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“I require a word with you.”

“Is this not it? Did you not want to complain about your room?”

“It is more than the room.”

“Very well,” he groaned. “We can go to my study, then. At least then, whilst you talk, I can sit down.”

“Because you are unwell?” Samantha asked, thinking of his cough.

“It is a common cold and nothing more,” he explained as they walked. “Not that you would know nor your sister for that matter. Truly there is no pleasing some people.”

“Excuse me?”

“Well, you would think that after one’s father secured one a duke as a match, they would be a little more grateful. Instead, I have been left to rot here.”

“You have a son.”

“It is not the job of a son to care for his father. It is the job of a daughter. You should have visited by now and noticed, or at least, you might have if you were any kind of good daughter.”

“Well, you secured a duke for Diana,” Samantha noted, “but you never had a hand in my match. Perhaps we could blame it on that?”

Had she accused him outright, he might have denied it, but she knew her father. If he could make it seem as though it was something to be proud of, he would claim it to be his own work in a heartbeat.

“As usual, the self-proclaimed intelligent child is incorrect,” he chuckled as they entered the study.

“It is not self-proclaimed.”

“Your sister does not count, either. If you look good, then she can claim your victories as her own.”

“As she was the one to raise me, yes.”

“That does not signify. I am the one that did the part that mattered. I found you a duke for a suitor, and when your sister stole him away, I found you another.”

“And how, pray tell, did you do that?”

“Is it not obvious, Samantha? Why would he have married you if not for my threats? He was quite insufferable, but he was a man of honor. Drowshire told me as much himself.”

“So it is true?”

“Of course, it is. Would I lie to you?”

But he laughed again, showing her that she was not meant to respond. His laugh was punctuated by another cough, a nastier one this time, but he laughed once more as if nothing had happened.

“Samantha, you might not know this, but if something is worth doing, then in my eyes I might as well try. It was not easy blackmailing a possible business partner, but you? It was one of the easiest things I have ever done.”

“So you did that to me, your own daughter. How you believe yourself to be a man escapes me.”

“Men have to make difficult decisions sometimes. It does not make us evil. Your choice was the duke or a friend of mine that is thrice your age. It was no question who would be beneficial to me, not to mention to you, and so I did what I had to do. I know that you have been ungrateful all of your life, but perhaps if you simply listened to me instead of finding things to be angry with me for, you would be happier.”

“You do not wish for my happiness. If you did, then you would not have forced me into a marriage at all, only to pretend that I was never here the moment that I left.”

“Again, that was for my son,” he sighed, coughing again. “If all you wish to do here is chastise me for giving you a better life, then it is best that you go.”

“That is what is easy for you, isn’t it?” she snapped. “It is better for you to forget what you did to my sister and me and to begin again with your perfect son and prove to thetonthat you were capable of it all along, but you simply did not want to.”

“At last, you understand! I simply did not want to care for you. You were nothing but a burden, always demanding more from me after your mother died, as if I could do anything to fix that. I did everything for you, Samantha. I allowed you to study even if it was a foolish endeavor to begin with, I found you two dukes, I kept your secret tryst with the one you married a secret, and what do I get in return? You showing up at my door to complain further.”

“You did not keep any secret for my sake. You kept it for your own because you could never allow your name to be tarnished when your precious son was to arrive soon. Then again, you knew you had to protect your name because if Adam knew you had taken me to parties, then he would know that you were alive, and we couldn’t have had that.”