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Stephen sat up in his seat.The Duchess of Fernridge?He looked at his mother, but she was nodding at the butler with a pleased look. “Show her in,” she ordered, then she looked at Stephen with excited eyes. “Smile, Stephen, she’s here.”
“The Duchess of Fernridge?” he asked, echoing the question in his head. He knew exactly who that was but he couldn’t believe that it was truly her. He couldn’t believe that his mother had actually done such a thing.
The Dowager Duchess rose to her feet as the door opened and the Duchess of Fernridge walked in. Stephen took her in, noting that despite the years he hadn’t seen her, she looked nearly the same as he remembered.
Her blond hair hung in ringlets around her cherub face, her beautiful brown eyes regarding Stephen first before his mother. Her pouty lips curved upwards in response and she curtsied. “Thank you for having me, Your Grace. It is a pleasure to see you again.”
Her voice washed over him. Stephen didn’t get to his feet to greet her, couldn’t even manage a single sane thought as she came to sit on the other side of him. The last time he’d seen her, she had been Lady Serena Huntington, the daughter of an Earl. Now, she was the Dowager Duchess of Fernridge.
“Oh, I haven’t seen you in such a long time and yet you haven’t managed to age a day,” his mother gushed. “You look absolutely lovely.”
“Thank you, Your Grace, but I believe that’s my line,” said Serena. Her eyes settled on him. “Your Grace, it’s lovely seeing you again.”
“What is this?”
“What do you think, Your Grace?” his mother said. “I thought it would be nice for two old friends to catch up again.”
Stephen wouldn’t go as far as to call them old friends. He and Serena had courted many years ago. He'd fallen in love with her, had believed that they were meant to be together forever. It had been the first time his fragile heart had ever felt love, so when she left him suddenly to marry the Duke of Fernridge, he’d been heartbroken. The pain of the betrayal, coupled with the words he’d exchanged with his father shortly before finding out, had made Stephen enlist in the military.
It had taken years to forget about Serena, yet here she was. Sitting by his side, his mother’s intentions as clear as day.
He got to his feet. He felt the weight of Serena’s eyes, the horror of his mother as if she could sense what he was about to do, but he didn’t care. Without a word, he stalked out of the room, his burning anger trailing in his wake.
I’m going to get an earful for that tomorrow.
But right now, he couldn’t find it within him to care. His mother had known the pain Serena’s betrayal had caused him. To this day it was difficult thinking or talking about it without feeling the pang. And yet she had brought her here, without bothering to inform him, with the clear aim of matching them together again.
If she had told me then I wouldn’t have bothered staying.
The moment he was in his carriage, Stephen allowed the anger to consume him. He hadn’t wanted to give in to it while he was there, didn’t want to risk saying or doing something that he would later regret. But he let it come over him now, let it boil his blood until he could think of nothing else but the pain Serena had caused him. For the first time in a long time, he allowed himself to let it out.
When he arrived at the Stanton household, the anger was gone. He only wanted to seek the solace of Hannah’s presence, and surround himself with the familial happiness this home provided.
