Chapter 55 - Fifty Five
Soft afternoon light filtered through tall, arched windows, illuminating the delicate porcelain teacups and silver spoons that adorned each table of the tea room. The air was filled with the quiet murmur of polite conversation and the scent of expensive tea and freshly baked pastries.
It was in this bastion of decorum that the Dowager Duchess Elena found herself sitting opposite a ghost from her past: Baron Edgar Ellington.
"How long has it been,Elena?" Edgar said, his voice a low rumble that felt out of place in the delicate room. He sat across from her, a wry smile on his aged face. "Twenty years? Or is it thirty now?"
Elena seemed entirely uninterested in his trip down memory lane. She took a slow, deliberate sip of her tea, her gaze fixed on a point just over his shoulder.
Edgar chuckled, a dry, raspy sound. "The last time we met, you were standing just outside my study door while the guards you had called on me were graciously escorting me out." He shook his head at the memory. "I will never forget that day."
"You reap what you sow, Edgar," Elena replied, her voice as cool and crisp as a winter morning. She finally met his gaze, her eyes holding no warmth. "You cheated me. You took a large portion of the profit from our shipping venture that was meant to be shared equally between both of our textile establishment."
"So you still hold a grudge against me after all these years," he said, stating the obvious.
"Of course, I hold a grudge," she retorted. "How can I be neutral and happy with a man who ripped me off? The money you stole from me was from my own hard work , my own blood, sweat, and tears after my husband let it behind."
"Fine," Edgar said, his playful tone vanishing. He reached down beside his chair and placed a small but heavy sack made of dark velvet on the table between them. It landed with a satisfyingly heavy thud. "Take this, then. Take it and let us finally forget about the past."