Lyman winced, but forced himself onward. He had to know. “I mean, is she ill? When I saw your letter, I thought…”
“She’s as well as can be expected, though you might do something to improve her situation.”
“I’ve paid you the maintenance we agreed to each month,” Lyman reminded him. “I know it’s not much, but—”
“Not that,” Michael cut him off with an impatient swipe of his hand. “She wants a divorce.”
Lyman’s heart skipped a beat. Whatever he’d been expecting, it wasn’t that.
He didn’t feel anything for Ellen, save the hot shame of his own failure. But he’d grown so used to the obligations that bound them that it was hard to imagine any other way of living. The terms of their separation gave her what independence it was within his power to grant. For nine years, she’d been satisfied with that.Why now?
“Has she met someone?”
“My sister is a moral woman,” Michael snapped. “She would never betray her marriage vows.”
Lyman held his tongue. Michael seemed not to expect any comment from him, as he continued speaking. “It isn’t fair to keep her chained to you forever, when she might have the opportunity to meetsomeone if she were free. She’s still young enough. She should have the chance to have a happy home, children…everything you denied her.”
Lyman’s hands clenched into fists at his sides, his nails biting into flesh. It wasn’t Michael he wanted to hurt, though. “I agree completely.”
“Good.” Michael crossed the narrow room to stand before the door, as though their discussion were at an end. “I trust you’ll cooperate when we bring the matter before Parliament. Only don’t be too eager—we don’t want it to look like a case of collaboration. It’s probably best if you don’t attend at all. Make it appear that you have no interest whatsoever in the outcome.”
“But how can you afford such a thing? You know I can’t pay for it.”
The proceedings would cost a small fortune, and no one in this room had another fortune to spare. It was precisely why he’d thought a divorce was impossible.
“A generous friend has offered to assist us. That part isn’t your concern.”
A friend.
Ellenhadmet someone then. A gentleman wealthy enough to shoulder the monumental burden of dissolving her prior vows. It was no surprise that Michael would want to seize the opportunity. They could only improve their circumstances by such an alliance.
“Money alone can’t buy us a divorce,” Lyman protested. “Ellen hasn’t been unfaithful to me.”
Perhaps that was no longer true, but none of them were going to admit otherwise before open Parliament, surely.
“We’ll say you’ve been unfaithful to her,” Michael replied easily, disdain in his voice. “If you’re willing to identify a woman or two who could confirm the tale, it would help speed things along. If you won’t do it yourself, we’ll find someone for you.”
The frank assessment stunned Lyman into silence. He hadn’t betrayed Ellen while they still shared a home—at least not in the way Michael meant. But there was no point in arguing. Not when he was willing to hire a witness to say otherwise.
“Here.” Michael pulled some papers from inside his coat, unfolded them, and set them on Lyman’s desk atop his writing. “It’s a citation and libel for Consistory Court, to pave the way for Parliament. We have a hearing date next month. Our proctor assures me that if you don’t contest the facts we should be able to move it through quickly.”
He’d evidently put significant thought into this, but he’d missed the most essential detail.
“It won’t be enough. I consulted my solicitor after she broke ties with me, you know. He said a man could divorce his wife for adultery, but a woman couldn’t do the same. There’s no way out of this, Michael.”
No way that would leave Ellen’s reputation intact, at least. And he wouldn’t bring any more grief down on her head.
“You don’t need to explain this to me.” Michael’s voice dripped with scorn. “You think we haven’t spent enough time trying to figure out how we could be rid of you? She can divorce you if we show both adulteryandintolerable cruelty, so that’s what we’ll do. It’s all right there in the libel.”
Intolerable cruelty? It was a description reserved for the worst type of men. The ones whose brutality nearly crossed the line into murder.
“I never raised a hand to Ellen,” Lyman said. “I know I failed her, but I never hurt her. Not like that.”
“You cost her everything, left her destitute, and you haven’t lived under the same roof in nine years. If that isn’t cruelty, I don’t know what is.” Michael let the accusation hang in the air a long momentbefore he continued. “The courts have shown some flexibility in their interpretation for exceptional circumstances. I think we can make a case, if the adultery is proven and you don’t dispute any of it. We have a good proctor.”
Lyman didn’t get the chance to learn what he would have replied to that. Before he could imagine what it might mean for him, a knock at the door interrupted his thoughts.
“Lord Ashton?” Mr. Wood’s voice called from the other side. Lyman hoped he hadn’t been listening at the keyhole. “There’s an errand boy here with a message for you. He says it’s from a lady.”
