Page 85 of His Scarred Duchess
Lord Brenton recoiled as if slapped. “How dare you? I have always provided for you, given you every advantage?—”
“Every advantage?” Adeline laughed bitterly. “Like forcing me onto that wretched horse when I begged you not to? Like blaming me for the accident that scarred me for life?”
“That’s enough!” Lord Brenton roared, his face flushing an alarming shade of red. “I will not stand here and be accused by my own daughter. You have responsibilities now, Adeline. Aposition to uphold. What will people say when they hear that the Duchess of Holbrook has run away from her husband like a petulant child?”
Adeline felt tears pricking her eyes, but she blinked them back furiously. “Is that all you care about? What people will say? What about whatIneed? What about howIfeel?”
“Feelings?” Lord Brenton scoffed. “Feelings have no place in a marriage like yours. You have a duty to your husband, to your family. Or have you forgotten everything I’ve taught you?”
“Taught me?” Adeline’s voice cracked. “You taught me that I was a disappointment. That I wasn’t pretty enough, charming enough, good enough. You taught me to hide away, to be ashamed of who I am.”
Lord Brenton’s face paled, a flicker of something—guilt, or perhaps even regret, she wondered—crossing his features before his expression hardened once more. “You’re being hysterical, Adeline. This is precisely why I worried about your ability to handle the responsibilities of a duchess.”
“Hysterical?” Adeline repeated, her voice rising. “Is that what you call it when I finally speak the truth? When I finally stand up for myself?”
She took a step towards him, her hands clenched at her sides. “Do you want to know why I’m really here, Father? Because for the first time in my life, I dared to hope for something more. Idared to think that maybe, just maybe, I deserved to be loved. But you made sure I never believed that, didn’t you?”
Lord Brenton’s mouth opened and closed, no sound coming out. He looked suddenly old, the lines on his face deepening as the weight of her words settled over him.
“Adeline,” he said, his voice tight. “I have always done my best for you.”
“Best for me?” Adeline shook her head, her tears flowing freely now. “No, Father. You wanted what was best foryou. Foryourreputation. For the family name. You never once considered what I needed.” She turned away, unable to bear the sight of him any longer. “I can’t do this anymore. I can’t pretend that everything is fine—that I’m fine.”
“Where are you going?” Lord Brenton called as she strode towards the door.
“To Grandmama’s,” Adeline replied without turning back. “At least there, I know I’ll be welcomed.”
“Adeline, come back here!” Her father’s voice followed her down the hall, but she didn’t slow down.
She burst out of the townhouse, blinking in the bright afternoon sun.
“Thomas!” she called to the family coachman. “Please, take me to Lady Gillingham’s house.”
As the carriage pulled away from the curb, Adeline caught a glimpse of her father in the doorway, his face a mask of confusion and dismay. She turned away, her heart heavy but her spirit higher than it had been in years.
The confrontation she’d avoided for so long was finally over. Now, she just had to figure out what came next.
The carriage drew to a stop in front of Lady Gillingham’s townhouse. Adeline took a deep breath, steeling herself before descending.
“Adeline?” Her grandmother’s surprised voice greeted her at the door. “My dear, what’s happened?”
One look at Lady Gillingham’s concerned face and Adeline’s composure crumbled.
“Oh, Grandmama,” she choked out, fresh tears welling up in her eyes.
“Come here, child,” Lady Gillingham soothed, pulling her into a warm embrace. “Let’s get you inside and sort this out.”
Once settled in the drawing room with a cup of tea, Adeline recounted the whole story—the ball, the argument with Edmund, her confrontation with her father.
“That absolute cad!” Lady Gillingham exclaimed when Adeline finished. “And I don’t know which one I mean, your father or your husband!”
Despite her tears, Adeline couldn’t help but laugh. “Grandmama!”
“Well, it’s true,” her grandmother huffed. “I’ve half a mind to knock my cane into their thick skulls. See if I can’t knock some sense into them.”
Adeline’s laughter turned into a hiccupping sob. “Oh, Grandmama, what am I going to do?”
Lady Gillingham’s face softened. “First, you’re going to stay here for as long as you need. No arguments,” she added as Adeline opened her mouth to protest. “This is your home too, always.”
