Page 88 of A Symphony for the Earl

Lady Amelia nodded. “Valentina and I will escort Octavia to the schoolroom. Come, my sweet.”

Octavia’s words of protest faded as Richard gave her a stern look, and she meekly took her mother’s outstretched hand. But before leaving the room, she turned and flashed an impudent grin at Gerald Rafferty.

“You are a pirate, aren’t you, Mr. Rafferty? If I promise to keep your secret, will you take me on your next adventure?”

Lady Amelia sighed in exasperation and pulled her reluctant daughter out of the room. Valentina followed, but not before giving a reassuring smile to Fiona.

Fiona attempted to smooth over the tension in the room. “Athair, Lord Richard and his family welcomed me when I was alone and without prospects. He didn’t ask to be my guardian.”

“A highborn lass like you without prospects? I know I left you without a dowry, but you had my sister’s townhome and a reasonable portion.”

She stared at her lap. “Aunt Muriel died in debt. She lived beyond her means, I’m afraid, Athair. To settle those obligations, I had to sell her house. Most of the money you left went toward my tuition for the music conservatory, and the rest paid for the passage here. Perhaps twenty pounds remained in Mr. O’Cleary’s care, but that’s all.”

“And what of the new clothes I see? Your entertainments and furbelows?”

“The earl has generously provided an allowance.”

“Oh, has he now? Is that how you convinced my daughter to marry you, Lord Seldon? Enticing her with expensive gifts? You are a good bit older than Fiona, and far more experienced, I warrant. Did it occur to you that you might gain advantage of her youth with your extravagant lifestyle and means?”

“Have you forgotten that the law appointed me as your daughter’s guardian, Mr. Rafferty? I had no say in the arrangement.” Richard answered coldly. “By law, her care became my responsibility. I provided for Miss Rafferty in the same way I look after all the members of my family.”

“And would you marry one of them as well?” Gerald Rafferty asked in a silky voice.

Richard took an involuntary step forward. “If you were any other man, I would have you answer for that remark.”

“Would you indeed, Lord Seldon? You took an unprotected girl under your wing and seduced her into marrying you, isn’t that so?” He made no effort to temper the sneer in his voice.

Richard blanched; the words had struck home. Resolutely, Fiona stepped between the two men—her father’s cheeks were as ruddy as Richard’s were pale.

“There was no coercion involved, and nothing ungentlemanly in Lord Seldon’s intentions, Athair. The Merricks have been nothing but considerate and kind. They took me into their home and treated me as a member of the family.”

“You are a Rafferty,” he hissed, “not a Merrick.”

“Athair…Father…please. I accepted Lord Richard’s proposal willingly. I love him.”

She turned to Richard, waiting for him to reciprocate her declaration. He needed only to confirm the return of her affection and his intentions.

When he finally spoke, his icy words reverberated in the tense room.

“You need not fear, Mr. Rafferty.” A muscle ticked in his lean cheek. “I won’t damage your daughter’s name in a marriage where my motives are questioned. I release Fiona from any future obligations to me, and that includes our engagement and any responsibilities as my ward. You may take her back to Ireland and be damned to your insinuations.”

Fiona took a step backward. “R-Richard…you don’t mean that.” Their topsy-turvy relationship might rival a Drury Lane melodrama, but she believed in the emotions behind it. His words cut her to the quick.

“I do,” he said gently. “Despite your father’s insulting manner, I admit there is truth in his words. You were under my protection, and I violated that trust. Return home with your father, Fiona—Miss Rafferty—with my sincerest apologies, and put my attentions behind you. Do not look back, I beg you.” He executed a stiff bow, quite lacking his usual elegance.

“I think that’s best for all concerned.” Her father extended an imperious hand. “Come, Fiona Kathleen. I will arrange for a room at my hotel. Thank you for your guardianship of my daughter, Lord Seldon, but I will take over that duty now.”

She looked back and forth between the two men, whom she loved with all her heart. “I…c-can’t just leave…my belongings are upstairs, and I must say goodbye to Lady Amelia…and Valentina will be so upset…oh, what shall I tell them?”

“Your things can be sent,” he said impatiently. “You will accompany me immediately, Fiona.”

“No, Athair, I will not.” Anger replaced indecision. She was exasperated with her father and with Richard, whose face was set in a silent mask of indifference. They had both forced this abysmal situation on her.

“I won’t be so rude to the family who have treated me as a daughter and a sister when I had no one. You sent me back to Dublin alone, Father. I was fourteen years old and still missing Mháthair. You packed me off to an elderly aunt whom I barely knew and left me to grow up alone while you sailed off to your adventures in Barbados and traipsed about the jungles of South America.”

Her father’s brows snapped together. “Fiona—”

“I’m going to my room now. I will come to your hotel tomorrow, but not without a proper goodbye to those I care about. Good night.” Fiona dared not look at Richard again but fled the drawing room as hot tears filled her eyes.