“Do you still remember how your mother and sister died, Wolfcrest?” Caleb asked, still looking and sounding grim. Of course, he knew the answer to that, but it looked like his friend wanted to push him to the brink until he was ready to admit his feelings.
“Do not dare speak their names,” he growled, slamming the desk with one fist.
The memory was etched in his mind, and perhaps his soul. What kind of question was that? How dared his friend? Then, he gripped the edge of his desk, aiming for self-control.
“Of course, I will!” Caleb raged, defiant for the first time. “You must learn from the past. You cannot just push all those memories away. They loved you, and you loved them. You bring honor to their names. But look at you now, Wolfcrest, you are becoming your father! He thought he was protecting them by keeping all his secrets. He thought that by sheltering them in the house, oblivious to his debts and the people he dealt with, they would be safe. And they weren’t, as you now know. They were not prepared for any kind of danger. Can you imaginethe surprise and shock they felt when the men descended upon them?”
“Stop it, Amberwell! Stop it!” Adrian bellowed.
“You are not protecting the Duchess by abandoning her. Tell me. If it’s about protecting her from Briarwood, why have you not pursued her yet? The blackguard is dead! Now if you think there are other dangers out there, do you think she is safer away from you, in a place where people do not have the means to fight? Or is she safer here with you, with Kettering and your other men guarding your properties? You are making your wife face this danger all alone. You have left her unprotected.”
Adrian was rattled with the force in which Caleb declared his anger and frustration. They stood there, with the mahogany desk between them, staring each other down. They were panting from anger, but Adrian was beginning to feel something else.
Fear?
Despair?
Regret?
No, not just one, but all of them.
The Marquess straightened himself, and with a voice full of contempt, he said, “A true man stands by his wife, Wolfcrest. Such a man shares the burden and is honest. I have alwaysknown you as a man who takes what he wants. You are so eager to take Briarwood’s property, but can’t you claimyourterritory this time? Why are you trying to run away from that one thing that you thought you’d never possess?”
“It is for her safety, Amberwell. She is safer in her own world. It was my fault. Everything! I should not have pulled her into my darkness.”
Adrian was fully aware he was being stubborn.
Caleb shook his head once more, looking defeated.
“Cassandra and your mother were both strong. You know that. The same constancy and resolve were supposed to flow in your veins. Your father was a coward. Don’t be like him. Be like Cassandra and your mother, who would want you to be happy. Please think about it. Don’t give up. Do it for yourself and for Daphne. Don’t let their loss drag the rest of your life down.”
Caleb left the room just as quickly as he arrived.
Adrian almost made himself believe that he had never been there, but he had.
Chapter Twenty-Five
“Why is she here? What does she need from me?” Daphne asked, looking slightly bewildered.
In Wilhelmina’s townhouse, the atmosphere was tense. The Dowager Countess of Grisham had requested a private audience with her daughter, Daphne.
Wilhelmina looked at her, pain in her eyes. They both knew that their mother would not come to provide reassurance or to soothe frazzled nerves. It had never been her way. She had been away for most of their childhood, letting them survive their father’s cruelty. She only returned to insert herself into each child’s attempt at a marriage.
“She’s come to gloat, hasn’t she?” Daphne asked, her heart in her throat; she was also unsure if she’d be as patient with her mother as she usually was.
“It may be the case. She has most likely heard everything,” Wilhelmina said honestly.
Daphne’s shoulders sagged. She knew that she’d have to brace for the kinds of words she’d get from her mother.
Public humiliation. Disgrace. Criminal husband. I told you so.
“Very well. I will meet her. It’s not as if I have a choice. I cannot imagine the commotion she would cause if I refused to sit with her for a few moments,” she said in a resigned voice.
Wilhelmina nodded as if to agree, her brows knitted with concern. “I will be nearby if you need anything. Gerard will be, as well.”
“I will storm in if you need me to,” the Duke of Talleystone promised.
Daphne smiled at her sister and her brother-in-law gratefully.
