“Well, now, I don’t know about that.” Aunt Olivia was clearly struggling to put her finger on the reason for the animosity that had entered the room with Rosalind and the Viscount, but it was also clear that she wanted to try to smooth things over. “Just look at Isabella here. Married to a duke! And she’s a duchess now. It’s living proof that anyone can marry anyone if they truly want to. Love conquers all.”
“Love.” Rosalind snorted. “There’s no love inthatmatch. He married her because she tricked him into it, that’s all.”
Isabella couldn’t believe that Rosalind had been bold enough to say such a thing right in front of Arthur and his aunt. Even the Viscount looked surprised and a little abashed, and Isabella was sure that, while this was probably something the two of them had discussed privately, her father had never intended those words to see the light of day.
But it was Arthur who responded. “What did you say?” he asked, narrowing his eyes.
Rosalind had the decency to look abashed in the face of the Duke questioning her. “Well—it’s only the truth, Your Grace,” she murmured, although she did sound less confident in her assessment now. “We all know it. You married her because of that lie she made up. I’m sure you were just embarrassed about the scandal that would take place if you had to admit to the factthat it had never been real. Why else would you want to marry someone like her? The daughter of a maid and a known liar! Of course, it was to spare yourself from having to explain away her lies. A neat trick on her part, I must say, though I personally would never stoop so low as to try to trick a gentleman like that.”
Arthur held up a hand. “I won’t hear any more of this,” he said. He turned to the Viscount. “Lord Cliffrows, I insist that you get your daughter under control. She is a guest in my home as are you, and I won’t have her insulting my wife—the Duchess—in this manner. I realize that you are family, but if you can’t show the Duchess the respect she deserves, I’ll be forced to rescind my invitation and send the two of you home right now.” He turned to Felicity. “Though you would be welcome to stay as long as you liked, of course. I know how important it is for you and Isabella to see one another. She’s mentioned to me countless times how much she misses you, Miss Felicity.”
Isabella felt instantly grateful to Arthur for making it clear that he wouldn’t be sending Felicity away if he felt compelled to get rid of the others.
Rosalind sulked, and the Viscount said quickly, “No offense was intended, Your Grace. My daughter has a sharp tongue.”
“Teach her to soften it if she wishes to spend any more time in my home.”
“Of course,” the Viscount agreed quickly.
When Arthur wasn’t looking, the Viscount shot a glare at Isabella, as if she had been the one to reprimand Rosalind. Isabella didn’t mind. It felt so good to hear someone put Rosalind in her place that it didn’t matter to her that her father was angry about it. Let him be angry! It was about time someone had said those things.
The rest of the day passed pleasantly enough. Rosalind couldn’t seem to get over the fact that she had been scolded as she had, for she sat quietly and said little at all. A few times, Isabella met Felicity’s eyes, and she knew that she and her sister were thinking the same thing—what an improvement this was.
Her father was less easily abashed and continued to make pointed comments about the state of Windhill—how the house was nicer than he had expected, how he had assumed that the Duke didn’t have much money given his willingness to marry a maid’s daughter, but now, he could see that it wasn’t the truth. Nobody paid him much mind. Isabella was grateful for the ability Arthur seemed to have to ignore the things her father was saying. The Viscount was being very rude, but it didn’t seem to have very much effect.
“Are you going to the Manford ball?” she asked her sister as their visit drew to a close.
“I am,” Felicity said, lighting up. “Will you be there too?”
“Yes,” Isabella said with a smile. “All three of us will—me, Arthur, and Olivia, so we’ll see one another very soon!”
Rosalind gave a little huff at that as she took her leave, but nobody paid her any mind at all.
CHAPTER 17
“Isabella? What are you doing here? I thought you had gone to bed.”
Isabella felt herself blush. “I’m on my way to bed,” she said. “I’m in the habit of borrowing a book from the library to take with me and reading a few hours before I go to sleep. I was hoping to find something good tonight to take my mind off my father’s visit, but I didn’t mean to disturb you. I didn’t know that you would be in the library too.”
“You can come in,” Arthur said. “There’s no rule against your presence in the library.”
“I know. Forgive me. I suppose I’m having a bit of trouble feeling clear in my mind about what all the rules are. There seem to be so many.”
“Well, that’s my fault,” Arthur admitted. “I did tell you that you should expect to live by only three rules, and I’ve certainly changed my tune about that.”
Isabella hadn’t expected him to admit it so readily. “It’s all right,” she told him. “You and I are both learning how to do these things. Living together as husband and wife for the first time. I’m confident that when you told me that, you truly believed you would hold me to only three rules.”
“So, I did,” Arthur replied. “I appreciate your willingness to understand that we can’t always anticipate what will happen as life goes on.”
She moved further into the room. “It was kind of you to have my family to visit today,” she said. “It was very thoughtful, and it meant a great deal to me.”
“I hoped it would,” Arthur told her, “but I fear, after seeing the way they behaved, that I might have only made things worse for you. That half-sister of yours is rather intolerable, isn’t she?”
“Oh, yes,” Isabella agreed. “But she’s always been that way. She’s so used to having her own way in everything. It must be absolutely tormenting her that I’m married to a duke and that Felicity is being courted by various gentlemen, and meanwhile, nobody has taken the slightest interest in her. I would feel sorry for her if she were anybody else, but I just can’t seem to muster up any sympathy for Rosalind.”
“No, I don’t blame you for that,” Arthur agreed. “She seems particularly difficult to sympathize with, but I’m surprised that your father allowed her to get away with acting the way she did. Didn’t he ever come to your defense?”
Isabella laughed. “I thought you had the measure of him. No, he always took her side, and I know that he always will. It’s not of interest to him to protect me from Rosalind. He’s more interested in making it up to her that she had to have me as a sister to begin with. I know he’s always felt guilty about that.”
