Artemis (previously The Lady Lockhart)

Chapter Four

A/N THANK YOU @curlygirl78 for your three votes! You made me so happy! I'm not sure if you've seen the updated description for The Lady Lockhart, but updates will be (as far as possible) every Wednesday (or Tuesday, depending on your timezone) from now on. :)

LORD WILLIAM MAYFAIR PACED IN HIS LIBRARY. His son sat nearby and watched his parent worry relentlessly, his chin resting on the heel of his palm and his elbow supported by the arm of the chair. He had long since given up trying not to look bored.

    "Your mother would know what to do if she were here," William said. "That woman knew next to nothing about high society and all its workings, and she was hardly proper, but she was good with people. She would be able to catch your sister a husband."

    Emmett bristled at this blatant insult towards his mother – his father's wife – but found the strength in him to say nothing. Mother was plenty proper, he thought, she just wasn't stiff like you.

    "How on earth am I to find Emmeline a match?" the duke went on to ask no one in particular. "How do women handle these things?"

    "Perhaps we should ask a woman," Emmett nearly groaned as he sunk back into the plush chair, more than ready to retire to his room for the night. "Such as, perhaps, Aunt Beth?"

    "How many times must I tell you this? I despise Bethany Rutherford," his father spat with viciousness most did not use when speaking of their sisters-in-law. "Her arrogance brings shame to her family name and she is foolish even for a woman. I absolutely refuse to ask her for help."

    "You are being difficult, Father," Emmett replied, his tone growing clipped.

    "I'm trying to secure your sister's future, Emmett; and you are not permitted to speak to your father like that."

    "You called me here on urgent business, Father, but all I see is frivolity." Emmett rose, beyond tired of the situation. "I know no more than you about finding suitors for Emmeline, and you refuse to seek the help you truly need. I have suggested time and time again that we ask our closest female relation for help but you refuse to do the necessary. As such, I will be returning to Portsmouth tomorrow morning and Emmeline will remain in my care for as long as she lives unmarried, even it is forever. Good night."

    "Son—" William tried to shout after the young man, but he had disappeared through the library's doors. He sighed. His boy would never understand. Brash and hot-blooded, Emmett had never paused to think. The young earl fancied himself liberal, but some would call him a rebel. Of course, it could be argued that these were just common characteristics of all young men – reckless and hungry to stand out and make change; but if Emmett was to one day be the Duke of Mayfair, it was imperative that he change his ways. He had to realise that there were many things he did not understand, things a man with a heart like his might never comprehend; things he had to learn to accept in silent compliance.

    The first of these things would be marriage – namely his parents'. Lady Anne Lockhart-Rutherford was a beauty and had outstanding charm. Coupled with her social standing – she was the eldest daughter of a marquis – and the substantial dowry she had, she had been a favourable match for the young William Lockhart, then the Earl of Portsmouth. The Lockhart family was powerful, as was the Rutherford clan; and together they were invincible. The marriage was a logical decision on the part of William's pragmatic father, not a matter of the heart, for William did not love Anne; and he could never give her his everything even though the heavens above knew he had tried his hardest. Prior to his marriage, he had only ever loved one person – his mother, who did not love him back. His father had never been affectionate towards him, and he never tried to express such sentiment towards the man he only viewed as authority.