Page 61 of The Odyssean Duke

He had not lied to Evelina, after all. He did have business with his solicitor. His grandmother had not seen fit to give Stephan the ledger containing all the finances of the dukedom either, and he refused to ask her for it. Stephan doubted his grandmother would give it to him, and even if she did, he strongly suspected that those numbers would come at a higher price than he would be willing to pay.

If he did not ask, he might at least keep his dignity.

The dowager’s house was slightly smaller than his own, a detail that he noted with some satisfaction. Her Grace had a way of bringing out the worst in him. Carefully trimmed roses lined the stone walkway. Stephan found the flowers to be a little too predictable, too appropriate for a woman who had more thorns than any of those flowers.

He went up the path to the door, which opened before he had even reached it. Stephan recognized the man in the doorway—Gregory Simmons, the man who had been his father’s butler. It seemed as if all the staff had not been dismissed, then. Some had elected to leave with his grandmother.

Stephan managed a grim smile. Maybe he ought not be bothered by it. He would rather have an inefficient but loyal staff as opposed to one that might betray him.

“Your Grace,” Gregory greeted, bowing. “The Dowager Duchess has been expecting you.”

“Has she?” Stephan asked. “Strange, given that I provided her with no indication that I would come to call.”

The butler’s lined face revealed nothing. “She anticipated that you would.”

Stephan wondered if his grandmother had told the man about her visit and encounter with Evelina. He doubted it, but Stephan also would have been unsurprised to learn that his grandmother bragged about her own misdeeds like a Shakespearean villain. She was certainly as wicked and clever as Iago fromOthello.

“Tell her that I have arrived,” said Stephan.

Gregory bowed. “One moment.”

The butler departed, leaving Stephan in the foyer. His eyes darted about the unfamiliar entryway; he had not been in the dowager’s house for years. The foyer was all polished furniture and portraits in gilded frames. A red and gold Persian rug was laid out beneath his feet. Stephan thought it was all garish, too much wealth being flaunted for no other reason than to make his grandmother’s less fortunate visitors feel insecure about their own wealth.

At last, Gregory returned. “Her Grace will see you.”

Stephan nodded curtly. He followed Samuel into the drawing room, where his grandmother sat. She narrowed her eyes and tipped her chin up, gazing imperiously at him. “Stephan.”

He smiled thinly. “Your Grace.”

The Dowager Duchess gave him a look which seemed to imply that he was an unfathomable inconvenience. She waved a hand to the vacant sofa placed across from her. “Sit.”

“I would rather stand. I do not anticipate this visit taking long.”

“No?” Her Grace asked. “Have you come to accept defeat, then?”

Stephan shook his head. “I would never give you that satisfaction. Besides, why should I? I am quite confident that I have won this little war of yours.”

The Dowager Duchess of Rothbury smiled indulgently, as if he had just performed an amusing trick for her. “Are you? I very much doubt that.”

“Pride goeth before the fall,” Stephan quoted.

“You speak to me of pride,” Her Grace said. “What of yours? My dear grandson, I fear that you are better acquainted with that sin than I.”

“Do you?” Stephan moved to stand behind the sofa and curled his hands over the back of it. “You are the one who refuses to relinquish your power. I am the Duke of Rothbury, my father’s only son and heir. Why do you insist on pretending otherwise? I respect the fairer sex; I do. However, the law does not. The dukedom is mine.”

“Unless you fail to produce an heir,” his grandmother shot back. “Then, it is mine in all but title.”

“I shall produce an heir,” Stephan said. “I have a wife, as you well know.”

Her Grace laughed. “So you learned of our conversation, did you? I suppose your duchess was frightened and felt the need to have you intimidate me.”

“Not at all,” he said. “I came of my own accord. Nothing frightens Evelina, not even you.”

“Then, your wife is lacking in sense,” Her Grace said. “I will admit that I am impressed you found a wife so quickly; however, I doubt she will provide you with the heir you need. Did you know that she was married for a year and produced no child?”

Stephan inhaled sharply. He had known that, although he had not thought much on it; now, it was rather obvious why Evelina had not borne a child. Her husband had never lain with her.

His grandmother did not know that. While Stephan would derive a great deal of satisfaction from telling her, he refrained. That was Evelina’s business, and he would not share it with his grandmother, even if it might provide a fleeting satisfaction.