The dread that Alexander was feeling now threatened to swallow him whole. Their entire friendship flashed before his eyes. All the times they endeavored to do something together, all the times he offered to help Percival. He had done him no wrong. Nothing to deserve this kind of revenge. He was certain of it. None of this made any sense.
“What have I done to you?” Alexander asked in disbelief. “What has Marjorie done to deserve those words that could harm her reputation?”
“Marjorie’s only fault was to be close to you,” Percival snarled, once again angry but this time willing to start explaining himself and his actions. “She was my vessel of revenge, and she served her purpose well.”
“I should beat you to a bloody pulp for what you’ve done to her!” Alexander could feel that pent up rage rising inside of him like bile. It had been a while since his last fist fight, but he was more than willing to take this trip down memory lane and get his hands dirty. All in the name of clearing Marjory’s name.
“You may,” Percival sneered. “But that will make no difference. No one will ever marry her. In the eyes of the ton, she is a fallen woman. Even if you duel me for her honor, you know that a thread of doubt will remain, and she will suffer for it.”
Damn him.That little voice was forced to agree. Alexander knew that he was right. Publicly stating that Percival was lying about Marjory would not be enough to completely clear her name. Certainly, that was the official way to go about it, but gossip was a powerful tool of destruction. And nowhere was it more powerful than among the ton.
“But… why?” Alexander still did not understand. “Why would you use someone innocent to harm me?”
“Do you need to ask?” Percival sounded incredulous.
Alexander looked about at the darkness that reigned all around them, except for several lights that lit up the way to the deeper end of the garden. It felt like the entrance to Hell itself. But Alexander had no intention of following his former friend there. There was too much to live for up here on earth, too much to compensate for. There were so many truths which lay in his heart, which demanded to be released into the world, with the most important ones beating inside of him, keeping him alive.
“All these years that we’ve been friends, no one gave me a second glance. Not when you were around. You were the perfect son of the earl, and I was nothing compared to you!”
You... you… you…The words echoed, mocking Alexander, reminding him that once again, it was all his fault. Marjorie was hurt because of him. If she kept away from him, she would have been safe. He felt that everything he touched got destroyed somehow. Perhaps it was safest to keep her away from himself as well, even if that meant breaking his own heart in the process.
“Is that what all this is about?” Alexander exclaimed, shocked. “You thought you were not as good as me?”
Percival flared up immediately. “Do not degrade me and my beliefs!”
“I am not degrading you,” Alexander assured him, speaking more calmly this time. “You have obviously been degrading yourself for years, by comparing the two of us, instead of focusing on bettering yourself, and becoming a better person. No one deems you unworthy, Percival. You are doing all of this unto yourself.”
“None of that matters now,” Percival continued. “Marjorie will never get married, and you will never get the estate. Perhaps now you shall see what it is like for the rest of us, for those of us who are not as perfect as Alexander Haddington!”
Alexander fell speechless. He had never felt perfect. In fact, it was far from it. The more he got to know Marjorie, the more he realized how flawed he was, how imperfect. That was perhaps, how Percival was feeling now as well. However, that was no excuse to do what he had done. No excuse at all.
“You are wrong, Percival. You could not be more wrong. Marjorie had nothing to do with your hatred of me. Why involve her in all this? She is just an innocent bystander.”
His mind went back to the moment when Percival was holding her by the elbow, accusing her of those horrendous things. Alexander had to close his eyes to banish the image from his mind. He managed to do that, but the rage remained. The rage, as well as a desire for revenge. But if he punched his teeth out, he would be no better than Percival. And he wanted her to see that he was a good man, a man who could control his emotions when need be. What better chance to prove himself worthy of her love than right now?
“It is the company we keep that ends up being the end of us,” Percival said knowingly. “You were my company, after all. So was she. Look at us all now. I will be deemed a madman by society, and she a fallen woman.”
The thought of that being true made Alexander turn pale. The prospect loomed like death above him. He could not allow this to happen to her. Marjorie had known more hardship in life than him and Percival put together. She deserved her happily ever after, and not this grief and pain which he himself ended up being the cause of. He and this poor excuse of a man in front of him.
He wanted to beat him senseless. His emotions were a turbulent sea of confusion and error, but he knew one thing. He felt it now more than ever. He was in love with Marjorie Leeson. He loved her with all his heart. And he almost forced her to marry this monster. She had been the light in his darkest moment, and he almost plunged her into the pit of darkest despair.
“Marjorie is not a fallen woman,” Alexander finally found his words again. Up until that moment, they were there, in his mind, only stuck in his throat. The emotions inside of him were too powerful to be controlled any longer. “She is the finest woman there is. If you had actually paid attention to what she had been sharing with both of us, you would have realized that she possesses more love and kindness in her little finger than you possess in your entire body.”
Percival snickered, although he said nothing to that. They both knew that Alexander’s words were honest to God’s truth.
“And to think that someone like you had the power to besmirch her reputation makes my blood boil. I have never met a person with stronger morals than her. Never. The very thought that she would do any of those things you accused her of is unthinkable. Even a scoundrel like you must be aware of that.”
He paused, almost daring Percival to speak, but no words came from his opponent. Defending her in such a fervent manner, made him realize just what it meant to love such a remarkable lady. It made him want to be better not only for her, but for himself as well. Loving her silently and in secret had made him look deep unto himself, at the very holes in his personality and his soul that had been missing all this time. What her presence did was manage to fill in those pieces that were missing, making him a whole person again.
That was what she did for him. She made him whole. She made him better. She made him the kind of person he never even knew he could become. She was also the only reason why Percival was still standing in front of him with all his teeth inside his mouth. Had it been any other way, his teeth would be spilled all over the lawn.
“Anyone who marries Marjorie Leeson should be considered a damn lucky man,” Alexander concluded, his heart beating as if he had just run a race and could barely stop running. There was so much to atone for, so many mistakes to rectify. He only hoped that it was not too late for that.
“Alexander…” Her voice suddenly caressed his ears, melodious and soft. He turned to her. She almost seemed to float above the ground, like a fairy that had come from the woods to help the humans solve their troubles, because they could not do it themselves. “Did you really mean what you said?”
Chapter 28
Her darkened, green gaze met his, in search of answers. She was already on her way to the carriage when his words caught her, stopping her in her tracks. She could not leave even if she wanted to. Her heart bade her stay. It bade her be courageous and take a chance on something she had been yearning for ever since Alexander became a part of her life once again.
