This was exactly what she had wanted from him—proof that he truly had changed. And though she did not want to thank Lady Vivian for it, she knew that she owed her gratitude in a sense.
Dorian stepped forward, every trace of hesitation gone. “You have spent months convincing yourself that you understood me,” he gritted out. “You believed that if you broke my marriage, I would return to being the man I was before, but you never understood a thing. The man you thought would come back never existed in the way you imagined. He was a coward hiding from grief, and Anne changed that.”
His voice softened when he said Anne’s name, though only slightly.
“She made me confront everything I buried. She made me feel alive again.”
Lady Vivian’s expression twisted with something raw and desperate. “All of this,” she said, her voice shaking with fury, “for her?”
“Yes.”
No one spoke.
Dorian’s eyes narrowed. “You will leave this house. You will leave Ashford’s affairs permanently. Every arrangement between our families ends now. You may explain why to your father, or I will do it for you.”
Lady Vivian stared at him in disbelief. “You cannot do this.”
“I already have.”
Her face drained of color.
Dorian’s voice remained mercilessly calm, and if Anne did not know with absolute certainty that he would never hurt her, she might have been afraid of him. “If you come near my wife again, if you spread another lie, if you interfere in our lives in any way, I will make sure that every person in this country knows exactly what you did.”
Lady Vivian looked at Anne then.
For a brief moment, Anne saw something startling in her eyes. It was desperation, but then it vanished.
Lady Vivian drew herself up, trying to reclaim what little dignity remained. “You will regret choosing her.”
“I would regret the opposite for the rest of my life. Choosing my wife over you was never in question, which is precisely why you had to orchestrate it all.”
That did it.
Something in her finally broke. Without another word, she turned and walked out.
No one moved until the front door slammed shut, the sound echoing off the walls. The following silence felt enormous.
Eleanor released a breath. “Well,” she said, looking between them. “That was dramatic.”
Anne was still trying to recover from everything that had just happened when footsteps sounded again in the corridor, this time heavier, more purposeful.
Mr. Pembroke appeared in the doorway, with the butler close behind him, both looking grim.
Dorian turned to him immediately. “What is it?”
Pembroke’s expression was tight with restrained anger as he stepped fully inside, holding several folded papers in his hand.
“There is more,” he said. “I have just spoken with one of Holloway’s men. Holloway has attempted to leave the area as well, with luggage.”
Eleanor let out a humorless laugh. “Did he get far?”
“No,” Pembroke replied. “Lord Harrow intercepted him before he could leave the grounds.”
That coaxed the faintest smile from Dorian.
Anne knew that Tristan was a good friend to her husband, but it was nice to hear proof of it.
“Of course he did,” Dorian said.
