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Chapter Eleven
“I beg your pardon, Ashford?”
Sebastian casually looked up from the papers on his desk at his mother, whose face was so pinched that he feared she would give herself an apoplexy. “I’m getting married to Miss Highbridge.”
“Absolutely not,” she replied, her voice barely above a hiss. If there was at least one good thing to be had out of this whole affair, it was seeing his mother in such a tizzy. This was the angriest he’d ever seen her in his entire life, and the sight was vastly entertaining.
“She’s increasing.” The phrase felt foreign on his tongue and the shock of the fact still hadn’t quite worn off. He’d gone to Kitty’s home to confront her with Barrow’s findings and had been floored after overhearing her conversation with Lady Amberwood. Though, he supposed he shouldn’t have been, considering what had happened at Vauxhall, but the concept of a child and the reality of its existence were too entirely different things, and he’d nowhere near prepared himself for his worst fears coming to pass.
“Is it even yours?” she said with nary a hesitation.
He’d lobbed that very accusation at Kitty last week and still burned with embarrassment at even having thought to do so. He’d been in such a swirl of fury and terror and beyond frustrated that she refused to admit to her falsehoods, that the cruel words had slipped from his mouth before he could stop himself. Her eyes, wide with hurt, were burned into his memory. “It is.”
“Are you certain?”
He narrowed his eyes on his mother, pleased to see her flinch from the sternness of his countenance. “I am, and you will say no more on the matter, least of all to her.”
The duchess rolled her eyes, an unusually petulant action. He assumed the prospect of this disastrous misalliance had shaken her usual icy composure. “I suppose you fancy yourself in love with the woman.”
Sebastian froze at the comment. Was he in love with Kitty Highbridge? It would certainly explain the tightness in his chest and the deep sorrow he’d felt at her betrayal, a feeling that went beyond the normal amount of anger he would experience at being trapped. He guessed the emotion wouldn’t last much longer once they were married. His tender feelings for her were already quickly decaying. It was hard to stay in love with someone who wreathed themselves in falsehood. Barrow’s findings were damning indeed. There was just no possible way that she couldn’t have known about the secret that the blackmailer held, especially when the object of said scandal was by her side every day.
“It is none of your business how I feel about her, madam. Once I bring her here, you will treat her with the respect that is due, and I will hear of nothing else.” As much as he resented Kitty now, even she did not deserve the cruelty of his mother, his child even less so. Another tremor went through him at the thought of his impending fatherhood. His own father had died shortly after his birth, though if the stories were anything to go by, the man would have been a poor example to follow. Sebastian would simply have to go in blind and try his best. An image of himself relaxing in the library, bouncing a happy little girl on his knee slithered its way into his mind, warming him more than expected. Even if his love for their mother was already beginning to fade, their little one would not be neglected.
“This is not to be borne,” his mother hissed, her eyes narrowing in such a way that he braced for a row. He wondered how long it would take to refurbish the dower house on his main estate.
“You have no say in the matter, much to my relief,” he replied, another scathing insult about to leave his lips before a soft knock sounded on the door.
It cracked open, and his butler peered cautiously around the edge. “Your Grace. I am sorry to disturb you.”
Sebastian smiled. “Interruptions are always welcome where my mother is concerned, do go on.”
The butler came fully into the room, dutifully ignoring the duchess, who looked like she might explode at any moment. “Lord Amberwood is here to see you.”
“I am not at home.” His friend had already tried to waylay him when he’d left
Kitty’s home last week, but Sebastian hadn’t been in the mood for the man’s dramatics. No doubt he and Lady Amberwood had been told some tale by Kitty and were firmly on her side. Sebastian was too tired to explain things properly at the moment, even less so after such a nast conversation with his mother.
The butler shuffled awkwardly. “He says it is an emergency and refuses to leave. I directed him to the front parlor for now. If I may be so bold to say, His Lordship appeared quite distressed.”
Unease prickled up his spine. Amberwood was rarely bothered by much of anything, and the last time the man had been genuinely disturbed had been before his duel with Wardely. No matter how irritating he might find Amberwood’s presence in the current circumstances, the man was still his best friend. “I will be there shortly,” Sebastian said as he rose.
“We aren’t finished here, Ashford,” the duchess said as he followed his butler out the door. He didn’t reply, taking minor joy in her frustrated grumble as he left the study without turning around. The small flutter of amusement faded as he entered the parlor and got a good look at Amberwood.
The man paced in front of the fireplace, his face pale and hands running irritably through his platinum hair. He jerked his head up as Sebastian strode further into the room. “There you are!”
“What happened?” he asked bluntly, too shaken up by the past week to present his usual indifference.
“I’ve wanted to thrash the living hell out of you for the past week, but considering the circumstances, I will wait. For some ungodly reason that I cannot fathom, she wants to see you.” He paused, as if considering his next words. “There’s been an accident.”
Anxiety, cold and heavy, settled into his stomach. “Kitty?”
“She is alright,” Amberwood amended quickly, likely seeing some awful look flash across Sebastian’s face, “And the babe is as well as far as the doctor can tell, but Miss Highbridge is rather shaken up about the whole thing.”
“Tell me everything on the way,” he replied, turning and striding from the room without hesitating.
Amberwood caught up to him while Sebastian barked orders for his hat gloves, nearly colliding into his backside. “Calm down, Ashford, she’s safe for now.”
Sebastian all but smashed the hat onto his head, mind whirring. “What do you mean ‘safe’?” He wrenched open the door before the footman could grasp the handle and jogged down the stairs to Amberwood’s waiting carriage, all but storming inside.
