Page 70 of The Phantom Duke
Maria took up the letter again, pacing the room and chewing her lip.
“I do not know. Actually, that is not true. He will take it as interference, and his immediate reaction will be suspicion, evenparanoia. The question is not how will he react, but will this be good for him? For both of them.”
“You know him better than we do,” Anna said.
“Which is hardly at all,” Maria replied. “But I think that, regardless of his reaction, it must be a good thing to know you have a brother. To know that you are not alone. It has shaped Damien in so many ways. I must take this opportunity. To bring together two brothers who have no other family among the living. That is a good thing, is it not?”
Besides, it was not as if a younger son would have any claim to Damien’s title or estate. It seemed to her as though Ezekiel Alaric was entirely sincere and only wanted to meet his sibling, as she imagined most people would wish to do.
She looked around the room for support. Anna nodded vigorously. Theodora nodded more slowly. Evelina looked at Maria with concern in her eyes.
“Are you certain?” Evelina asked. “This might upset whatever delicate balance you have struck with your husband.”
Maria threw up her hands in exasperation. “Balance? What balance? He gives and then he takes away. He takes, and then runs away. I do not know if I am coming or going. The house frightens me and… and… I must do something!”
Evelina finally nodded. “Very well. Write back to this man and arrange to meet him. At least one of us will be with you, of course.”
Maria smiled gratefully.
I hope that Evelina is not proved right. I hope that this does not precipitate Damien deciding that he is better off without me for interfering…
CHAPTER 19
Damien watched Maria and her friends take tea on the lawn. Rather, he watched Maria take tea on the lawn. He had no interest in her friends. The curtains of his study were closed, as they always were. He had moved them aside slightly when the voices of the women had carried to him.
A shaft of bright light carved through, but he avoided it, stepping to one side. Maria was laughing at something one of the others had said. It illuminated her face. Her eyes seemed to shine when she smiled and became stars when she laughed.
She wore a blue gown that complemented her coloring and revealed creamy shoulders and arms. He remembered how her skin had felt beneath his fingers, beneath his lips. The business of his estates called to him; papers were spread across his desk, but Damien could not tear himself from that window.
This is weakness. I am making myself vulnerable to her beauty, giving her power over me.
Maria moved, picking up a piece of paper from the table. One of the others reached for it, seeming to protest, but Maria held it beyond her reach. She danced away and out of sight. Damien shifted his position without thinking about it, moving to stand in full sunlight in order to keep Maria in view. She was engrossed in the letter, whatever it was, seemingly reading from it and then looking at the others as though asking a question.
What is that letter? How does it exercise her so? Who is it from? The orphanage, perhaps? Her father?
Damien’s jaw clenched. If it was a letter from Maria’s father, it had better be one in which the wretched man repented of all his misdeeds and begged for his daughter’s forgiveness. That was the only acceptable correspondence from him. Damien became aware of Simon standing beside him, watching him. He jerked the curtains closed.
“How long have you been standing there?” Damien demanded.
“Only a moment. You seemed quite distracted. Your wife is a very beautiful woman, after all. If you will forgive the familiarity.”
Damien went to his desk, sitting down with a thump and perusing his paper estate. He glared at the physician, who was regrettably mostly immune from Damien’s moods and intimidations.
“I do not,” Damien said.
“But you do not disagree concerning her remarkable beauty,” Simon pressed, taking a seat next to the fire and warming his hands. “I wish you wouldn’t shut out the sun as you do. In a stone monstrosity such as this one, it makes for very cold rooms.”
“Her beauty is neither here nor there. She serves a purpose,” Damien said, picking up a statement of account but not seeing any of the columns of figures presented within.
“Well, I appreciate it even if you do not.”
“You will keep your lecherous gaze to yourself!” Damien barked, slamming his hand down on the desk.
Simon watched him, a ghost of a smile on his face.
“So, she is more than simply a means to an end if she can inspire jealousy. How fascinating.”
Damien gritted his teeth, realizing he had been trapped into the admission.
