Once a Duchess(65)

 

“I wish it had never happened,” he murmured. “I need you to forgive me, Isabelle. It was all a horrible, wretched mistake.”

 

Her green eyes softened. The corners of her mouth turned upward just the slightest bit.

 

“Apologies are well and good,” Alex snapped.

 

Isabelle’s face went flat, and Marshall saw the minutiae of ground he’d gained slip away.

 

“But, I don’t believe you understand the full import of what this divorce has meant to my family.” Alexander’s words bristled with frustration bordering on anger.

 

Marshall found himself in the awkward position of looking up at his former brother-in-law. He cleared his throat and stood, then gestured for Fairfax to continue.

 

Alex propped his elbow on the arm of the sofa and rested his jaw against his fist. “Because of your divorce, my sister was finally forced into anonymous exile, no longer fit for polite company. As you know,” he continued, inclining his fair head, “she was reduced to employment in an inn to support herself.”

 

Behind Marshall, Caro made a sound of disgust.

 

“Only because you cut her off,” Marshall retorted. “What kind of a brother — ”

 

“I would never have done so,” Alex returned, his voice rising in intensity, “had you not been so bloody precise in your accusations. I read all about my sister’s immoral conduct in the news sheets, Monthwaite. How d’you suppose that felt? What was I to believe? After a few years of everyone telling me Isabelle was a shameless adulteress, what would you expect?”

 

Marshall’s eyes flicked guiltily to Naomi sitting steadfast at Isabelle’s side. He would never do such a thing to her. Would he?

 

“Additionally,” Alex said, “my sister’s divorce has been an impediment in my own life. Believe it or not, Monthwaite, even lowly commoners such as myself aspire to marriage and children, but no decent woman will have me, because of the scandal hanging over us like a pall.” He made a popping sound with his lips. “I’m sure you can see my predicament.” He gestured with both his hands. “Your words are like so much piffle, for all the good they do us. My sister came to London this Season to procure a respectable husband and ease the strain on our family.” He lifted an ironic brow. “That worked out well, didn’t it? You’ve seen for yourself how the world treats us. And you’re sorry?”

 

Anger, guilt, and frustration ate away at Marshall. Hot breath whooshed from his nostrils. He looked from Alex’s furious face to Isabelle’s heartbreakingly resigned one. Alex was right. Marshall’s ugly divorce had made a muck of their lives. It hadn’t been enough to try to surreptitiously help Isabelle find a husband — though it had nearly been the death of him to see her with another man. He wished he could have another go at Woolsley’s face for what he’d done, but it proved Alex’s point that society would not accept the Fairfaxes.

 

He had to do more.

 

“I’ll apologize publicly,” he said.

 

Behind him, Caro gasped. “You’ll do no such thing! Think of the scandal! Son, I forbid you to pursue such a reckless course — ”

 

He rounded on her, his face a cold mask. “I’m the head of this family. You will not and cannot forbid me anything.”

 

She startled as though he’d struck her; her eyes immediately filled with tears. Pressing a fist to her lips, she turned her face away. A pang shot through him, but he couldn’t afford to capitulate to Caro’s desires in the matter. Doing so in the past was one of the causes of all this grief.

 

Caro inhaled to compose herself and opened her mouth.

 

“No more.” Marshall slowly shook his head. “You’ve done quite enough.”

 

She bared her teeth in a snarl. “All I have ever done,” she clamped onto the arms of her chair with a talon-like grip, her voice rising in fervor, “has been for the good of this family. But you refuse to see it. Understanding fails me when it comes to your unfathomable infatuation with this half-French nobody! No fortune, no name, no breeding, no connections, and more deficiencies than I can count.”

 

“Out!” Marshall roared, rage pounding in his ears. His breath came in hot, labored pants. “And if you so much as think another maligning word against Isabelle, so help me — ”

 

He forced his lips back together before he said something unforgivable.

 

Caro stood and twitched her black skirts behind her. “Come, Naomi,” she said, her narrowed eyes on Marshall. “You and I shall remove to the dower house. This one is beginning to reek of the unwashed.”