Page 105 of Duke of Diamonds
Holden took a long sip before turning around.Get on with it, then.
“We have not had a proper conversation since the joining of our families,” Lord Holden said at last, swirling the contents of his glass as he sank into one of the worn armchairs.
Isaac remained standing. His patience was fraying, his jaw set.
Do get to the point, Holden.
“I rather doubt you summoned me here merely for the sake of a pleasant exchange,” Isaac replied.
“You are correct, of course.” The Marquess lifted his glass, then set it down untouched. “Still, as kin by marriage, should we not make it customary to share a drink and a few civil words?”
“Perhaps we might begin by making it customary to speak plainly.”
Holden faltered, his composure slipping before he gathered it once more. He cleared his throat and leaned forward, resting his elbows upon his knees in a manner more befitting a tradesman than a peer of the realm.
“As family,” he began again, “I would like to believe that what affects me also affects Your Grace. And, of course, our dear Fiona. Just as what touches Your Grace must, by its nature, concern me.”
Isaac arched a brow but held his tongue. The man was circling like a hawk with no wind to carry him, and Isaac already sensed where this particular flight would land.
“It is with a heavy heart,” Holden continued, “that I must confess my finances are not what they once were. My affairs have taken a regrettable turn, and I find myself... compromised.”
Isaac did not so much as shift.
“In fact,” Holden said, voice softening into something that sought pity, “certain debts have reached their due, and there have been—shall we say—warnings.”
“And what would you have of me?” Isaac asked.
“I was hoping to secure a loan,” Holden said at last, the words emerging as if wrested from stone. “To settle my account with the Earl of Canterlack.”
Canterlack again.
The name dropped into Isaac’s mind with the weight of old resentment. And suddenly, the shape of things long unspoken began to fall into place.
Was that it? Was that the root of his objection to our courtship?
He had sought to balance his debts with Canterlack by offering up his daughter. And when that failed, he now turned to her husband with his hat in hand.
A matter of grave consequence, indeed—for the proud and calculating Lord Holden to stoop so low.
“I did not wish to distress Fiona,” the Marquess added, perhaps interpreting Isaac’s silence as judgment. “That is why I thought it best we meet away from Craton Manor.”
“Are you not ashamed of yourself, Holden?” Isaac spoke quietly, but the chill in his voice hollowed the room.
The Marquess blinked, momentarily taken aback.
“Do not pretend to care for your daughter’s sentiments now, simply because you failed to barter her away and now find yourself in need of my aid.”
The shameless man had the gall to maintain a look of wounded contrition.
“Oh, but I had only ever wanted the best for her?—”
“By striking her when she dared oppose your designs?” Isaac’s voice rose, sharp and biting. “By condemning her to misery simply because she wished to be seen as something more than a pawn?”
Holden flinched, but said nothing.
“You sought to trade her dignity for coin,” Isaac continued. “And now you come here cloaked in civility, as though it erases the truth of what you are.” He stepped forward, unblinking. “If you are to ask for my assistance, the very least you might have done is to cast off the garb of hypocrisy.”
Holden was silent now, and Isaac took note of the way the man’s eyes dropped to the floor.At last, some measure of shame.
