Page 80 of The Duke and the Unwanted Bride

“Mother…”

“But I will not sit here and be slandered!”

“My daughter is happy! It is you who are… a bitter, old crone, Teresa!”

The two were shouting as if they were the only ones in the room. Miss Gouldsmith was in tears. The two sisters and their husbands looked as if they would rather be anywhere else. And Hannah… it was impossible to say what was on her mind.

Frederick tried to meet her eyes. He did not believe a word of what her aunt was saying, but each word spoken was like a knife through his heart, for he knew what it was like to force someone into a marriage they did not want, and now he was living it again.

“A crone, am I?” Lady Langham spat. She was standing now, bearing down on her brother across the table. “Better an old crone than the overweight, trumped up, pathetic excuse for a man that you are.”

“Take that back!”

“Ha! I take back nothing!”

It was getting out of hand. And Frederick, taken aback by the suddenness of it all, was finally starting to come back to his senses. Among the shouting. Among the yelling. Among the shock! He felt his anger rising because at the end of the day, this was his home, and he would not be spoken to or about like this. Not by anyone. Certainly not by the Dowager Viscountess.

He opened his mouth to shout them into silence, only for Hannah to beat him to it.

“Quiet!” she screamed. “All of you! Quiet!” She was on her feet, her eyes blazing as she leveled her aunt with a scowl. “Aunt Teresa, you ought to be ashamed of yourself.”

“Me?”

“I invite you to my home to make amends, and this is how you repay me? Us!” She gestured to Frederick, who was watching with a half-smile on his face, taken by her sudden rancor, recognizing it only too well. “When I came to see you two days ago, what did I tell you?”

Lady Langham pretended to look confused. “I do not know what you?—”

“I warned you,” Hannah snarled at her. “I warned you to behave, for after what you have done, behaving was the least you could do. A second chance is what I offered, and you threw it back in my face.”

“Now, listen here,” Lady Langham shot back. “I have done nothing wrong. I am simply?—”

“Doing everything you can to break me and my husband apart. Just like you have been doing these past two weeks. You act as if you are happy about what happened, yet you work to undermine us at every turn. Do not say otherwise!”

“I… I…”

“And, Selina…” Hannah looked at her cousin. “Do not be upset, please. It is I who should be apologizing to you—who has been trying to for these past two weeks. I thought you hated me.”

“What? No! Never.”

“I thought you were furious that I stole Frederick from you.”

“No! I could never be! Please, Hannah. I am the one who should apologize!” Selina was on her feet, pleading.

“There is no need.” Hannah gave her a smile and looked down at Frederick, who was still watching her with that same half-smile. “Despite what your mother claims, Frederick and I are happy. As happy as we could be, and nothing”—a glare at her aunt—“anyone says can change that. I am glad for what happened and…” She bit her lip and looked at Frederick again. “And I know my husband is, too.”

“Is that true?” Lord Ramsbury asked, as if desperate.

“It is,” Hannah affirmed. “We are in love, and no amount of fearmongering is going to change that. Isn’t that right, Frederick?”

It was a strange thing that Frederick felt at that moment.

Admiration for his wife, for he had never felt more attracted to her than at that moment. The confidence. The control. The command. This was the woman he had fallen in love with, andhe knew right then and there that every word she spoke was the truth. She loved him, and he loved her, and that was a fact.

And yet, there was a sinking feeling in his stomach as another realization dawned on him. He loved his wife, she loved him, and that was a problem that he knew would have untold consequences.

“She is right.” Frederick rose from his seat and took Hannah’s hand. Despite the guilt that he was feeling—for he knew what would come later tonight when they were alone again—right now was the time for unity. “Lady Langham, you should be ashamed of yourself.”

“Your Grace! I did not mean?—”

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