Page 6 of Ravishing Among the Roses
George stepped away from Cook’s hug and laughed. “Oh no. Not then. I left first. I was angry at him, at the way he was so mean to me, so I went to stay with a friend for a while. His father is a Duke too. Kelmscott.”
“That doesn’t sound like banishment.” Edmund still didn’t understand.
George shook his head. “He saved that up for the next time I came here. I needed a few things, and...” George sighed. “I could’ve, should’ve, sent a servant, but I’d been talking to Kelmscott and he said all I needed to do was talk to His Grace and have a sensible discussion about it and His Grace would see that the rowing was less important than me. I’m his heir, his son. Surely we could fix this with a conversation.”
Edmund knew by the ache in his gut that what happened next wasn’t going to be an apology.
“He told me that I wasn’t welcome here, that I couldn’t show up without having gained permission from him first. He told me that the servants would all be told that I couldn’t be admitted to any of his lands. That I was selfish, that I’d always been too dramatic to be the Duke, unworthy of being his heir, and he’d be looking at ways to disinherit me.”
Cook made a bunch of noises about how dare he and so on, but Edmund knew it didn’t matter.
“He can’t do that without dismantling the entire aristocratic system. You are the heir, and you will inherit all entailed properties and the Dukedom, and there’s nothing he can do about it.”
“I know the law. It still hurts that he wants to try.”
“I don’t understand how a parent can abandon his own child,” Cook said.
Gabriel rolled his eyes. “Mama, it does you great credit to think like that. Sadly, there are many people out there whose parents have tossed them away for the smallest infringements. How many women are walking the streets because some man violated them, and the woman was blamed, giving them no options? How many boys are cast aside because they don’t want to do the same masculine work as their fathers? The only difference here is that it was a Duke doing the discarding.”
“But it makes no sense. George is a good boy. Why banish him? What is wrong with the man that he can do that to his own child?”
“You are trying to put logic and love onto a situation where there is clearly none. From the accounts of both George and Lord—”
“Thwaitepiddle.” Edmund supplied his title and Gabriel nodded in acknowledgement.
“From what you’ve both said, the Duke isn’t capable of love. It ought to be obvious from the way he’s discarded his own child. It’s irrational and immature. His Grace has said to George, ‘how dare you leave me, I’m throwing you out.’ And in doing so, he regains control over a situation and takes away George’s choice.”
“His Grace doesn’t like to be told no.” Edmund knew that better than anyone, and Gabriel had seen this with suchclarity, he wondered if he hadn’t experienced something similar himself.
“I’m not selfish.” George’s voice had become tighter.
“No, my dear boy. He’s the selfish one, putting his image ahead of you as a person,” Cook said.
“But what happens when society finds out? Won’t that ruin his image?” George asked in a small voice, one that had lost all the pretention to bravery.
“Society won’t be forgiving of him discarding his heir. He’ll come around and ask you to come back,” Cook said. She’d worked here long enough that she understood how the ton worked, but she had missed a crucial point. Edmund gulped, as everything suddenly made sense.
“Why do you think I’m in town? Why do you think His Grace has a sudden interest in finding me a wife? I’m the distraction. By squiring me around town, it proves that he’s invested in the family. He’s using me so he can look good and blame you for leaving. And I must do what he asks.” It was the only way to protect his roses.
“Kelmscott said he’d heard rumours around town that I was unworthy, that I’d been behaving inappropriately,” George’s eyes flooded with unshed tears.
“You are worthy. He is the inappropriate one,” Cook said. Edmund wished he didn’t care so much for his roses. This would be all be so much easier if he could do the impossible and destroy years of his own work and walk away. His heart raced at the very idea of letting the Duke rip his babies out of the ground. The senseless destruction would only hurt himself, not the Duke, who would only find another tool to control everyone around him.
“He’s already setting the scene to blame you for leaving. He’ll use my presence in society to demonstrate that he’s a family man and that he had no choice in taking actions against you.”
“If you know this, why are you here? Why are you enabling this?” Gabriel crossed his arms over his slender chest and Edmund closed his eyes against the accusation. How could he explain that he would lose everything he’d worked for if didn’t cooperate?
Chapter 5
Gabby couldn’t wrap his head around a parent who discarded a child. He hadn’t been the easiest child, always losing things and being distracted, but Mama, Papa and his aunts had all been there for him. And they might not have understood why he did the work he did, especially not his first job, but they’d always stuck by him. The young Lord, George, well, all he’d done was stand up for himself. It was hardly a sin that should result in banishment. Gabby’s chest caved in on itself, shrinking as he listened to people—Lord Thwaitepiddle—justify why he was enabling the Duke’s terrible behaviour.
“I don’t intend to enable him.” The Lord’s eyes were wide and slightly wild—scared—Gabby didn’t want to see that truth though, because he was so disappointed. It was one thing to be the monster who banished a child over a minor disagreement, and completely another to know what was happening and ... he tried to swallow down the rising rage ... allow it to keep happening.
“Isn’t the road to hell being paved with good intentions?” Gabby shouldn’t listen to the way heat travelled up his throat into his cheeks when the Lord crossed his arms over his chest.
“You don’t understand. No one is winning in this situation. Do you think I want to stand here and listen to my heart-broken nephew whose own father can’t care for him? Do you think I wanted to come to town and be used as tool by my brother? If I had a choice, I’d—” He shook his head and sat down, elbows on the table and his head in his hands.
“You are a Lord. Of course you have a choice.”
