Maxwell paced around his chamber, frowning with his thoughts.
Now that he had seen Amelia Trilby's reaction to Maxine's name, he had to start believing that the woman had more things to hide.
Perhaps Maxine was correct. He could not deny that she could not be wrong.
Pausing in the middle of the dark room, he sighed in frustration.
If Amelia Trilby simply admitted the truth and answered every bloody question her daughter might have for her, they could be traveling back to Wickhurst by now. Amelia could have said anything for Maxwell knew that any answer would have been enough for Maxine.
She was not here to have her feelings cared for. She came here knowing her mother's answers could shatter her heart.
Yet the denial she experienced earlier in the Fairview estate could be worse.
But not all knows how it feels to be unwanted...
The words she had spoken before sent a shiver through him once again.
He ran his fingers through his hair and stalked out of his room.
Soon enough, he was pushing her chamber door open and found her sitting at the foot of her bed, hugging the bedpost with one hand as she stared blankly at the floor. She had changed into a simple blue dress for dinner earlier and she was still wearing the same one now.
Maxwell shut the door behind him and frowned at her state. He was furious, not at himself or her, but at the woman who did not want her.
"Are you feeling all right?" he asked, padding toward her with careful steps, bending his neck to peer down at her face as he neared.
When she did not answer, Maxwell squatted on the floor, resting his forearms on his knees, searching her eyes to meet his. "Maxine, are you feeling all right?"
She blinked and her pale grey eyes met his. "Wrong question."
He frowned.
"You know how I feel. You should have asked when I will start to feel all right."
His lips quirked. "When do you ken you will start to feel all right?"
She allowed a faint smile and sighed.
Silence lingered between them. He did not know what question to ask for it seemed that he was not capable of asking the correct one at the moment. One wrong one was enough.
"She does not want me," she murmured.
His jaw tightened.
"Does she have to?" he asked.
She shrugged. "I am starting to believe that I did a foolish thing." She fiddled with her fingers. "I should not have left Theobald for such a petty thing. I should have listened to my father. I should have been content with Rachel's love. I did not have to go all the way here to beg for one answer to a question I already very well know." Her beautiful grey eyes brimmed with tears. "It was foolish of me to have hoped there was another reason. But there merely was one all along." She sniffed with a bitter smile. "She does not want me. She did not want me then when she threw me into my father's arms and she does not want me now."
Maxwell chose to be silent. He leaned over to cup her face with one hand.
Dangerous, his brain whispered. He ignored it.
"She is a Trilby. They are amongst the oldest families in the Town. Their ancestors were members of the royal family aboveground and they still do believe themselves to have the same blood. They've tried to preserve it and they will continue to do so until every last one of them is gone."
YOU ARE READING
His Lady in Breeches
Historical Fiction"They may see you as how you try to be, but what I see is what you try not to be." SHE IS A BASTARD... Maxine Theobald hid from the rest of society to protect her father's name. But as she grows tired of her role-playing games every year durin...
