“Aye. He met Mariah during his last visit to Grayburn at Dunmore and was quite taken with her. Stafford was eager to court Mariah once she arrived in London.”
“I can imagine. Your sister is lovely.”
A gentleman would have to be blind to miss Lady Mariah’s striking beauty—dark hair and eyes the color of summer sky. Isla had always envied the glittering joy that Tavish’s sister trailed wherever she went. Heaven knew, Isla had caught even Gray looking Lady Mariah’s waymore than once. Every gentleman swiveled to stare when she passed, such was the power of her loveliness.
“Has there been a hiccup in the wedding plans?” Isla asked. “The marriage contracts are already set, correct?”
“Aye. Set in stone.”
“Then what has occurred?” As far as Isla understood things, once the marriage contracts were signed and in place, the marriage was as good as done. To break a marriage contract at this stage would result in a heavy lawsuit.
Tavish took in a stuttering breath, as if the weight of what had occurred was nearly drowning him.
“Apparently, your brother . . .” He drifted off.
“Gray?”
“Aye. When Grayburn learned of Stafford’s impending nuptials to my sister, His Grace was displeased, to put it mildly. He didn’t approve of his friend’s decision to marry into the Balfour family. So much so that Callum claims your brother began a systematic campaign to convince Stafford to break off the betrothal.”
Isla gasped. “Gray? Truly? What did he say?”
“Callum didn’t elaborate. However, I can guess Grayburn gave a blistering litany of all the defects of my family and Mariah, in particular.”
“Truly? But . . . Gray would never . . .” Isla drifted off, words of denial freezing on her tongue.
Given how Gray’s behavior toward herself had cooled over the past year, she could hardly protest that her brother would never do such a dastardly thing. The Piers she had known would never willfully destroy a lady’s reputation, even a Balfour. But Gray as he was now? So hateful toward Northcairn and his family? Isla wasn’t sure what Gray would do if he deemed it necessary.
“Please tell me Gray was unsuccessful,” she whispered instead.
But she already knew the answer. Tavish’s stricken expression said it all.
“Stafford reneged and has refused to marry Mariah.”
“Oh, Tavish!” Nausea churned in Isla’s stomach. “Poor Lady Mariah!”
No wonder Cairnfell had broken Gray’s nose.
“Callum challenged Stafford to a duel over the whole affair, but Stafford refused, saying Callum wasn’t enough of a gentleman to tempt him to duel.”
Isla gasped. Such a slight was nearly beyond the pale.
“Your brother is determined to ensure that no one in my family is ever received again. And as he is a duke, he will succeed.” Tavish sat back, arms folded, a muscle ticking in his jaw.
“But what of Lady Mariah?”
Here, Tavish pinched the bridge of his nose. “She . . .” He swallowed. “She allowed Stafford to convince her to anticipate their marriage vows.”
Isla pressed a hand to her mouth. She knew such things happened, but for Lord Stafford to lay with Lady Mariah and then refuse to marry her . . .
“What is to be done? Lord Stafford must marry her before news of her disgrace is broadcast.”
“That horse has already bolted from the barn, so to speak,” Tavish laughed, harsh and bitter. “No one can be forced to the altar, unfortunately. Stafford has refused, publicly claiming that he didn’t know she was a lady of poor reputation before proposing to her.”
“Balderdash!”
“Aye, but as Stafford has Grayburn’s support, he is unlikely to suffer a loss of his own reputation over this, the bastard. Regardless, Mariah has filed a lawsuit of five thousand pounds against Stafford for breach of promise.”
“Good! That miscreant should pay for his actions and cowardly betrayal! Such a sum would go far to helping Mariah establish herself.”
