“Eleanor, I never—”
The door to the office burst open, slamming against the wall as Victor strode in. “Father, I—” His lips quirked when he saw Ellie. “I was hoping to find you here. You have a caller.”
“Me?” Ellie and her father said in unison.
“You,” he repeated, staring directly at Ellie.
“I didn’t hear anyone announced,” the marquess interjected, raising his voice.
Victor raised one eyebrow. “Well, considering he started upstairs, I expect he didn’t leave a card.”
“He?” Ellie asked.
“Upstairs?” her father bellowed.
Victor gave Ellie a hard look before his features softened, then stepped out of the way, leaving a different man silhouetted in the doorframe.
Ellie’s heart stopped. “Henry,” she breathed. He lookedterrible, his skin pale and tinged green, his eyes red and wearing deep shadows. His clothes were wrinkled and—Ellie lifted her fingers to block her nose—smelled like a sewer. “Henry,” she repeated, “what happened to you?”
“Can we talk, please?” Henry took a cautious step forward.
She lifted her hand to stop his advance. “I—”
“What is the meaning of this?” Her father had stormed around the desk and attempted to stand between them.
Ellie waved him off. “It doesn’t concern you.”
The marquess puffed out his chest. “You’re my daughter, it does bloody well concern me—”
“You lost the right to speak for your daughter when you sold her off to that bastard Ashby,” Henry barked.
It felt like the entire household froze. Even the birds outside did not dare to chirp as her father’s face screwed up in a grimace, then released with a sigh. “In the music room, but for God’s sake, don’t sit down—”
But Henry had already caught her hand and was pulling her into the hallway, where he stopped and looked around blindly, as though just now realizing he had only stepped foot in her home once before in his life. Ellie pulled her hand from his and strode into the music room, snapping the door shut behind them.
She waited a moment before turning to face him, her features composed. His face, however, was a wreck, his cheeks stained and flushed. “Ellie,” he breathed.
“Why were you in my house?” Ellie hissed.
He winced. “The circumstances were unintentional and rather unexpected.” He pursed his lips and averted his gaze. “I had a bit too much to drink last night and got into a spat with some gentlemen at the club.”
“And how did you come to be in my brother’s protection?”
He looked at his shoes and mumbled a response.
Elle’s brow furrowed. “I couldn’t hear you.”
Henry huffed out a breath and met her eyes. “I was defending you.” Her jaw dropped, and he shook his head. “It’s not important.”
“I disagree. I think it’sveryimportant that you’re keeping things from me.“ She advanced on him one step. “Why didn’t you tell me you spoke to my father the morning of my wedding?”
Henry released a mirthless chuckle and gave her a half-smile. “It wasn’t my finest moment.” She glared, and he dropped the smile. “What was there to say? He rejected me, as he should have. I wasn’t good enough for you and both of us knew it. He said nothing I didn’t already know.”
Ellie’s mind raced, stumbling in fits and spurts as she made sense of this. Henry had asked forher. “But you never told me.”
“Would it have changed anything?”
“It would have changedeverything!“ She shook her head, biting her lip. “Why did you ask for me at all?”
