Page 78 of Her Lion of a Duke
“How could you possibly be proud?” he snapped.
Cecilia shook her head, walking to the door. There was no reasoning with him, not when she herself was growing frustrated. She only wanted him to listen, but he was refusing.
She could not expect him to understand, even if she wished that he would. She turned back to him, standing tall and jutting her chin so that he would not see the hurt she felt.
“You are not angry with me, but with yourself, because you were given every opportunity to make something of yourself, and all you did was envy your brother. I was given less, and I did more. I will not apologize for making you feel small, nor will I make myself fail so that you can be comfortable.”
“Then what do we do?” he asked.
“The choice is yours. You are the man, after all. You want me to give up what power I have, leaving you with the responsibility, so what happens now is for you to decide.”
He did not reply, and so she left the room with a sigh.
She knew what she had to do.
CHAPTER 27
Leonard did not know what he wanted.
As he sat in his study, he knew that he did not want her to leave the room. But it was for the best. She was never going to understand him, nor was he going to understand her, so it was better that they were apart.
Even so, he did not know what to do with himself. He had gotten what he wanted—answers—but he wished that he had not learned anything at all. It was better living in blissful ignorance. Had he known that, he never would have begun the search in the first place.
He could not sleep that night, for every time he closed his eyes, he thought of Cecilia in her room. He yearned to see her, but he had to remind himself that this was how it had to be.
By the time morning came, he was exhausted and not ready to do much with his day, so he hid away in his study again.
“Last night was interesting,” Henry drawled. “I did not know you were capable of such anger.”
“I was not angry. I was shocked, nothing more.”
“If you insist, Brother. But you and I both know the truth. You are furious with her.”
“What if I am? I would say that I have every right to be, given her betrayal.”
Henry grinned and crossed to the window. With a sigh, Leonard joined him.
“I do not need your opinion,” Leonard muttered.
“Yes, you do. If you did not, I would not be here.”
“Very well, then. Tell me what you would say if you were here.”
“I would say that this is all ridiculous. All of this happened years ago, and the only thing she did wrong was write something that you took personally, even though it was not her intention. Are you truly going to hold that over her?”
“For a while, yes. Her intentions do not matter when we were affected the way we were.”
“Youwere affected,” Henry corrected. “I was not seen any differently, for I was not there. Do not pretend that you are angry for my sake.”
Leonard rolled his eyes, not wanting to concede.
He was furious, but mostly with himself. He knew that Cecilia had her reasons and that she wanted her freedom, but why did it have to be at his expense? She could have pursued any activity, and he would have supported her, but she had chosen something that threatened ruin if anything were to go awry.
He did not cross her path that morning, and by afternoon, he had left to meet with Levi and Morgan. They had arranged a meeting, and he was grateful for that. He could have some time away from home, and he needed that more than anything.
He tried to tell himself that he was not running away.
“Something is troubling you,” Levi noted as soon as he arrived. “I can see it.”
