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I shook my head. “You just don’t get it. I love Theadora. I want to be with her. Forever.” I puffed. “Why are you like this? Don’t you wish me happiness?”
Her eyes softened just a little. “Of course, I do. But you need to think of the future of the name.”
“Then focus on Ethan or Savvie. She can marry into peerage.”
“Your sister’s just as bad as you. She goes for the gutter types, and Ethan isn’t with a girl long enough to remember her name.”
“I’m marrying Theadora. That’s if she’ll take me.”
“She hasn’t answered you yet?” Her eyebrows raised. “Maybe once she learns how you walked away from Jasmine, she might change her mind.”
“I offered to bring up the child, Mother. I just refused to marry her. And why the fuck are you going on about this?”
I thought about that distressingly sad moment in my life. And the look of relief on my mother’s face after learning the heart-shattering news of Jasmine’s suicide.
While my father hugged me and expressed heartfelt sadness, my mother sat back coolly, looking at her nails and shrugging, muttering something like “It’s for the best.”
I’d had enough of trying to convince my mother and left in search of Theadora.
I found her in the courtyard by the Mercury fountain. Against the watery splashes of changing colour, in that flowing red gown, she reminded me of a model in a Vogue magazine fashion shoot.
Her beauty made my breath hitch. The fact that she was unaware of her seductive powers only added to my attraction. Her pale skin looked luminous in the moonlight, and her red lips begged to be kissed.
“Here you are,” I said, putting my arm around her.
She shivered. “I’m hiding from that fucking dickhead.”
I let go and faced her. “Crisp?”
She nodded and bit her lip. “There are so many other girls here. Why won’t he leave me alone?”
A sudden burst of adrenaline mixed with anger pounded through my veins. I’d had enough. He needed to be taught a fucking lesson.
“Let’s go back inside,” I said, through gritted teeth.
Her eyebrows drew in. “What are you going to do?”
“I’m going to do something I should have done ages ago.” I sucked back a sharp breath.
She stopped walking. “Declan, please. Don’t stir trouble on my behalf. God knows, I’m already in the shit around here.”
I tilted my head in sympathy, feeling a sudden wave of guilt for dragging her into my mother’s prejudiced world.
I kissed her cheek. “Don’t worry, angel. I can look after myself. And you’re not despised. My mother’s just got unrealistic expectations where I’m involved.”
We walked back into the party, where women draped in slinky gowns talked loudly and screamed with laughter at jokes told by men in bespoke suits. The older guests flirted with other people’s wives or husbands, just like every other ball at Merivale.
I caught sight of Crisp, who was chatting to a much younger woman.
How fucking predictable.
On our approach, he caught my gaze before he shifted his eyes to Theadora. His gaze lingered over her as though to spite me.
“I’ll be right back, okay?”
Her eyes glistened with suspicious concern. “Declan, what are you going to do?”
“I’m going to talk to him. That’s all. Don’t worry.”
