“Aye!” Hadley spat.
“I don’t know,” Sir Rafe said at the same time.
Kendall looked between the two men. “Well, which is it? As this moment will define the remainder of Lady Isolde’s life—as well as my own—I should like to hear from the lady herself.”
“No,” Hadley repeated. “I am her father, and she will abide by my decision.”
That seemed . . . . unusually heavy-handed for the earl.
Kendall’s frown deepened, his mind racing to connect the dots.
Why would Hadley bring him to this point, only to toss him out on his ear?
It made no sense, unless . . .
“Was this your plan all along?” Kendall asked, voice rising. “Publicly accuse me of kidnapping your daughter—which truly is an appalling breach of conduct—and then humiliate me further by refusing my suit and blackening my name? Thus ensuring I am declaredpersona non grataamong theton, like my father, and destroying my political clout.” Thishadto be a gambit on Hadley’s part. The puzzle pieces slotted too neatly into place. “I have long known you to be a scoundrel, Hadley, but this is cruel, even for yourself. Is your hatred of me so strong, you would see your eldest daughter ruined and banished out of spite?!”
Hadley turned a rather alarming shade of red. If the earl had been an engine, steam would be billowing out his ears.
“Cruel? Hatred?” the earl repeated, tone low and menacing. He rounded his desk, barreling toward Kendall.
They were of a height, he and Hadley. But the older man had to have an additional forty pounds of pure muscle on his frame.
“Yes,” Kendall squared his shoulders. He would not be intimidated by this Scot. “You are renowned for your adoration of your wife and children. And yet this—” He motioned to the space between them. “—appears the very opposite of love. Why would you see your daughter disgraced in such a fashion when other solutions exist?”
“Do ye even ken what love is, boy?!” Hadley roared in Kendall’s face. “You, who were raised by that abomination of a father! You, who have done nothing but plague us all with your damn high-handed conceit and petty need for revenge over slights that—”
“Andrew!” Sir Rafe pressed a hand to his friend’s shoulder, urging him back. “He is goading ye. Let it go.” Sir Rafe locked eyes with Kendall, the white scar on his cheek pulling tight. “He’s not worth it.”
His brother’s words knocked the air from Kendall’s lungs as sure as a pugilist’s fist.
The syllables taunted him.
Not worth it, not worth it, not worth it . . .
The past reared up. Another time. Another place. A different man with Sir Rafe’s face and a whip in his hand.
“Get up, you miserable milksop.” His father delivered a swift kick to Tristan’sbelly. “You are bleeding on the carpet, and we both know you are not worth its price.”
As he always had, Kendall breathed through the pain and then buried it deep.
Hadley shook his friend’s hand free and fixed Kendall with a baleful stare.
“I love my daughter more than life itself, boy,” the earl rasped. “’Tis why I will fight tooth and nail to spare her the heartache of marriage to a man like yourself. We all know how your father treated his wives—”
Kendall’s tether snapped.
“I amnotmy father! The comparison offends me more than I can express. In case you have forgotten, Hadley, Sir Rafe and I share the same sire! I have never andwillnever disrespect a woman, wife or no. But then, you havealwaysconflated me with my father. We are not, in any respect, the same sort of gentleman! Perhaps, you should begin seeing me in that light.”
“If ye want me to see ye differently, then ye need to behave differently!” Hadley cracked. “Drag your carcass out of Old Kendall’s shadow!”
“Gentleman.” Sir Rafe stepped between them. “I believe we have veered off track. There is the matter of Lady Isolde to address.”
Grunting, Hadley turned back to his desk. “I have already said my piece with regards tae that, Rafe. I will be damned if I ever call this man my son.” He gave Kendall his back, staring out the window.
Kendall clenched his fists, unsure what to do.
He didn’t wish to marry Lady Isolde any more than Hadley wished him as a son-in-law.
