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After he drank half the bottle, his brother found him in the same position. However, he was slumped in the chair. He had discarded his cravat and unbuttoned his vest and the top of his shirt.
Dracott shook his head in disappointment. “Is this how you wish to proceed?”
“Exactly,” Ravencroft slurred.
Dracott pulled the bottle out of his brother’s reach and settled into a chair. “That is not an answer.”
“Exactly,” Ravencroft repeated, smirking at his brother’s disappointed stare.
“You have ruined an innocent lady. The gossip mill is making up stories of her ruination. Also, you have withdrawn your offer of marriage. And not once did you make the effort to call on Noel to see to her welfare,” Dracott accused.
“Exactly.” Ravencroft chuckled this time.
Dracott bit his tongue to keep back from laying into his brother. But as much as Ravencroft frustrated him, he saw how tormented his brother was. If it wasn’t for him, Ravencroft never would have walked a path of crime, abandoning his moral code. However, Ravencroft had sacrificed himself. The least Dracott could do was to show his brother how people not only valued him but loved him, too.
He rose, changing his mind about staying. “I will give you today to drink yourself into oblivion. But tomorrow, I will return. We shall discuss your next course of action after you sober up. In which you will marry Noel. She loves you, and you owe her your love in return. Because no matter how much you deny yourself a chance at happiness, I will make it my purpose to convince you otherwise.”
Ravencroft grabbed at the bottle and took another drink. He lifted the whiskey to his brother in a toast. “You can try.”
Dracott leaned across the desk and smiled at his brother. “And I will succeed.”
With that said, Dracott left his brother to drink himself to sleep. He would return on the morrow to make his brother see reason. A drunken Ravencroft would never listen to a word of advice. But Ravencroft with a hangover would listen. Only to be left to his suffering once he finished. Dracott rubbed his hands together as he returned to the Worthington townhome.
He would take immense pleasure in torturing his brother.
Chapter Nineteen
Ravencroft never fellasleep. Instead, he moved outdoors to sit on the terrace, clutching the bottle in between his hands while he watched the sunset. His lips twitched in a smile at how he had irritated his brother. The dynamics of their relationship usually led to one of them wanting to strangle the other to get their point across. However, none of that was necessary for Ravencroft to understand the reason for disappointing Dracott. Because he held the same disappointment in himself.
As the golden hue of the sun sank deeper and the light grey of the evening came upon him, Ravencroft reflected. He was amazed by how swiftly the sun set and then stars soon flickered in the sky. It was the same change that happened in a person’s life. One day, a person lived a simple life, only to have it altered beyond their comprehension. Then, once they settle into that life, it swiftly changed again. In the past, he had lived each day changing to suit the circumstances he had found himself in.
But once he met Noel, he had settled into what he thought was a safe and predictable existence. Yet, his past refused to stay in the past. It came barreling back, forcing him to change and adapt to circumstances beyond his control. However, Noel remained solid. Someone he could depend on. Well, that was, until he had discovered the passion between them. Its powerful force unsettled him like nothing before.
He tipped his head back to gaze at the stars. They reminded him of Noel. Sparkling. Shining. A spectacular sight to gaze at. The stars gave one hope of wishing upon them to make their dreams come true. Noel herself was a dream that haunted his sleep and invaded his every thought. One he wished to spend an eternity with.
He loved her.
