Page 44 of The Duke's Impossible Deal
She gave him a tight squeeze, fishing a handkerchief from her pocket and wiping the tears from his cheeks.
“I just want to make you proud and be a good earl.” Alistair rubbed his nose with his shirt sleeve.
“I am so proud of you. And I have no doubt you will be an amazing earl.” Rowen looked into her son’s eyes and added in a softer voice, “Is it just worry about your father that has upset you, or is it something else?”
“It is my lesson.” Alistair bit his lip. “The Duke was trying to teach me fractions, and I could not understand, and it was toohard, and I got cross and angry, and then I was too stupid, and I left.”
Rowen’s jaw clenched so tight that she heard her teeth groan in protest. With a gargantuan effort, she kept her tone light and pleasant as she looked at her son. “You go and find Georgie. I think she was playing in the garden. Go to the kitchen and tell Cook that I said you could have some cake and biscuits.”
“What about my lesson?” Alistair asked.
“I think we are done with lessons for the day. You go find your sister.” Rowen stood up and gave him a quick hug.
He nodded and sprinted off.
She waited until she was sure he would not see her, and then she stalked out of the drawing room. Anger coursed through her, making her steps so heavy she was sure she was shaking the ground.
Of course, he would do this. How could I think I could trust him with my son? Stupid woman. Stupid, foolish woman.
She marched down the corridor and flung open the door to Tobias’s study so hard that it bounced off the wall.
“What did you do to my son?” Her voice shook with barely contained rage as she marched into the room.
Tobias rose from the armchair he had been sitting in, a glass of whiskey in one hand. His hair was disheveled, and a faint line of stubble covered his jaw. His eyes flashed when he saw her, but Rowen was too furious to care.
“Exactly what do you think you are doing, storming into my study like this?” He straightened to his full height.
Rowen strode towards him. “Getting answers. What the hell did you do to my son?”
“I did not do anything to him,” Tobias retorted.
But Rowen saw a hint of uncertainty flicker across his face. She pounced on it like a dog with a bone.
“We both know that is not true. Do not insult my intelligence by denying it.”
“As you have your mind made up, why don’t you tell me exactly what it is you think I have done?” Tobias growled.
“You made him feel like an idiot! He burst into the drawing room crying and shaking and telling me that he was too stupid to be an earl.” Rowen was shaking with the effort not to lunge at him.
Tobias’s eyes widened, and he made a placating gesture. “I never said that to him.”
“Clearly, you said something to him! He was beside himself.” Rowen dug her nails into her palms, using the pain to ground herself.
Every maternal instinct in her screamed to wound the man who had hurt her children. She did not care if he was taller and stronger than her. She did not care that he was one of the most powerful men in the country. He could have been the King, and that would not have spared him from her ire.
No one hurts my children.
“Our lesson was more complicated than usual. He was struggling. It does not help that he is as combative as you are. He is constantly pushing back,” Tobias grunted.
“So you sunk to his level?” Rowen snorted. “You are a grown man, for goodness’ sake, and he is nine!”
“Exactly! He is years behind other boys his age—how is he supposed to cope when he goes to Eton if the extent of his arithmetic knowledge is addition and subtraction? They will eat him alive.” Tobias closed the distance between them, his lips curled downward. “He has had a governess for far too long; the boy should have had tutors ages ago.”
“At least his governess has never made him cry!” Rowen shot back. “And how dare you punish him simply because he has not had access to what others have? He is a child, and he is doing his best. If I could have hired tutors, I would have.”
“You did your best, I am not denying that, but the fact is, he is well behind his peers. I am pushing him because he needs to know these things.” Tobias’s voice softened as he turned away from her and took a step towards the window, but it did nothing to quell her anger.
“He is my child!” she hissed.
