Chapter 13
“Isabella, forgive me, but did your father approach you with some purpose when you attended the church in the village all those weeks ago?” Elliot’s tone was unreadable, and Isabella felt an old familiar stab of anxiety.
It was the anxiety which had always overtaken her whenever her father requested an audience with her at Upperton Hall when she had still lived under that roof.
“He did,” she began uncertainly. “I ought to have said as much, I see that now.” She hung her head a little.
“No, you need not have said anything if you did not want to. And I do not ask to chastise you in any way for not being entirely frank with me. I am just concerned that you had suffered a little at your father’s hands if he made the same demand of you that he has recently made of me.”
“So, he has asked you for money, Elliot?” Isabella could feel her cheeks flaming with shameful heat.
How could her father have done such a thing? How could he have been so bold as to approach the Duke himself?
“He has. I received a letter from him this morning and, please forgive me, but I discussed it with Crawford. I had begun to speak of it before I had thought it through properly, but I must assure you that Crawford is the most discreet of men, and I am truly sorry that I spoke without thinking. I am so used to discussing Duchy matters in full with my old friend that it comes as second nature.”
“You need not apologize. I am certain that Mr Maguire is completely discreet, even if my own father is not.”
If she was honest, Isabella did feel ashamed. She would have preferred that Elliot had kept that particular piece of business quiet, although she understood entirely how easy it was to forget oneself. She did not blame him.
“He tells me that he made some miscalculation, and that he would have asked me for a greater settlement at the time had he realized it.”
“That is very like my father to present the matter in such a way as to release him from any idea of blame in the thing. I can only apologize and assure you that I had nothing to do with it. It is of little matter to me if the estate of Upperton falls to the ground and disintegrates into dust.”
“Is that why you did not ask me yourself?”
“Yes. And I believe it to be wrong, Elliot. Despite the pressure that my father brought to bear, the threats he made, I could not see how it was your debt to pay. And so, after much thought, I chose to say nothing at all.”
“So, the Earl did ask you to approach me on the subject? Is that why you never returned to the church?”
“In part,” Isabella said truthfully. “When I told you that I was uncomfortable with the curious behaviour of my old acquaintances, I spoke the truth. I decided against telling you of my father’s behaviour. I am afraid that I was made very ashamed by it, and I would not have wanted you to think that I condoned it in any way.”
“I understand; you have no need to make yourself uneasy. I can see why you had chosen to keep it to yourself, and I do not blame you for it.”
“I thank you for your kindness.”
“And the sum, whilst large, is something that I can easily pay. If I am honest, if your father had requested a greater sum, in the beginning, I would have paid it. And so, you see, it is of no detriment to me to give him the money.”
“You do not owe it to him, Elliot. You made your agreement with my father, and that ought to be final. I would not have you expect to pay out every time my father miscalculates. It is not right, and he does not deserve such consideration from you. You forget that he turned on his heels and made haste when I collapsed on our wedding day. He left it to you to ensure that I was well and to deal with whatever the consequences were, and he gave it not a moment’s thought. He turned his back that day, and I think that you ought to turn yours now. He really does not deserve your time or your money.”
“I would not be paying the sum to keep your father happy, nor even keep him solvent. It is entirely a matter of your own comfort and happiness, Isabella. If it would hurt you to think that your family would suffer for lack of funds, I will have the money paid out first thing in the morning. Not only that, but I would never think of it again.”
Realizing that he was speaking the truth, Isabella felt suddenly emotional. Through the wavering vision of tear-filled eyes and the customary gloom of the poorly lit drawing room, she stared at his handsome profile.
At that moment, Isabella wanted to cross the room and throw her arms around him. She wanted to kiss the soft, smooth skin of that side of his face and thank him wholeheartedly for his kindness. Not only for his kindness but for what truly seemed to be his friendship.
However, she remained stuck to her armchair several feet from his side as if unable to move. She felt sure that her husband would be stunned by such a move and even shrink from her embrace. And if she somehow caught sight of the ruined side of his face, or even touched the skin as she embraced him, Isabella wondered if she might also not shrink from his proximity.
“I cannot thank you enough for such kindness, Elliot. Not in respect of my father, but in my own regard. That you would seek to make me comfortable with a situation that I held back from you humbles me, as it should.” She paused long enough to swallow down the thickness in her throat which was threatening to render her mute. “But I do not ask it of you. If I am to have any say in it, I should like to suggest that you do not pay my father another penny.”
“You are still so very angry with your father for sending you here, are you not?”
“I am not angry to be here, Elliot. I am angry with my father’s treatment of me, and I always shall be. In the end, the result does not justify the means of achieving it, and my father, even now, cares not for my happiness. Do not pay him, Elliot. Do not pay him on my account because I do not require it.”
“Before I make my final decision, I must pry a little further, if you will allow me such an indulgence?”
“Yes, of course.” Isabella felt a little uncomfortable, afraid even, as she worried what he might ask her.
“You said that you chose not to tell me despite the fact that your father had brought pressure to bear and made threats. Was this when he spoke to you in the church?”
“Yes.” Isabella wished she had not been so nervous in the beginning for it had loosened her tongue.
She should have trusted that Elliot would speak to her in a fashion most suited to adults; civilized adults. She should not have suspected him of the same temper and low standards that she had always associated with her father. She should not have been so suddenly and completely afraid of him, for they were two different men.
“What was the threat that he made?” Elliot said in a level tone.
“Elliot, is it necessary for you to know? Forgive me, but I would not change it. I would not tell you something now that would sway your opinion.”
“Please, as your husband, I should like to know.” It was the first time he had ever described himself as her husband, and Isabella felt that curious sense of emotion once again.
“I am ashamed to tell you that my father promised to hurt my mother if I did not carry out his demands. He told me that if I did not come to you and request the extra funds, my mother would pay the price for my belligerence.” Once again, her head dropped.
“I am so sorry that you had to go through such a thing.” His voice was quiet, but there was a quality to it that spoke of danger.
It was something that she had not heard before, and Isabella felt sure that he was biting back the most severe anger; anger which he would have wanted to direct to her father.
“Thank you. And I am sorry to have to tell it to you, for such brutish behaviour is most shameful to report.”
“And so, you believed your father’s threat?”
“Yes, or at least I know him to be capable of such things. Whether or not he would actually carry it out is another thing. If he can see no gain it, if there is no way for him to show me what he has done, then he would not bother to do it.”
“But you cannot be sure that he would not?”
“No, I cannot be sure.”
“Then you have seen him treat your mother cruelly in the past?”
“I have seen him frighten her and belittle her, yes.”
“But not hurt her, not physically?”
“No, but my mother never made a false step in front of him. If I am honest, she never made a false step even when he was not there to witness it. She has managed to keep herself safe all these years by never arguing, never questioning, and never defending.”
“Defending herself?” Elliot sounded a little confused.
“No, defending me.”
“Is that how you know exactly what your father is capable of? Because you have stood against him and suffered the consequences?” Elliot’s voice held that dangerous quality once again.
At that moment, Isabella felt something that she had never felt before in all her life; she felt protected. Whilst she had not enjoyed such feelings of safety within the confines of her own family, Isabella had always garnered a great feeling of care from Esme and so knew what it was to be loved genuinely. But Esme would never have been able to protect her from anything, she could only have done her very best to help her, and that was all.
It had been enough, of course, that Esme had tried to help her plot her own escape from the marriage to the man they had both assumed would be a monster. Isabella had always known that Esme could have done no more than that.
But this feeling of protection, this feeling of great safety, was so sudden and unexpected that she could have cried out with happiness. As fleeting as it was, Isabella knew that she would never forget that moment for as long as she lived.
“Yes, that is how I know what he is capable of. I had always been a little braver than my mother, and it had caused me to object from time to time. And yes, that objection almost always cost me dearly. That is how I know that my father would hurt my mother without a moment’s compunction if it served his purposes. But I cannot protect her from him for she has never done anything to defend herself.”
“And nothing to defend you either?” Elliot’s voice had returned to a gentle and soothing tone.
“No, my mother has seen much misery visited upon me and spoke not a word. Not a word in my defense, not a word for my comfort later on when we were alone. To this day, I do not know if my mother ever loved me enough to try.”
“I am so very sorry, Isabella.” For a moment, she thought that Elliot would rise up from his armchair and make his way across the room to comfort her. He made a curious motion in his seat, and she was convinced of it. But, in the end, he kept to his armchair and continued to speak. “And I am sorry that I have put you through so much and made this evening uncomfortable for you. I shall not ask that you see out the entire two hours with me this evening, for I am sure that you would wish to be in your own room so that you can order your own thoughts in private. Please forgive me for upsetting you.”
“You have not upset me, Elliot. You have been very kind, and I could ask nothing more than that from you. But yes, I should like a little solitude for a while to think, if you would excuse me.”
“Of course.”
The moment that Isabella rose to her feet, Elliot did also. It was not in the common way of things as he ordinarily kept to his chair until he was sure that she was out of the room, and he was out of sight. But, tipping his head awkwardly so that his disfigurement was largely hidden, he took her arm to guide her out of the room and continued to walk through the entrance hall with her until she reached the bottom of the stairs.
It felt so strange to be holding her husband’s arm; to be so close at his side.
“Go up to your chamber and make yourself comfortable, Isabella, and I shall seek out Kitty and ask her to fetch you some warm milk.”
“Thank you, Elliot.” She looked at him, catching the briefest glimpse of the purple skin and the raised, shiny ridges of silver.
“Good night, Isabella,” he said and quickly turned away from her.
“Good night, Elliot,” she replied and watched as he disappeared down the corridor in search of Kitty.