Chapter 21
His father’s funeral dragged by. Silas couldn’t believe the finality of it all. How quickly Josiah had slipped away, leaving him in charge. The Sweet siblings, after the funeral, headed back to the house that they were renting while their town home was being renovated following the fire.
The house was already full of guests. It was overwhelming. Michael and Dinah waded in, talking to all of the black-clothed funeral-goers.
Silas found himself looking hopefully for Lucy. He didn’t see her. Disappointment flooded him. No doubt, she and her aunt had returned home after the service.
Now that he had seen her, he picked up on the gentle softening of her brown eyes as she had turned them on him. She certainly cared for him, but she had fled from Thornbridge Manor.
He wanted to confront her, to ask her why, to demand she to agree to allow him to court her. But not that day. Not on the day that he had buried his father.
Instead, he grabbed a bottle of bourbon off of the refreshments table and went up to the study, where he closed the door.
The room was filled with a massive, empty desk and a few armchairs. He sat down in one of them and began to take gulps of the bourbon, letting the alcohol blur the pain that he was in.
His brother found him there, a long while later. “I was wondering where you’d gone off to. You do know that we have a ton of guests, all of them asking for you, don’t you?”
Silas said nothing, just handed over the bottle. Michael took a swig of it, then sat down in the chair across from him. The leather creaked as he sat down.
“You know that you’re going to have to change,” Michael said.
Silas turned towards him. “Yes, I know.” It had been the only other thing occupying his time of late—worrying how he was going to do it all.
“You’re the Viscount of Thornbridge, and not only do I depend on you, Dinah does, too.”
“Yes.” He held his hand out for the bottle and Michael handed it over. Silas took another sip, then passed it back to his brother. “I won’t let you down, Michael. I promise.”
His brother nodded. Michael’s face was grim as he stared at Silas. “I’ll help you,” he offered.
“Thank you.”
Silas turned the corners of his lips upward in an attempt to smile. He knew that he was failing, but he wanted his brother to know that he was grateful to him, grateful for his support. Slowly, his brother nodded. They both sat in silence. Silas knew he was going to have to become someone else. He was in charge, now. He needed to prove himself to his brother.
I just wish that I’d had another year or two, at least.
There was nothing to be done, though. Their father was gone, leaving Silas in charge. The only thing that he could do was to endeavour to do his best.
“I’ll head to the solicitor’s in the morning,” he told Michael.