Page 97 of The Duke's Impossible Deal
She left the room with tears streaming down her face.
Twenty-Eight
“You look awful.” Martha wrinkled her nose as she walked into the study.
Tobias blinked blearily up at her from where he was sitting on the floor, leaning against his wooden desk. His hand brushed against the half-empty bottle of scotch, and he winced as it clattered to the floor.
Sunlight filled the room as Martha opened the curtains, and Tobias groaned, shielding his eyes from it. His mouth felt like it was full of cotton, and he could taste stale whiskey and cigar smoke.
His stomach growled, and he put a hand over it. He could not remember when he had last eaten. He had barely had an appetite.
“What are you doing here?” He groaned as his head started to pound.
“You asked me to visit you before I left for Arlington, remember?” Martha gave him a quizzical look.
Tobias frowned. “But that was not until the sixth.”
“It is the sixth, Tobias.” Martha rocked Erica, who was starting to fuss.
“What? It cannot be.” Tobias shook his head and immediately regretted it, as the pounding only worsened.
“Well, it is.” Martha sat on the chaise and began bouncing Erica up and down on her lap.
That meant it had been three days since Rowen had left. It had been three days since she had walked out the door and his life had come crashing down around him.
The halls were quiet and empty. He kept turning around, expecting the children to appear at any moment. The scent of violets lingered on his bed, taunting him with the memory of what could have been.
She did not want to stay.
It was better this way. He had let himself get carried away, and it had almost trapped her with him forever. He had done the right thing.
“When was the last time you shaved? Or ate? Or even slept?” Martha’s voice pulled him out of his thoughts. “I cannot imagine your wife will be thrilled about this behavior. Where is she, anyway?”
“She is gone. They all are.” Tobias rose unsteadily to his feet. His joints cracked ominously as he stretched, and he grimaced. “They left a few days ago, actually.”
He shrugged and ran a hand through his hair, making a dismissive motion with his other hand. He hoped that Martha would drop the subject, but she did not.
“What do you mean?” She frowned. “Have they gone to the country? Why did you not go with them?”
“I mean, they no longer live here. Rowen, Georgie, and Alistair will not be coming back.” Tobias slumped into an armchair as the room tilted. “It is over.”
“What happened?” Martha asked, carefully laying a now-calm Erica on the chaise and moving closer to him. “I thought the repairs at Irving Manor were not finished.”
“They’re not.” His voice was clipped.
“Then why has she left? Did you have an argument? I know that things were not always easy between the two of you, but it seemed like you had turned a corner of late.” Martha pursed herlips. “At least, from the letters I have received from you and what some of the servants have mentioned.”
“Her brother is not dead.” Tobias closed his eyes, not wanting to see the pity on her face. “The only reason she needed to marry me was because he would not be able to support her any longer, and well… Now that he can do that, we do not need to stay married.”
He leaned back in his chair.
“Forget that any of this ever happened?”
He wished that it were that easy. That he could just erase her. But the hole in his chest only seemed to grow further.
“If that was the only reason for you to remain married, then that might be reasonable to say,” Martha said slowly, as though choosing her words carefully.
Tobias waved a hand dismissively. “There was no other reason for us to stay together.”
