Her Sister's Fiancé - Book #1

Chapter 15

"Father, I'm not going to marry Cassandra!" Ethan stormed into his father's office without an introduction, his features burning with rage. "I don't love her; I don't want her, and that's final!" He glared across the desk at Lord Brodi who seemed to be struggling not to roll his eyes.

"Every groom has jitters before the wedding." His father smiled. "Run along now, I've got things to do."

"It's not jitters, father! I've told you before: I don't love her." Ethan protested, his father had always made little of his feelings and situations, and it irked him now more than ever. "I'm tired of trying to pretend!" His father made a bored expression. "I'm in love with Lavinia!" He blurted.

"That little mouse of a girl? Don't be ridiculous!" Lord Brodi was suddenly wide awake, incredulous at the outburst.

Last week, the family had all gone to the Antrucha house for dinner, and they had been eating there every night since. Ethan couldn't take it anymore. He couldn't take staring at Lavinia across the table, knowing he could never do anything about his love. He was tired of seeing her downcast and unhappy because of him. It was only two days until the wedding, only two days until he was like a wingless bird without any means of escape, only two days until he couldn't do anything about his love for Lavinia.

"Why, she's hardly even fit to be a nobleman's daughter, as your wife she'd be a failure in every sense of the word!" Lord Brodi frowned in disgust.

"Don't you dare!" Ethan shouted, slamming his fists onto the desk top. Papers flew in every direction, but Ethan didn't care, he glared at his startled father. "She would be the perfect wife for me because I love her, and she loves me."

"Now, listen to me, Ethan," Lord Brodi rose, turning to look out the large windows behind his desk for a moment, his hands folding behind his back in a comfortable position. "I want you to be happy—ah!" He said quickly as Ethan opened his mouth to interrupts. "But I know better than you what will make you happy, obviously. You are young and inexperienced, and your youth is leading you into folly. When I was a boy, I nearly ran away with the scullery maid. She was something like this Lavinia, a waft of a girl, but I thought I loved her, and that was all that mattered to me."

"What happened?" Ethan frowned slightly, forgetting some of his rage in his sudden curiosity. As far as he had known, his father had been a feelingless person all his life. The marriage between Lord and Lady Brodi was simply diplomatic. There was no love in their hearts for one another that had been what had made Ethan vow to marry only for love.

"My father persuaded me of my idiocy." His father said slowly, almost gently. "As I am persuading you now. He forced me to go to her and tell her how I really felt about her, that I had never loved her and had only been playing with her affections. She quit soon after, and I never saw her again." There was a brief pause, and then his father turned to face him with a tight-lipped smile. "Come, look out with me."

Grinding his teeth, Ethan obeyed. His father had once had love, but there was nothing in Lord Brodi's heart now but the desire to make a good impression on others. As he stepped up beside his father, Ethan found himself wondering what kind of man his father had been when he was young.

"Now look," Lord Brodi said, indicating the view out the window with one hand and resting the other hand on Ethan's shoulder. Ethan resisted the urge to jerk away from his father's touch and turned his gaze to the vibrant outdoors. "All of this will be yours someday. When I am gone, you will have charge over all the estates I have accumulated in my time as a lord. I have vastly improved what land we Brodis own as my father improved it before me and his father before him. We have a certain responsibility to take care of the land we own, and with that responsibility comes great privilege, as you well know.