left you, I have watched you make one horrendous decision after another.”
“That isn’t true,” he argued.
“My friends have distanced themselves from me because they don’t want to associate with the sister of a rakehell.”
Oliver frowned. “I hadn’t realized that my actions were affecting you.”
“Frankly, you have noticed very little about me since you left Oxford.”
Oliver met her gaze and held it. “Is that why you hold me in such disdain?”
Jane pressed her lips together as she seemed to ponder his question. Finally, she spoke. “I don’t hate you, if that is what you are asking. But I do believe you are throwing away your chance at true happiness with Emmeline.”
“In what way?”
Jane came around the chair and sat down. “I know that you married her to save her from marrying the duke, and I find that admirable. But I have seen the way you look at Emmeline, and I know you hold her in some regard.”
“I do,” he replied, seeing no reason to deny it.
“Then why don’t you cast off your rake persona and attempt to make your marriage real?”
