Page 83 of The Odyssean Duke

If she meant taught him to see the worst in himself and everyone around him, Stephan supposed she was right. He smiled thinly.

“I suppose you did.”

The Dowager Duchess opened a chest of drawers and withdrew a folded paper, yellowed with age and sealed with wax. Stephan’s heart skipped a beat as he stared at it. That must be his father’s will. She had truly kept it.

Stephan had been right about everything.Evelinahad been right.

He stood leisurely, doing nothing which might betray his delight at having won at last. “For what it is worth, you were a powerful opponent,” Stephan said.

“You and your war metaphors,” she scoffed, holding out the paper. “The will, untouched since the day your father signed it.”

Stephan snatched it from her and broke the seal, unfolding it. His eyes swept over the fine handwriting, which detailed every stipulation his father had wanted. There was no mention of a marriage or an heir. There was no mention of a trustee either.

Stephan eyed his grandmother over the aged paper. “Do you know what this document says?”

“Yes.”

The power between them shifted, and for the first time, Stephan did not see a cold and powerful woman who demanded respect and who resolved to rule his entire life. Instead, he saw someone old and defeated, who had bargained for everything and had lost it all.

Stephan deliberately folded the will and placed it in the pocket of his jacket. “I suggest that you leave quickly.”

“Where shall I go?”

“I care not,” Stephan said. “But if you remain here for any length of time, I will ensure that all London knows of your treachery.”

Without waiting for a response, he turned and walked away. Stephan smiled to himself as he crossed the threshold. Finally, his longest battle ended. Now, he just had to decide how to reconcile with his wife, if his wife still wished to be.

After all, they had agreed to this arrangement because of the contract. That was reasonable grounds for an annulment, something which he could share discreetly with only a few relevant parties. Evelina would be free, and so would he.

Why did the thought of returning to bachelorhood make his stomach lurch so violently, though? Somehow, that seemed like a fate worse than even death.

CHAPTER 36

It had been four days without Evelina. That was sufficient time for his wife to have space to gather her own thoughts and to decide how she felt about him. Stephan forced away the lump in his throat and smoothed invisible wrinkles down his jacket. He stood in front of Evelina’s house. It was like any other townhouse in Mayfair, pristine and elegant with well-groomed gardens. Never before had a woman’s townhouse seemed so intimidating.

Stephan grimaced. When he had first resolved to come to Evelina’s house, he had told himself that he could not make the situation any worse than it already was. Now that he had actually arrived, Stephan was not entirely certain that was true.

At least, he could tell her that she had been right about the forgery. That was something small to offer, a proverbial olive branch. But Evelina was a clever woman. If Stephan told her that there was no stipulation in the contract which required either a wife or an heir, she would realize that there was no reason for them to remain married.

He grimaced and forced his feet to move toward her door, even though his limbs were leaden. If Evelina no longer wished to be married to him, the gracious thing to do would be to respect her wishes. Did he have it in him tobeso gracious, though? Without the contract and Her Grace looming over them like a malevolent specter, they could just be two married people who learned to love one another.

The door opened as he reached it, Evelina’s butler bowing deeply. “Your Grace.”

Stephan smiled awkwardly. Had Evelina told her household about their argument? The thought that she might have was unsettling. He cleared his throat, the will in his pocket burning like a branding. The only thing that drove him more than the memory of that will was the possibility that he might see Evelina once more. He was prepared to do whatever might be required to enter her good graces once more.

“I have come to see Evelina,” he said.

The butler’s expression hardened, and Stephan knew in that moment that Evelinahadtold her staff about the argument. Or if not, the servants had already gossiped with one another and spread the word. There was no other reason for Evelina’s butler to glare at him like that, as if Stephan was something disgusting that he had found on the bottom of his shoe.

“Regrettably, Her Grace is not here,” the butler said.

Stephan’s breath caught in his chest. “Where did she go?”

“I am uncertain that she wishes for you to know, Your Grace.”

Stephan crossed his arms and glared at the butler, who seemed entirely unintimidated. “I am her husband.”

“Indeed,” the butler said. “And as Her Grace’s butler, I answer to her. She has gone, and I will not reveal her whereabouts until she provides me with some indication that she wishes for you to know where she is.”