Page 8 of The Notorious Lord Sin
He entered the box, and his mother and two sisters greeted him with warm hugs and bussing kisses on his cheeks.
"My darling boy, I'm so happy to see you. I missed you at dinner, but Malcolm said that you were attending the opera after visiting your club, and I'm pleased that we are here together," she said, watching him for a moment before she went and took her seat.
"Good evening, Dom," his younger sister, but the elder of the twins, said, a mischievous light to her eyes before she, too, bussed his cheeks. "I hope this opera is not as boring as our curtsy to the queen was this afternoon."
"Oh, do be quiet, Anwen," Kate said with a sigh, curtsying before him as if he were a king. He rolled his eyes, wondering how he had gained two very determined and yet, at times, silly sisters. "You know as well as I that everything we are made to do during the Season shall be a bore."
Dominic chuckled, gesturing for his sisters to take their seats. "Please sit down and try to behave yourselves this evening. You must make a good impression if you're to marry well," he suggested. Needing them to make good matches, if only so they were not left old maids from lack of dowries.
Their box on the side of the theater offered a generous view of the stage and the other surrounding boxes that thetonoccupied. He looked at each of his siblings and mama, wishing he could share the burden that shadowed his every thought.
If he could only marry a woman with a handsome dowry, his family would never have to sell such privileges as the box they now sat in or the fine clothes they wore.
The Astoridge family had held a box at the Theatre Royal for several decades. It would be a monstrous scandal if they were forced to let it go.
"I'm so looking forward to tomorrow for your sister's debut. Of course, it would have been a boon had you been settled by now so that your new wife would be willing to help present them. What fun we all shall have this year. All together again," she said, reaching over and clasping his hand. "We have missed you while you were away in France."
He met her gaze, seeing she was earnest in her words. "Are you not interested in how your ancestral home in France is faring?" he asked her. It was her childhood home, too, until she married the late Viscount Astoridge and relocated to England permanently.
His mama opened her fan and fluttered it before her. "I should imagine it is just as I left it. I do not know why you were so determined to live there for all that time. But I suppose there are just as many French heiresses as there are English ones, and I do only want the best for my son," she said, reminding him yet again that she was determined he marry a woman of means.
"All in good time, Mama," he said, hoping that was the end of that particular conversation.
His mother had been adamant that he disentangle himself from Miss Smith. Send her back to the country village of Grafton she came from. Not so easy to do when he had lain with Paris. Shame washed over him that he had stooped so low as to take her innocence and then cast her aside like waste.
His mother took in the other boxes, smiling and nodding in acknowledgment of those she knew. He watched her, knowing her attention would soon fall on the Countess of Hervey's box, and he was curious to see if Paris received any courtesy from his parent.
"I see Lady Hervey is here this evening. It has been barely a year since her husband passed, and she is already back in London looking for another. I hope you do not think to renew old acquaintances. We can do better than a woman from nobody knows where," his mother said, her bitter words losing none of their chill.
Dominic fought not to roll his eyes. His mother ought to be grateful for anyone who would seek his hand. If she only knew his predicament, she would not be so particular.
"Lady Hervey's mourning period is over, and she is more than welcome back into society as is her right. You cannot still harbor hostility toward her ladyship. She's no longer a country miss with no dowry, Mama. She is a rich and young titled widow and has a son to ensure the Hervey Earldom. Paris is very well situated," he mentioned, looking across to Paris's box and watching her as she laughed and spoke with the Duke and Duchess of Romney.
She was the very picture of elegance and beauty this evening. Her empire-style gown of shimmering green silk made her eyes sparkle, and her strawberry-colored hair stood out against all the others set to enjoy the opera.
"No eldest son of the Viscountcy Astoridge line has married a woman of nobody in the several hundred years of holding our title. Miss Smith may dress up as a countess, but she is as common as my modiste. Please do not speak of her again. It only upsets your mama," she said.
Dominic stopped listening to his mother's rambling. He would marry whomever he wanted and would not be persuaded otherwise ever again. Even if he wanted to marry someone other than Paris, he would do so and be damned what his mother thought. The time for being particular was over and had been so from when he lost all their money.
How could he have been such a fool?
He had fled London the moment he had injured Paris's heart, knowing that if he had stayed, he would have crumbled and begged her for forgiveness. He had drunk himself into oblivion and thrown himself into a life of ignorance instead. Took risks he would otherwise not have.
Not that he blamed Paris for the mishandling of his funds or his lifestyle. None of this was her fault. He was a cad, the murderer of hearts and feelings.
If only he could take it all back, he would.
But now, to save his family and ensure the survival of all his tenants and staff, he had to marry well.
Except even now, everyone else paled in comparison to Paris.
She looked across the theater, and their eyes met, held. The pit of his stomach clenched, and his heart stopped. Those striking eyes, her lips, and the swell of her breasts made longing rip through him. He wanted her still, and that was the rub.
How would he win her heart when she was determined to deny him? How could he convince her his affections were sincere and not motivated by his financial strife?
An impossible task perhaps, but one he was willing to undergo, even if the cost was his pride or his mother's sanity.
Paris watched as Dominic's attention was diverted from her when a young woman she had not seen before leaned over and spoke to him. There were two women present she had not seen before, sitting in the box with the viscount. Were they his sisters in town for the Season?
