Page 94 of From Unwanted to Duchess
No. No, he couldn’t be here. Not now. Not when she was already raw and bleeding from Isabella’s words, from her father’s indifference, from the humiliation of having her failures laid bare.
She turned, and there he was.
“But I can choose not to give her anything.”
James stepped into the room, and for a moment, their eyes met. Her blood ran cold and hot at the same time. Her lips parted.
He looked terrible. Dark circles under his eyes, his cravat slightly askew—something she had never seen before. His jaw was tight, his hands clenched at his sides. But his eyes… his eyes were fixed on her with an intensity that made her breath catch.
She wasn’t sure if she wanted to embrace him or tell him to leave. To run to him or run away from him. She hadn’t seen him since he had told her that he did not wish to remain married.Since he had fixed her with that cold look and sent her away like she was nothing.
And now here he was, standing in Aunt Eugenia’s drawing room, looking at her as though she were everything.
Why is he here?
Then she spotted Aunt Eugenia behind him and understood. Of course, her wonderful aunt had to meddle.
“Your Grace,” her father bit out, seeming displeased with seeing him.
“Mr. Langley,” James greeted. “I have heard that you have come to take Frances back to Bedfordshire with you. Is that indeed your intention?”
“It is, now that you have rejected her,” her father said. “But what is this talk of you not giving her anything? There are legal documents in place. She was promised a trust and property.”
“Upon our marriage, yes,” James said. “But we will no longer be married, and we will not be divorced either. We are having the marriage annulled, and it will be as if it never happened in the first place. An annulment voids the marriage contract from the beginning, which means the marriage settlement is no longer valid. There is no marriage, therefore there is no settlement. I do not have to give Frances a single shilling, and she has nointention of accepting anything anyway. I am not fond of wasted transactions, so no money will exchange hands.”
Isabella walked up to her father and grabbed him by the arm. “Do something, Roland! Do something!”
Her father looked from her to James and then at Aunt Eugenia. “Eugenia, this is your doing, isn’t it? You have put ideas into their heads, haven’t you? You always were a conniving old woman.”
“Oh, it is so refreshing to hear a gentleman speak his mind.” Aunt Eugenia’s lips curled into a slow smile. “There is almost too much pretense and false politeness in Society.”
“You are still coming back with me, Frances,” her father barked.
“Why?” Isabella hissed.
Frances almost burst into laughter.
“Yes, Father,” she said. “Why? You have no use for me. I am a rejected duchess. Who will have me?”
“I—” Her father broke off, his face softening. “You are my daughter. You need protection.”
“You never protected me before, and you never protected me fromher.”
“I beg your pardon!” Isabella exclaimed. “I have been like a mother to you. Why would you need protection from me?” She looked at James and Aunt Eugenia, and it was clear that what she had said was for their benefit, not for anybody else’s.
“You have made me feel second-best ever since you married my father because you hated that I came from my mother. Do not deny it. You always preferred your own daughter over me. She always receives the very best of everything, while I had to content myself with scraps.”
“Well said,” Aunt Eugenia murmured.
“You sent me to London not because you cared for my prospects, but because you wanted me gone. Out of sight, out of mind, so that all your attention, all your resources, could go to your precious daughter.”
Frances rounded on her father. “And you did nothing about it. Not once. You ought to be ashamed of yourself. So no, I am not coming back with you. I am not taking James’s money. I will make my own way. I will remain as Aunt Eugenia’s companion for as long as she will have me.”
“Oh, that would be a very long time.” Aunt Eugenia placed an arm around her.
Frances had never been as happy to have her aunt at her side as she was at that moment.
“I cannot believe this,” Isabella huffed. “Such an impertinent girl, speaking to us in such a manner. Come, Roland. We are leaving.”
