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Daniel nodded. “I have business to attend to today, I’m afraid.”
She looked at him curiously, but thankfully, she refrained from prying. Heaven only knew he was hanging onto his sanity by a thread. If the Dowager Duchess so much as inquired about the events that transpired last night, he was afraid he would most certainly snap.
Before she could broach another subject, he quickly excused himself and headed up to the solace of his study. The moment the door was closed, he sank into his chair, his fingers spearing through his dark hair as he held his head.
The image of Emily looking utterly devastated from last night was branded into his brain, causing him an almost physical pain. He had not intended to hurt her, but he did, and he would only continue to do so if they carried on.
She had to understand. It was the only way he could help her.
Quietly, he grabbed a piece of paper and began to write.
CHAPTER16
It was already close to midday when Emily finally woke up, and even then, she did not feel like leaving the confines of her bed. Last night, her father had confined her to her rooms, and it suited her well because she had absolutely no desire to face anyone today.
The last thing she wanted was having to deal with her sister and Lady Horatia. She knew that if the Marchioness had her way, she would have had Emily betrothed to the Viscount of Chaney on the spot. It was fortunate that her father wavered and exerted his authority as the head of the household.
For how long it would be, she could not say. Her father had long been swayed by the manipulations of Lady Horatia so much so that Emily and Benedict had long given up on even trying to make him see from their perspective.
It is not that he is a bad father,she thought sadly.Only that he is a rather generous husband.
But a man should know how to be both father and husband, Emily decided. After all, if he cannot be trusted to manage his own private affairs well, how could he be expected to manage his businesses, his estate?
“Milady?”
Jenny’s timid call jolted Emily from her thoughts, bringing her to a reality she did not want to face.
“Are ye awake?” the maid called again.
Emily sighed and replied, “Yes, Jenny. I am.”
Although I wish I had died in my sleep, she thought darkly.Wouldn’t that solve all problems?
It might free His Grace from his obligation to marry her, but she doubted that Lord Chaney would be as charitable if she were to slip from his grasp once more. He had seemed quite set on her for some reason she could not fathom.
Well, some would say that he might be completely enamored with her, but Emily refused to believe that. The way he looked at her last night…it just sent shivers down her spine and not the way that His Grace did.
No, the feeling was an instinctive cry to run, a sort of primal fear that told her she was in the presence of a very dangerous person.
“Milady, you can wash your face.”
The maid’s quiet voice, so far removed from her usual cheerful, boisterous self, made Emily want to burst into tears once more. Jenny had been her closest ally all throughout her two seasons, and no doubt, she was devastated right now.
“Jenny?” Emily bit her lower lip, blinking her eyes rapidly to stop her tears from falling. “Are you…are you disappointed in me?”
“Milady, how could ye say that?” the maid gasped. “Of course not!”
“I…I should not have gone with him,” she sobbed, covering her face with her hands. “I just thought he was going to propose…I thought…Oh, Jenny, I was so wrong about him!”
She felt arms wrapping around her, and for the first time since last night, she allowed the tears to flow freely, allowed herself to be swept away in the maelstrom of emotions that swirled around her.
“Well, if His Grace kissed me good an’ proper, I might have lost me mind, too,” the maid admitted in a voice that was meant to be reassuring. “That man is like temptation walkin’ on two legs, that he is.”
Emily burst out in laughter at Jenny’s poor attempts at consoling her.
“I might have dropped me drawers while I was at it.”
The thought of the maid dropping her underthings before a man like the Duke of Gilleton was so hilarious that Emily could not help the giggles that erupted from her throat.
