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“No.” Calliope smiled. “In fact, everything is quite perfect.”
Isa’s face held a touch of confusion, so Calliope explained everything that had happened, even the interaction with the baroness.
Isadora snorted. “That woman was always poison. I recall her quite vividly on the various occasions we would travel to Broxbourne House. She liked to stir the gossip about father being a ‘Black Widower,’ and yet, she married Baron Abaline, who was much older than her and put him into an early grave. It wouldn’t surprise me at all to learn that she was directly responsible for his death.”
As they climbed into the carriage, Calliope nodded. “She isn’t the most pleasant sort, I agree. But the victory when I stride off as Viscountess Blakely will be worth it.”
The next morning Calliope dressed in the most flattering dress that she owned, because she was about to set out on the most important call she had ever made.
She was going to see Sebastian’s grandfather, Lord Abersheen, and find out the reason for his animosity toward her father once and for all. She knew that unless they spoke face to face, nothing could ever be truly laid to rest between her and Sebastian, and like it or not, he was family and she didn’t want to be the cause of their riff, because it would never endear her to the marquess.
She wasn’t sure she would even be admitted into the Abersheen residence, but she was pleasantly surprised when she was bade to wait in the parlor.
Rather than sit, she walked over to the mantel and inspected the portrait that was hanging on display on the wall. It was of a handsome couple, a small boy between them, and Calliope knew without having to be told that it was Sebastian and his parents. While many people liked to keep paintings of their deceased ancestors on the wall to honor their memory, something told her that this particular portrait, frozen in time, was not to honor anyone, but as a reminder of the tragedy that had struck the marquess and his family.
The familiar thump of a cane preceded the marquess, so Calliope turned around to face him when he entered.
His gray hair and bushy sideburns were in disarray, and he didn’t so much as glance at her when he walked inside but moved to the settee and sat down with a grunt. She thought she could smell the distinct scent of brandy coming off him, but she said nothing as he finally lifted his eyes and pierced her with an annoyed glare. “I suppose you’re here to tell me my grandson proposed and you’re here on his behalf to beg for my blessing.”
She shrugged. “No.” Like before, she saw something pass before his gaze that might have been akin to respect, before it was quickly shuttered. As the silence lengthened, she indicated a nearby chair. “May I sit?”
He waved a hand almost reluctantly.
Calliope sat down primly. She sat down her reticule and clasped her hands before her, not because she was intimidated by her companion, but because she knew this was going to be conversation with a stubborn man. “I came here to find out why you despise my father.”
He snorted. “I can see that boy can’t keep his mouth shut.”
She lifted a brow. “First of all, Lord Blakely isn’t a boy. He’s a man grown and a good one at that. You should treat him with more respect.” The marquess’s nose flared with disapproval, but she wasn’t done. “As to that, I should like some tea. It’s improper to keep a guest waiting without offering refreshments.”
She saw his face turn red and wondered if he might expire on the spot, but instead he bellowed out the name of one of his servants. The butler immediately appeared in the doorway. “Tea. Now!” the marquess demanded.
The man wasted no time in scurrying away to heed his master’s orders.
“There, are you satisfied, gel?” he snapped.
“Not particularly,” she returned evenly. “There was no need for you to be so rude. Just because we are fortunate enough to employ servants doesn’t mean that we have the right to treat them as less than human. They have feelings and emotions that can be injured the same as anyone in the aristocracy and have many more hardships to face than we do in our easy lifestyle.”
Again, it looked as if Lord Abersheen might suffer from an apoplexy, but instead, when the tea cart was rolled in with a nervous looking maid, he snapped, “Let the entire household know they are getting a raise, and an extra afternoon off each month.”
The girl’s eyes practically bulged from her head as she glanced at Calliope, and then the marquess. She bobbed an uncertain curtsy. “Th…thank you, my lord. That’s very generous of—”
“Bah!” He cut a hand through the air, and she disappeared as fast as smoke on the wind.
“Must you be so gruff all the time?” Calliope admonished as she rose and began to pour the tea. “I assume you like yours without cream or sugar?”
“Both,” he grumbled, and she had to chuckle. She certainly hadn’t expected that with his sour attitude.
However, she prepared it as he asked and handed it to him graciously. She wasn’t surprised when he didn’t say anything in return. With her cup and saucer in hand, she returned to her seat and took a delicate sip. “Mmm. Very good.”
His tea sat beside him untouched. “You didn’t come here to take tea and to order me about the running of my household, so let’s conclude our business so that I might be left in peace.”
Although Calliope was hoping that they might have made a breakthrough, she should have known he wasn’t going to be an easy nut to crack. “Very well.” She set aside her cup and clasped her hands together in her lap once more. “What issue did you have with my father that you find it necessary to take out his transgressions on me?”
His stern glare slid toward the portrait on the wall above the mantel. “That was not the man that my Elizabeth had chosen to marry. They wed for convenience and because Thomas was besotted with her. Their union was difficult, because Elizabeth was not happy. Thus, after she had borne her husband’s heir, she searched for companionship elsewhere. When Thomas learned of the affair, he was furious. Whether he was mad because he loved her or because of pride, he threatened to kill her if she continued to make a cuckold of him. She broke things off with her lover for a time, but the bond was already too strong between them. It was the night she went back to him that Thomas took a pistol and killed them both and then turned the weapon on himself.”
Calliope looked at the family portrait once more and tried to see the despondency that the couple must have been feeling, both of them yearning for a love that could never be. However, it was the young boy, sitting between them that her heart ached for the most.
“I have done my best to save Sebastian from the same misery that my Elizabeth went through.” His focus returned to her. “Your father was the first man that Elizabeth took a shine to. It appeared he felt the same for a time, for he was dedicated in his courtship, but when she thought he might offer for her, his attentions turned to another, and he threw her over. After that, Elizabeth was never the same.” He narrowed his eyes. “You might even say that he was responsible for sending her to her grave, just like the rest of his pitiful wives.”
