Page 49 of The Lord Next Door
“Am I disturbing you, my lord?”
“Yes.”
She knew he was trying to frighten her away, just as he did to everyone. “I won’t take long. Shall I pour you some tea?”
“No.”
“Then I’ll help myself.”
She was proud that her hand didn’t shake as she poured her cup. After setting a plate of biscuits at the earl’s table, she pulled up a chair nearby.
“Would you care for a biscuit, my lord?” she asked.
When he ignored her, she helped herself to one.
“You’ve had enough of those, haven’t you?”
She choked, then sipped tea until she could swallow, remembering that he was a man in pain.
“I do enjoy biscuits,” she said ruefully. “I’ll have to stay away from them to fit into all the beautiful gowns your son was generous enough to give me.”
“He obviously didn’t want to be embarrassed by you.” The earl calmly turned over a paper to continue reading.
“And I don’t blame him,” she said softly. “I’m the first to admit that I’m uncomfortable in your world.”
He looked at her coldly. “Then why are you here?”
Did he truly not know the real reason for the wedding? She didn’t know what she was supposed to keep hidden.
“Because Lord Thurlow asked me to marry him.”
“Why?”
“You’ll have to discuss his reasons with him, my lord.”
“I think he married you out of pity.”
She remained silent, knowing he was partly right.
“He felt sorry for you. Father dead, money gone. Shelby was my banker—I know what state he left you in. Contemptuous. Yet you accepted the proposal. Can you live with the fact that now he’ll never be able to marry a woman of his own class?”
Her throat was tight, but she found she didn’t want to cry. “My lord, I have no choice but to live with that. I will do my best as his wife.”
“Even if it means putting up with me.”
“I don’t see you as someone to put up with, my lord. You are my husband’s father and deserve my respect.”
“Are you asking to befriend me?” he scoffed.
“I cannot aspire to that. But I would like your acceptance.”
“You fulfill your function and bear my grandchild. That’s all I want from you.”
She stiffened at his crudity, but she couldn’t be surprised by what he expected from her. “Perhaps your son needs something more from the both of us.”
He put his hands flat on the table. “Are you, a mere slip of a girl, trying to tell me how to be a father?”
“I wouldn’t dream of that, my lord. I’m trying to figure out how to be a wife.”
