The Debutante is Mine by Vivienne Lorret

Author:Vivienne Lorret [Lorret, Vivienne]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2016-01-18T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER ELEVEN

“The gossip hounds are frothing at the mouth over the news, my friend,” Wolford said, striding up the steps of Jack’s townhouse behind him. “The ton is positively mad about the notion that you will be joining Dovermere for dinner tomorrow evening.”

Wolford’s carriage had just pulled up as Jack returned from his solicitor’s office, and he was in no mood for a friendly chat.

The news he’d just received had left him bitter and angry. According to the solicitor, there was nothing Jack could do to alter or argue against the stipulations of the late Baron Haggerty’s will. By all accounts, Lilah was listed as one of her father’s assets. Because of that she had no rights of her own and no legal ability to free herself of her circumstances. Her husband, however, could do so. Should she marry a titled nobleman, said gentleman would have the right to breach her father’s contract with the current Baron Haggerty. But an ordinary man, even one with an extraordinary amount of money, could do nothing. Well, next to nothing.

Such a man could marry her and then get her with child in order for the courts to validate their union. Not that Jack had given the notion any thought. It had only been a supposition. Nothing more. Well, nothing more than his constant consideration.

Regardless, Jack also knew that under such a circumstance, Lilah would lose ties to her mother, her aunt, and her cousin. A man who truly cared for her would never cause her such grief. A man who truly cared for her would be willing to enter her world, not force her to be part of his.

“I’m not going to Dovermere’s dinner party,” Jack said to Wolford as he tossed his hat and gloves on the cluttered demilune table in the hall. Unlike Wolford’s, Jack’s townhouse was sparsely furnished. He didn’t believe in wasting money on objects. “Let those gossip hounds gnash their teeth instead.”

Jack had made the decision shortly after having left the Corbett Ball three days ago. He had no desire to pretend that all was well and forgotten. For years, he’d been avoiding all association with Dovermere. By leaving Jack’s mother and making a life for himself, Dovermere had made his choice. Obviously for Dovermere, the foolish rules governing the haute ton, the disgrace of marrying his mistress, and a desire to pad the family coffers had been far too important to cast aside.

Besides, why would Jack want to see inside the house where Dovermere had made a life with a woman other than his mother?

Though Jack hated to admit it, he’d driven past the Mayfair townhouse a time or two. Occasionally, he’d wondered what it might have been like to have lived there and never to worry about money or food. Never to feel rage at watching his own mother go without for his sake. Or use the fabric from her own clothing to sew him a new shirt or pants.

“No,” he said again. “I will not be attending Dovermere’s dinner.

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