Page 32 of Duke of Diamonds
And George Holden, Marquess of Holden, was a far more dangerous man to cross.
He is not a father,she realized as fresh tears welled.He is a title. He is a man who sees nothing beyond his own pride. We are not family to him. We are property. Tools. Disappointments.
“Please tell me none of this is real, brother,” Elaine said as she followed Isaac into his study upon their return to Craton Manor.
Isaac stood at the hearth, one hand braced against the mantle, his gaze fixed on the embers. He did not turn.
“I’m afraid I cannot,” he replied, his voice low and steady.
Fiona had made her choice. And he had stood beside her.No regrets. Not a one.
He had faced worse than whispers. A scandal was survivable. Canterlack’s brand of ruin was not.
Elaine let out a sharp breath and moved to stand across from him. “I cannot believe how unbothered you appear right now, Isaac.”
He finally turned then, slow and deliberate. “And how would you have me appear? Writhing in guilt for doing what no one else would?”
Her brow furrowed, but she pressed on. “A scandal is dreadful enough. But this—this involves a woman who wasbetrothed. To Canterlack, no less.”
Her voice quavered at the name, and Isaac’s jaw clenched.
That fear—he knew it intimately. He had lived with it ever since Mary had returned home shattered. It had never truly left him.
It was that fear that had gripped him by the throat the moment Fiona had said Aaron’s name.
It was that fear that had made his decision.
But Elaine would not see it. Not now. Perhaps not ever.
He said nothing. The silence thickened.
Elaine’s arms folded across her chest. “Tell me this, then,” she said coldly. “Is this your idea of provoking Canterlack? After all these years? Are you attempting to pick a fight?”
Isaac’s eyes narrowed. Her words grated more than they should have.
She stepped closer, her tone tightening. “Is this your version of revenge?”
His temper flared, sharp and sudden. “And is this your measure of trust in me, Elaine?”
Her mouth parted, but the fire in her gaze did not falter. “I am afraid, Isaac, that you have given me very few reasons to trust you of late—and rather more causes for alarm.”
The words landed hard, but not unexpected. Not from her.
“I thought we agreed to keep away from that Earl. To move past it all, Isaac?”
There was a sheen of tears in her eyes now, barely restrained, and it twisted something painful deep within him.
Isaac crossed his arms over his chest, schooling his features into something resembling calm. “And have I not done just that, Elaine?” he asked, though the words felt brittle in his mouth.
She turned on him sharply, her skirts swirling about her ankles. “By ruining the woman he intended to marry, of course you have. You have done a truly splendid job of keeping away from him.”
The bitterness in her voice stung more than he cared to admit.
Isaac stiffened. “Do not place all the blame at my feet, Elaine,” he said, his voice low.
“Then whom shall I blame?” she cried, her voice cracking. “I warned you, Isaac. From the very moment you began to get too close.”
He met her glare with one of his own, though guilt gnawed at him. “And were you not the very one who suggested a dance with Lady Fiona in the first place?” he countered, the memory of that waltz flashing through his mind.
