Of Fate And Prejudice

Chapter Seven

Remorse and uncertainty made for a difficult afternoon, robbing Roman of the ability to concentrate on his work. It was Frances who plagued him. She'd plagued him all day. From his home to his office in the middle of town, he'd thought of nothing but her—the look in her eyes as she questioned him about the possibility of being abused in marriage, the fear that staggered her frail form, and the blood that drained from her face when he confirmed her suspicion. He saw how vulnerable she truly was, how inexperienced. He feared for her safety. Her naïvety of high society could see her falling into the trap of the brutality that lurked within, and Roman knew that upon the unfortunate chance that she married a beast of a man, he would be powerless to stop the abuse.

Yet, he'd promised. How cruel he was to have taken Frances by her hand and offered her false hope, to have looked into her eyes and lied to her. He could not protect her, as surely as he'd been unable to protect Layla from the illness that claimed her life.

Frances deserved to know the truth. It was sheer cruelty to let her forge ahead in his deception. He must return home right away and confess. She needed to know he couldn't barge into her marriage to rescue her if—perhaps when—the need arose. She would be completely at the mercy of her husband, and whether or not he was merciful could not be decided for him. She would be lucky to find a man who would not take a whip to her. And perhaps fate, in its kindness, might spare her the wrath of a husband controlled by his anger. Fate would prove powerless against the infidelity that ravaged the marriages of the ton.

Roman imagined Frances alone, trapped in a loveless marriage, reduced to a mere breeder of heirs, while her husband lavished his affection on his mistress, and the dagger of guilt wedged deeper into his guts. His conscience screamed at him to return home to her, to steer her from the dangers of the path before her. But greed kept him glued to his seat, the restoration of his dwindled fortune taking preeminence over the sting to his conscience.

Surely, Frances would learn to cope with whatever hand fate dealt. He thought if she married an abusive or unfaithful man, she would try to avoid making him angry and find comfort in material possessions.

He was reminded of his meeting with his accountant as he reached into his breast pocket and pulled out his pocket watch. Twenty five minutes past the hour of four. If he left immediately, he would be five minutes early for the meeting. Good, he hated tardiness, and given the importance of their meeting, he was eager to get things moving quickly.

Thirty minutes later, Roman was seated in his accountant's office, his gaze fixed on the balding patch of Mr. Stanley's graying hair as he sat scribbling in the book before him. He was balancing the accounts again. The older gentleman was quite thorough, which was why Roman had secured his services. He was thorough and honest. Not a dime had slipped through the cracks since Mr. Stanley had begun overseeing his accounts.

Still, many inconveniences accompanied working with Mr. Stanley, one of which was the clustered state of his office. Piles of papers and books lined the four walls of the modest room, threatening to crumble the shelves from which they spewed. His desk was covered in its entirety with papers, and for the umpteenth time since Roman arrived, he tugged on his cravat in a vain attempt at dispelling the sweat that pricked his neck. He'd succumbed to the need to shrug off his jacket when Mr. Stanley's tired brown eyes finally settled on him.

"Sixty thousand pounds, you say?"

"Yes."

"I beg your pardon, Mr. Brown." He pushed his chunky form to an upright position. "But that's a terrible idea. It's more than ninety percent of what you're worth at the moment. I do not see the wisdom of risking this much money on an uncertain investment when there are no guarantees you'll get your capital back, let alone a profit." He shook his head. He'd been misled into believing the purpose for which Roman sought to remove the potentially damaging sum from his estate was for an investment into a mysterious business, when in fact it was for Frances' dowry.