Page 78 of The Unwanted Duchess

“I do not care for his reasoning. Did he hit you?”

She was silent for a moment, looking at the ground before nodding slowly.

“Well, it will never happen again,” he promised, “and I will make that bastard pay for what he did to you.”

“No! You cannot. I do not wish for anyone to know, not even Diana, and if you were to go over there and deal whatever justice you believe to be prudent, then I can guarantee you that there will be consequences. He is an old man. You would look like a villain.”

“I am more than happy to be a villain if it means you are safe.”

“Then be glad that you do not need to become one,” she said gently. “I am not there anymore. I am here with you, and we need not ever see him again if we do not wish to, and I can assure you that I do not.”

“And you are sure that that is how you feel?”

“Completely and utterly. I wish only to put it all behind me.”

“Then I will do so. Samantha, I could not feel worse about what happened between us. I will not allow it to happen again.”

“That is just as well, for nor will I. I apologize for changing it at all.”

“I never needed the material things,” he sighed. “I have the memories of her, and I should have thought of that before I reacted. It is I who should apologize.”

“Then our apologies have been made, and we can move forward. I should like that very much.”

“As would I, but I fear that words from me simply are not enough. I told you that I was afraid of becoming my father, and when I saw how frightened you looked, I… I thought it had happened.”

“It did not. It never could because you are not your father. I do not care what became of your brothers and how alike they all are. You are different. You are your mother.”

“You do not know that. You never met her.”

“I do not need to have. You told me that she was good and kind, and that is the man you are. It is quite easy to see that you are her son. Besides, I saw a painting of her, and believe me, you cannot have looked anything like your father. You are her mirror image.”

“A painting of her?” he echoed. “You cannot have. Father had them all taken away after her passing.”

She seemed to eye him carefully for a moment. He wondered just what she was thinking. There had been no other ladies in the family, and so it was unlikely that she had seen someone else, and yet he had been there when the paintings of her were discarded. He knew that they were gone.

“You did not look at the drawing room, did you?”

Graham tried to think back to it, but he could not picture the room at all, only the way he felt upon seeing it. He shook his head, and she smiled at him.

“Well,” she continued, “you may still loathe it entirely, but allow me to show you again.”

He followed her to the drawing room, dreading having to see it a second time. He believed in his wife, however, and knew that he had to give her a chance to show him what she had done.

And how glad he was to have done so.

His mother might have sat in the drawing room all those years, but for the first time, it truly felt as though it was her room. Her favorite colors were everywhere, and a pianoforte was in pride of place. He went to sit at it, and there he saw it. A painting that his mother had made years before. It was his favorite of hers, and he did not know how they had kept it for so long, but he couldn’t be happier that they had.

But that was not all. As he looked at another wall, he saw his favorite painting of his mother. She was sitting in an armchair, and it was a formal portrait, but even so, she was smiling. The late Duke was not there, and Graham was quite sure that her husband’s absence had been what made her so happy. She was beautiful, and he realized that Samantha was right. She looked just like him.

“I do not know what to say,” he said gently.

“I know that it is a change,” she replied, “and should you want anything back to how it was before then we can do that.”

“No. This is perfect. It is exactly how she would have wanted it, had she been allowed to have something of her own. Oh, Samantha, how could I ever repay you for this?”

“By being here,” she said softly. “By spending time with me in here. I know that you have your duties and things that you must do that I could never comprehend, but I want you to find time to sit with me. We need not do anything, only enjoy the company of one another.”

His insult rang in his mind.

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