“Aunt, I must beg of you to desist.”

“And why should I?” Lady Dreaver threw up her hands in the air, her face rather red with evident anger. “I have come here to find my niece entirely without prospects even though she is of marriageable age, only to hear from her that you have stated she is never to go to London! That you will arrange a match for her!”

Joseph shrugged. “I cannot see that causing any difficulty, Aunt. I understand that both you and Sophia might have different expectations but this is what I have determined is best for her.”

Lady Dreaver took a step closer, her eyes calculating as she put her hands to her hips. “Or is it best for you?”

A wave of heat crashed into Joseph’s chest but he looked away, refusing to let his aunt see anything within his eyes. “I am doing as I think right.”

“You are hiding.”

Turning back towards her sharply, Joseph narrowed his eyes. “What makes you think you have the right to speak to me in such a way?” He waited expectantly, thinking that his aunt would be a little cowed, recognizing that she was speaking to the Duke of Langford rather than simply her mere nephew, only for Joseph to be disappointed. His aunt’s lip curled in the very same way as his mother’s did, the flash in her eyes telling him that he was not going to be able to bend her to his will as he had hoped.

“I have no intention of letting you lord yourself over me, Your Grace,” Lady Dreaver said, her tone a little harsh. “You are still my nephew, someone I have known since the day of your birth and someone that I still care for a great deal, just as I care for Sophia. I will not let your own dark moods rob her of the happiness she deserves. Do you not understand how much it means to a  young lady to be given her Season? For her to make her debut – especially when they are sister to a Duke? Sophia ought to be out in society just as every other young lady has been and yet, for no explicable reason, you are depriving her of it.”

“She does not need to experience society! Do you not know how much difficulty they bring? Do you not understand just how cruel they can be?”

Lady Dreaver shook her head. “You are, again, making this all about you and all that you desire, all that you have experienced. You do not want your sister to have any of the same difficulties that you have endured, you tell yourself, so therefore, you think it best to keep her at home with you and arrange a marriage for her. Can you not see how inconsiderate you are being, even though you may believe that you are doing the very best for her?”

Joseph scowled. “I would prefer it, Aunt, if you would keep your thoughts to yourself on this matter. I have had quite enough of your interference.” He threw his hand out towards the door. “No doubt I shall now hear from Sophia, crying to me about how unfair I am being to her, encouraged on by you and your supposed concern for her! No doubt you have your own intentions in coming here. Are you bored of your life in the country with your husband now that all your children are wed? Is there nothing to distract you save from his company, which you now realise is nothing but dullness and discontent?”

The fury in his aunt’s eyes was so fierce that Joseph caught his breath, only just feeling the heat rippling across his cheek as he realized, a few seconds later, that his aunt had slapped him, hard.

“How dare you speak so?” Lady Dreaver could barely speak, such was her anger and Joseph lifted one hand to his cheek, rubbing at the heated skin gently. “Your uncle and I practically raised you, as you well know, and that is how you think to speak of him?”

A sense of shame began to run up Joseph’s spine and he dropped his gaze, his heart twisting into a knot. Lady Dreaver was quite right. She and her husband, the Marquess of Dreaver, had done a great deal for both Joseph and Sophia when they had been children. With his father and mother away for prolonged periods of time due to the Duke’s interests abroad, they had been left to the care of their aunt and uncle who had taken them in as though they were their very own. And that on top of the fact that they had four children of their own to contend with!

“Aunt, I – ”

“Do not ask me to apologise, for I shall not,” Lady Dreaver interrupted, two spots of color in her cheeks. “The shame that you bring to yourself in speaking so should be heavy upon your shoulders. I do not wish to speak to you again until you are ready to apologise.”

So saying, she marched from the room and shut the door behind her with a slam rather than leaving the footman to close it for her. Frustrated and upset, Joseph turned on his heel and stalked to the window, his hands curling into fists. There was no need for her to have such a strong reaction, he told himself firmly. Yes, he might have been a little blunt and yes, he might have been a tad harsh but that reaction – practically demanding that he apologise – was not at all proper. Who would ask a Duke to apologise? It was foolishness to demand such a thing.

Passing one hand over his face, Joseph let out a long, slow breath in an attempt to steady himself, though his brows knitted together just as they usually did. Ever since his escape from society some four years ago, he had found himself more than contented within the four walls of his estate, though Sophia had been the one to protest. She had cried about being unable to reacquaint herself with her friends, had begged him about when she ought to make her debut and Joseph had ignored every single thing that she had asked him. She had a desire to wed – that, he could understand – but he did not agree with her that she ought to be in society for that. He could easily make a match for her here at the estate rather than having her dragged through the marriage mart. Sophia might not think it was for her best but Joseph was certain it was so.

Recalling his aunt’s words gave him pause though he did his best to throw the thought away just as quickly as it came to him. Yes, there was a personal reason for his removal from society and for his determination to keep Sophia back from it but that was not his only reason. He was not doing this for himself, but for her.

The guilt which had settled in him as he had spoken harshly about his aunt and uncle came back upon him fiercely and he dropped his head, even though there was no one else present to see him. He had hated seeing Sophia upset though her tears and her upset had made him rather weary. He had told her that she was to cease her demands and her cries and never bring up the matter again, though the sudden and unexpected arrival of his aunt had suggested to him that Sophia had written to Lady Dreaver in the hope of some aid.

“Well, she shall have none,” Joseph told himself, firmly. “Mother was not able to persuade me and so neither shall our aunt.”

His mother, the Duchess of Langford, was currently in France, enjoying some time with friends, though it had been well over a year since she had been in England. She had joined in with Sophia in her demands for Sophia to go to London for her come out but Joseph had made himself quite clear in the matter and thus, his mother had chosen to take herself to another country altogheter, though Joseph had not let her take Sophia with her as she had wanted. Sophia was now his responsibility and he had been determined to take the matter seriously, albeit without giving in to what Sophia herself wanted. Joseph knew there were letters exchanged between mother and daughter but he himself had not received much more than a small note on occasion, assuring him that all was well. Given that his mother had thrown some very harsh words at him before she had taken her leave, Joseph presumed that she had no real interest in writing to him and still thought very poorly of him though he told himself he did not care.

“And I still do not,” he said loudly, as though to confirm it to himself. “I still do not care. I will make my judgements and they shall be as I have said.” Lifting his chin, he looked out across his estate and nodded, determined that this was just as he wanted life to be. Yes, his mother, sister and now aunt thought little of him and his decisions but that did not matter, not to him. He had his reasons for staying back from society and he did not need anyone to understand. All he needed them to do was obey.

Ten days later.

“Sophia?”

Frowning, Joseph walked into the library, fully expecting to see his sister present though the room was, to his surprise, entirely empty. She had not come to join him for dinner, though that had come as no surprise given that she and their aunt had eaten together rather than in his company the last sennight. However, he had come in search of her now in order to bid her goodnight, only to find that she was nowhere to be found. The parlour did not hold her, she was not in the gardens – though why she would be at this hour, he could not imagine – and now she was not in the drawing room or the library. He had already looked in the ballroom, had sent a footman to ensure that her horse was still present in the stable and was now at a loss as to where she might be.

Fear burned a hole through his heart and he let out a breath, pressing one hand lightly against his stomach so that he might chase such a feeling away.

My aunt! Turning quickly, Joseph hurried out of the room and practically ran towards his aunt’s bedchamber, knocking loudly and hurriedly upon the wooden door. It had been ten days since they had last spoken and though Joseph had tried, Lady Dreaver had not been willing to offer him even the smallest hint of consideration. She had, instead, ignored him utterly and Sophia had done much the same thing. The only thing she had said to him, the only thing she had asked was whether or not he was ready to apologise for the insult he had placed upon her and her husband, but when Joseph had said nothing, she had simply walked away from him without another word.

Joseph prayed that she would speak with him now.

Knocking again, he called through the door. “I know that you will not be expecting me at your door so late, Aunt, but I must know where Sophia has gone. Please, do come and assist me.”

No answer came and, a little frustrated, with his fear growing, Joseph knocked again, all the more loudly. Seeing a passing maid, he called for her and gestured to the door.

“Go inside and tell Lady Dreaver that I must speak with her, even though it is late.”

The maid blinked at him. “Lady Dreaver has not taken to her room as yet, Your Grace.” She dropped her gaze quickly when Joseph looked back at her sharply. “Forgive me, Your Grace, I do not mean to speak out of turn but – ”

“Where has she gone at this hour?”

The maid blinked again, daring a glance up at him before she dropped it again, her face flaming. “Your Grace, Lady Dreaver has returned home I believe.”

Home? Blinking furiously, Joseph rushed back towards the staircase, calling aloud for his butler. The man was at the bottom of the staircase by the time Joseph had finished descending them, his head a little bent forward in obvious respect.

“Your Grace?”

“My aunt,” Joseph said, urgently as he resisted the urge to grab a hold of the butler’s lapels. “Where has she gone?”

“Lady Dreaver?” The butler’s eyebrows lifted. “Why, she has gone to London, Your Grace. She left this afternoon along with Lady Sophia.”

It was as though all of the air in the room had been pulled from him for Joseph could not breathe for some moments, a slight gurgling noise coming from his chest as he stared back at the butler.

“You were out on business all day, Your Grace,” the butler continued, clearly aware that this had astonished Joseph a great deal. “Lady Dreaver assured me that it had all been arranged and though it was a little unexpected, we packed the carriage as quickly as we could and they both took their leave a little after luncheon.”

Joseph closed his eyes, his breathing still a little ragged. “Where did you say they were gone?”

“To London, Your Grace.”

With another gasp of breath, Joseph turned and made his way to his study, feeling unsteady and uncertain, desperate for a nip of brandy to make the fright fade from his frame. Swallowing hard, he stepped into the room and then closed the door tight behind him, leaning against it.

She has gone to London?

His eyes flared as he pushed himself away from the door and then made his way to his large oak desk, ready to pour himself a brandy only to notice a note sitting right in the very centre of the table.

Joseph snatched it up, unfolding it with trembling fingers. This was not what he had expected, was not at all what he had anticipated. He knew that his aunt and his sister were both upset with him but he had never once thought that his aunt would be brazen enough to take Sophia and herself away and back to London! What was it she was intending to do?

The note told him.

‘I have decided to make my way to London, along with your sister,’ Lady Dreaver wrote. ‘She is deeply sorrowful and will have no happiness here, not when she has a cold-hearted, cruel and inconsiderate brother such as you are. Be assured that I care for you deeply as I care for Sophia and I must urge you to reconsider your present character and all that you portray to others. Should you wish to join us in London, I am certain that we will both be glad of your company, so long as you do not demand that Sophia takes her leave of society. After all, what a scandal it would be for the Duke’s sister to make her first foray into society only for her brother to demand that she return to his estate! Who knows what sort of whispers that would bring! Who can tell what rumours might begin to spread? I cannot imagine the difficulty that would bring to your sister. Therefore, I do hope that either you will join us in London and assist me in my determination to find Sophia a suitable match, or you will remain at your estate, in your own company and without any further provocation towards your dear sister. I also expect that, should you come to London, that an apology will be made for that is something that has still not been offered to me though you know full well that you ought to have said such a thing a long time ago. Yours etc.’

The letter was dropped onto the table, quickly followed by a thump of Joseph’s hand. His aunt had taken Sophia away, determined that she was to get her Season, fully aware that Joseph could do very little about it. She was absolutely right to state that, should Joseph come to London and demand that his sister return to the estate, rumours would immediately begin as to why he had done such a thing and he could not let her be touched by anything akin to that.

His only recourse was either to trust his sister and her future happiness to his aunt or to make his way to London and do just as both Sophia and his aunt expected of him.

Lowering his head, Joseph let out a low groan of both anger and frustration. He had made his decision, he had told Sophia what she ought to expect and she had circumvented a way around that, forcing him to do now as she wanted! This did not give him the respect nor the control that he both wanted and expected, leaving Joseph feeling ill at ease. He liked his control, liked making certain that he was the one making such decisions rather than his sister or anyone else around him. That was his way of making certain that all was just as it ought to be.

“But now I am to go to London, it seems,” he muttered, passing one hand over his hair as he looked around for his brandy. It was not just his sister and his aunt which angered him, it was also the awareness that when he returned to London, there was a chance that he might see her there.

And that thought brought him nothing but dread.