I shall have a stern talk with them directly, milord… Joseph
CHAPTER 19
Phillip had no intention of letting Eden go. He would sooner cut off a limb or slice an artery. Surely there must be a way to, as the French would say, “have his cake and eat it too”. He pondered over his problem most of the day and into the evening, brooding at the club and knocking back more than his fair share of alcohol.
Both Benjamin and Daniel were of no help, neither one on board with this venture. They said that he was acting like a complete ass. Phillip thought that stung just a bit. He wasn’t an ass, maybe a donkey penis, but not the entire ass. When that thought floated through his head, he had a moment of clarity and figured that he had consumed too much and it was time to go home.
The only companion that had stuck with him through his entire night of drunkenness was Samuel, who in all fairness did not even touch a drop of the stuff the entire night despite Phillip’s urging. Samuel, in his usual detached droll manner, had told him that should he manage to kill himself, someone should be sober enough to give a proper accounting of his final hours.
At the time, it had sounded noble - in the morning light it sounded dreadful. What had he shared? How much ammunition had he unwittingly given his lifelong friend? Why was this woman turning his life inside out and backwards?
Phillip had been woken up, still in his evening clothes from the night before, but at least in his own parlor, by his butler, Joseph, who, if Phillip didn’t know better, was fighting a smirk on his face.
“So, help me, Joseph, if you laugh you, will be finding new employment faster than you can exit this room.”
Joseph’s left eyebrow rose marginally, “I would not dream of it, milord.”
“Your eyes are mocking me,” Phillip groaned as he attempted to sit up, clutching his head.
Joseph pressed his lips together for a small moment to gather himself, “I shall have a stern talk with them directly. Do you need assistance getting to your chambers, milord?”
“See that you do, and of course not. I am not a bloody child, Joseph. I am a grown man.” Phillip tried to stand and almost fell flat on his face. He quickly tipped backwards - if it hadn’t been for Joseph’s quick movements, he would have landed on the floor.
“Yes, milord, I can see you have it all under your control.”
“You are a rather cheeky bastard, for a butler,” Phillip grumbled as Joseph helped to steady him.
“You are a rather disreputable marquis. I like to think we go well together, milord,” Joseph reasoned as they left the room and headed to the stairs.
They took them slowly, and Phillip nodded as he considered this, “I do believe that you are right about that.”
*****
Phillip had not slept too terribly long when his door was opened with a slam. He was instantly awakened, and he sat up with a start.
His mother was there, obviously angry, her color heightened, her hands wringing.
“What is it?” Phillip asked. Thankful that he had put a nightshirt on, he quickly stood and grabbed some breeches. His mother turned for a moment so that he could pull them on. And then he quickly replaced his nightshirt with a white lawn shirt, not bothering with anything else.
He touched her arm to let her know that he was decent.
“What happened?”
“That bitch, the duchess, happened,” the dowager bit off not, wanting to sit down, so he offered her a seat in a little sitting area near the fire.
“You have spoken with Eden’s mother? I do not understand. What has happened?”
“I ran into her in the park today with the girls. She all but gave me the cut direct. Me... I am a bloody marchioness - the nerve of that woman. You would think that she believes herself to be the queen. I was shocked. Then she turned on me and started speaking loudly, accusing you of trying to ruin innocent girls. She started saying that she is keeping her daughter away from you and that all mothers should keep their daughters away from you. I was humiliated.”
The dowager’s lip started trembling. “Whatever are we going to do when I launch the girls next year? Are people going to accept them? Has the duchess the social power to ruin us?”
Phillip was furious. How dare the Duchess of Norfolk try and take down his entire family? It was one thing to mess with him, but it was quite another to hurt his mother and sisters. His mother had been through enough suffering and pain in her life. And his sisters, they had seen enough shunning. He would not stand for this.
“She will not do this to you, or to Lillian and Juliana,” Phillip went over and started to get dressed.
“Whatever are you going to do about it?” the dowager asked.
“Take her down, if necessary: she will not be allowed to treat you this way.” Phillip could feel his ire burn for this bitter older woman.
The dowager looked worried, “But what about Eden?”
“What about her?” Phillip asked, knowing full well that this complicated everything.
“Will this change things between you?” The dowager asked worriedly.
“There really isn’t anything permanent between Eden and me, mother. You know I am not the marrying kind. I know you do not wish to hear it, but it is what it is,” Phillip sighed tiredly. He tried to ignore the stabbing pain in his heart. Who knew that he even had a heart?
The dowager teared up, “Please do not say that.”
“It’s time I started facing the truth,” Phillip said woodenly.
“It couldn’t be further than the truth,” the dowager whispered, but he was already walking away.
As made his way across town, he thought about what he could say to Eden, how he could break it to her gently. They needed to end things. Elias was right - he shouldn’t be anywhere near her.
When he arrived, he was sweating, more than a little bit nervous, and terrified that he was more than halfway in love. How had that happened? He had never planned on falling in love. Love was for men like Elias, that stayed true to their wives, that slept with the same woman every night, and that put other’s needs above their own.
He was the most selfish self-serving bastard on the planet and wasn’t sure how to be any different. He asked to speak with the duchess. He wanted to rip into her for how she had hurt his mother. So, you can imagine his surprise when he was lead into the library and he found Eden, not the duchess, waiting.
But the greatest surprise was that Eden was in a dressing gown and nothing else.