AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Rem snorted lightly. “Past grievances are often difficult to dismiss.”
She regarded him shrewdly, her gaze very similar to how Isadora had looked at him many times. “You sound as if you speak from experience, Lord Osgood.”
“Not really. Although I do speak on behalf of my wife.” He stared at her in the same direct manner. “I can’t say how gracious she will be to see you.”
The lady expelled a breath. “The gel never was veryenraptured by my presence as a child. The few times I visited her before her father married the second time, she always made the most terrible faces at me.” She rolled her eyes. “I daresay she was exactly like my sister.” She shrugged. “But then, not many children get along with their eldest sibling.”
Rem couldn’t agree with that. “On the contrary, all of Isadora’s sisters admire her greatly. They are very close.”
“Indeed?” The lady didn’t seem that impressed, but then, he supposed she would just have to hear the truth from Isadora herself.
He tapped his finger on his cup and wondered what his wife might do when she returned and found her betraying relation in the front parlor. There might be another altercation like the time she poured her heart out to the baron and he had rejected her, which compelled her late-night visit.
If things turned sour with Lady Kontayne, Rem wasn’t sure how Isadora might react. He feared that those walls would go back up, but this time it would be for good.
Isadora’s stepswere lighter as she left the Abaline estate. Her visit with Matthew had left her spirits buoyed. Although she would always be aggrieved about Udell’s marriage to Sabine and the suffering it had caused, it made her feel better to know that he had spoken highly of her. She was afraid that after he’d told her to leave that night that his emotions had hardened against her. She was actually looking forward to the dinner Matthew had invited her to and couldn’t wait to return and share the news with Remington.
It wasn’t until she turned a corner of the manor and she spied a carriage out front that a frisson of alarm trailed down her spine, as if someone had poured ice water down her back. Shecouldn’t imagine who might have come to call, for very few even knew that they were in residence.
Isadora walked inside and heard a lady’s voice coming from the parlor. She steeled herself against who might be there. Her first thought was Sabine, that Udell’s widow had decided to make a plea to her since she couldn’t find ground with the new baron. But she discounted that out of hand. The lady was astute enough to know Isadora wouldn’t lift a finger should she be in dire need. She had been quite open about her opinions on the Bevelstroke household and even if she hadn’t married Udell, that alone hadn’t endeared her to the girl.
She crossed the threshold and saw Rem sitting across from a lady that looked somewhat familiar, although she could have sworn that they’d never met before. “I do hope I’m not interrupting,” she announced smoothly.
“Not at all.” Rem got to his feet and walked over to brush a kiss on her cheek. As he did so, he whispered, “I didn’t know if I should let her in or not. So I decided I would and if you wanted to throw her out later, that would be your choice.”
Isadora lifted a brow and glanced at the lady once more. A calm assurance that she wasn’t really feeling settled over her as she lifted a brow. “Something tells me you’re my aunt, Lady Kontayne.”
The lady appeared impressed. “You are very astute. Just like my dear sister.” She set aside her cup but didn’t stand. “I suppose the question now is, shall we talk, or do you even want to hear what I have to say?”
Isadora tilted her head to the side. It wasn’t often that she encountered a lady who spoke as bold and straightforward as she did. But with any challenge, Isadora was willing to see this transaction through to its completion. Perhaps this was the final piece to the puzzle that she needed to solve. “I am willing to hear your side of things. But only if my husband can be present as well.” Shereached out and grasped Rem’s hand. He offered her a consoling wink.
“I have no qualms about entertaining Lord Osgood. He has been a gracious host.”
Isadora nodded as she took a seat across from the lady. Rem joined her, his presence giving her the courage to continue. “Feel free to begin whenever you like, Lady Kontayne.”
She angled her salt-and-pepper head and ignored her tea as she sat back and clasped her hands in her lap. “I doubt you knew much about your mother, my sister, but I can tell you are very much alike.” She sighed heavily. “She was my confidante, and the two of us had vowed to live together forever. Alas, her head was turned by the Duke of Marlington and just like that, he whisked her away from me.”
Her voice held the bitterness she’d kept hold of through the years, but Isadora didn’t interrupt or interject on her father’s behalf. She just listened, as she imagined her mother might have done. “They were married for nearly three years before her accident. I was shocked, but more than that, I was livid. I was convinced that her death was on purpose, that he’d murdered her and made it appear innocent.” She gestured toward Rem. “Your husband told me that he’s shown you my letter, so it will come as no surprise to learn I hired an investigator to look into the matter. He was hired as a temporary servant, and I tasked him with searching the house for any sort of wrongdoing. As you might be able to guess, he came up emptyhanded. However, it didn’t take him long to earn the respect of the rest of the servants. I thought perhaps he might be able to learn something then, which he did, but it wasn’t nearly what I imagined.”
She looked at Isadora with a grim expression. “He told me that he saw you returning from the Abaline estate late one night and you were in tears. It didn’t take much to ascertain what had occurred.” She lifted her chin. “The next day I paid a call on Lord Abaline. As you can imagine, he was beside himself, completelydistraught by his actions, so it wasn’t difficult for him to confide in me. He told me that he was on the verge of begging your father for his forgiveness and offering for you, but I told him it would be the worst thing he could do. That you were a young woman, the daughter of a duke, who had prospects.”
Isadora could stay silent no longer. “It didn’t occur to you that I loved him and that I only acted as I had because that’s what I wanted?”
Lady Kontayne shook her head. “But that’s just it. Youdidn’tlove him.At least, not in the way you believed you did.” She leaned forward slightly. “You were all alone, Isadora. Your mother was gone and your father didn’t have time for you. Your sisters could rely on each other, but you didn’t have anyone. Lord Abaline was a kind man because he had been married for years. He’d raised his family. You were the one who had been naïve and confused his attentions for something more.”
Isadora’s chest was tight. It was hard to breathe, but still she asked. “Did my heartbreak mean nothing?”
“Of course, it was genuine,” the lady returned. “But it was the same as if you had lost a dear family member. You mourned his loss because it was the first time you had known and understood true grief.”
It was all Isadora could do to keep herself composed. “In essence, you’re telling me that I didn’t know what I was feeling? That everything I felt for the baron was just a fantasy, something I’d conjured in my own mind?”
“To be blunt, yes, that’s exactly what I’m saying,” the lady said evenly. “I can assure you that the baron only cared for you as he might one of his children. My dear, you were little more than a child when you threw yourself at him. You were confused because you had nothing else to compare your emotions with. No one had taught you the difference. You just felt something strong and assumed it was of a sexual nature because you saw aparade of duchesses come and go through your house and your life.”
For a moment, Isadora considered ordering the woman to leave, but when she stopped to think about what she was saying, she realized that there was some odd bit of truth to her claim. Perhaps Isadorahadconfused her love for the baron with what she’d witnessed from her father each time he took a new wife. She had certainly yearned for the same connection.
And yet…
“Is that why you interfered? Because you didn’t want to see me ruin my life on someone you thought I didn’t love?”
