Page 66 of The Viscount's Diamond Bride
Margaret stood in the doorway, pale.
“I can see that now is not a convenient time for you,” she said hurriedly. “Do excuse me…”
“Wait,” Graham ordered, his voice heavy. “Wait, please.”
Margaret paused, half turning away already, and glanced reluctantly back at him.
Graham rose to his feet, shaking the crumpled letter in his fist.
“Can you explain this?” he asked shortly.
Margaret clenched her jaw, lifting her chin. “I recognized Miss Whitmore’s handwriting. Itisstill Miss Whitmore, by the way. It seems that she never found a better match than a viscount. I planned to spare you pain, so I opened it and read it. You can add this to your list of grudges againstme.Iknow you have never forgiven me for paying her off.”
Graham gave a harsh laugh. “You needn’t worry, Mother. While you had no right to intervene in my life in that way, it helped me to understand that Jane did not truly love me. If she had, she would never have accepted the money you offered. But that is in the past. My concern is this letter. You… You showed it to Ursula, didn’t you?”
“I did not,” Margaret insisted. “I knew that she would see it, but I did not show it to her. It was in your best interests.”
“My best interests? Mother, anyone reading this letter would imagine that Jane and I have been entangled constantly. Ursula has left this house because she believes that I still loveanother. She believes that I have lied to her, and that I love another. That is not true, but I cannot tell her so because she is sending back my letters!”
Margaret sniffed, folding her arms across her chest. “I make no apologies. I have done what was right for you and for this family. For yourlegacy. And for your information, not that I am required to answer toyou, my son I have not done this alone.”
A shiver rolled down Graham’s spine. “What?”
“That cousin of Ursula’s was keen to get involved. She wrote to me, seeking my aid. She believes, as I do, that the match between you and Ursula is ill-made and ought to be broken. I shall show you the letter. See, here it is!”
Margaret fumbled in her pocket, withdrawing a neat little envelope and thrust it at Graham. He took it, briefly unfolding it to assure himself of the contents. Clenching his jaw, he slid the letter into his pocket.
“You can end things, don’t you see?” Margaret tried, coming forward with her hands outstretched as if to touch him. “At this stage of a matrimony, an annulment…”
“An annulment, Mother?” Graham snapped, wrenching away from her. “On what grounds?”
Margaret faltered. “Well, perhaps abandonment. She has left you, after all. Or nonconsummation.”
“The first will not suffice, and the second is not true,” Graham responded, and Margaret paled. “At least I know nowwhy you were so keen to keep my wife and I apart. How could you do this to me, Mother?”
“It was all for you!” Margaret bleated, coming closer to him. He dodged her outstretched arms, hurrying over to the bell pull in the corner. He heaved on it and turned to face her once more.
“Youaremy mother,” he stated bluntly. “I have never considered you as anythingbutmy mother. At the moment, however, it is remarkably hard to love you. You have cost me perhaps my only chance at happiness, and you do not even regret anything that you have done. How am I supposed to forgive you?”
Margaret opened and closed her mouth, groping for words of explanation that were not coming.
They were interrupted by soft footsteps outside, and Morrison appeared at the door. There was a grim look on his face, and Graham imagined that their raised voices had travelled well in the silent house.
“The Dowager Lady Sinclair is leaving immediately,” Graham said, meeting Morrison’s eyes. “She will be leaving as quickly as she can pack her things. Please fetch some of the maids to assist, and you are to overlook the process yourself. My mother is not to be admitted back into the house once she has left.”
There was a heavy silence after that.
“Yes, your lordship,” Morrison said, missing a beat. Graham turned to look at his mother.
Margaret’s face was ashen. Her hands had fallen limply to her sides and she stared up at him, eyes bulging.
“I assume you have somewhere to go, Mother?” Graham asked quietly.
She swallowed. “I will return to my house.”
“The repairs, then…?”
She pressed her lips together. “There never were any repairs.”
