“Sorry,” he said, shooting her a forced smile before he returned his attention to the hallway.
“I don’t want to see you hurt, Robert,” his mother said as she came to her feet and walked towards him, stepping in his path and giving him no choice but to stop pacing.
“I’m not going to get hurt,” he murmured, shifting his attention past his mother and towards the kitchen.
“I hoped that one day you’d make a good match, Robert,” she started to explain, but he was in no mood for a lecture this morning.
“This is a good match,” he said quietly, giving her a smile as he leaned down and pressed a kiss to his mother’s cheek. “Better than good.”
“I know that Elizabeth is beautiful and exciting, but that doesn’t make for a good match, Robert. These feelings won’t last forever and when they’re gone you’ll be left with a wife that you don’t want, who makes you unhappy and I don’t want that for you.”
“What feelings are these?” he found himself asking, wondering if his mother realized that he was in love with Elizabeth.
She cleared her throat uncomfortably as she shifted her gaze away from him. “The feelings men have for beautiful women, Robert. I may be your mother, but I know that men often allow their attentions to take control of their lives and I’m afraid that’s what you’ve done, Robert. You’ve married a woman that you hate simply because she’s beautiful.”
“That’s not why I married her,” Robert said, trying to reassure his mother that everything would be okay.
“I know that you married her to do the right thing. That’s how you were raised and I would expect nothing less from you, Robert, but with the baby gone you can fix this mistake. You can end this marriage before anyone gets hurt,” she said, her tone pleading as she reached out and took both his hands into hers.
“You and I both know that an annulment is no longer an option. Not after this morning. By now everyone will know that this is a marriage in truth.”
“Your father and Lord Norwood have taken care of that,” his mother said tightly, looking anywhere but at him and not sounding pleased to have this conversation any more than he was.
“And what exactly did they take care of?” he demanded, pulling his hands away.
“They’ve made sure that none of the servants will talk,” she said, looking up at him. “As you can see, there’s still time to fix this, Robert.”
“There’s nothing to fix,” he said evenly, done with this conversation. “We’re not getting this marriage annulled so you can save your efforts, because they’re not wanted.”
“Would you please listen to reason and-”
“I love her!” he snapped, realizing his mistake only too late. He shook his head in frustration. “Just forget that I said-”
“You love her?” she asked, looking stunned.
“Yes,” he said, realizing there was no point in lying about it. The words were already out and knowing his mother, she would never be able to pretend otherwise.
“Truly?” she asked, her eyes narrowing on him as she waited for an answer.
“Truly,” he said, preparing himself for the tears of joy and mushy sentiments that were no doubt about to follow.
Women were silly creatures when it came to declarations of love, but at least it would gain his mother’s support, he realized. He hadn’t planned on telling her how he felt, but it was probably for the best. She’d put an end to this annulment bullshit and he could focus on more important matters like his investments. It had been several days since he’d been able to get any work done and now that Elizabeth was on the mend he could-
“Bloody hell!” he shouted, moving to yank his hand away from the vicious woman, but apparently he hadn’t moved fast enough, because his mother struck his knuckles with her fan, again.
“That’s for swearing in front of your mother!” she snapped, propping her fists on her h*ps as she scowled at him, making her attentions for another attack clear if he stepped out of line.
“And the first one?” he bit out, rubbing the back of his stinging hand as he glared down at his mother, but he wasn’t stupid enough to raise his voice at her. She was still gripping her fan after all.
“For lying to me!”
“I never lied to you,” he said, frowning in confusion as he thought over their conversation, wondering what she was talking about.
“If you think that you’re going to manipulate me into taking your side and looking the other way while you continue with this mistake of a marriage, then you have another thing coming, young man!” she said, jabbing that damn fan, that he was going to have to steal, in his chest as she made her point.
“I didn’t-”
“What’s going on?” his father asked, probably saving him from another rap on the-
“Ow!”
“That’s for trying to lie to me again!” she explained before he could ask.
She swiftly turned her attention on his father, who had the good sense to get the hell out of her way as she turned to storm out of the foyer. “You fix this!” she snapped at his father with a glare that clearly said there would be hell to pay if he didn’t.
“Of course, my dear,” his father muttered obediently as he watched his wife storm off.
“Where are you going?” Robert asked, watching as his father practically ran to the door seconds later.
“To my club where it’s safe,” his father said, barely sparing him a glance as he made his escape.
For a moment, he considered following his father, not really caring that it was the cowardly thing to do, but he had a sick wife that he needed to take care of first. After he made sure that Elizabeth was settled, he would consider escaping this madhouse until everyone came to their damn senses.
Chapter 30
“What are you doing?”
Elizabeth chewed on her bottom lip as she dropped her hairpin and picked up the small nail she’d found lying on the floor near where Robert’s jacket hung and proceeded to stick it in the keyhole, uncaring that the owner of the chest was now standing over her, looking amused.
“Stealing your chest,” she said, even though she felt it should be more than obvious what she was doing.
“Do you do this often?” Robert asked, placing the cup of tea that he’d promised her over a half hour ago on the small table to the right before he gently pried the nail from her hand and handed over a small, simple, but still somewhat stunning key.