But shehatedbeing left in the dark.
So, later that afternoon, as she was walking through the house, she stopped when she saw Mrs. Wilson hurrying down the corridor.
“Your Grace!”
“Where is His Grace?”
Mrs. Wilson hesitated.
“I—”
“Do not lie to me, Mrs. Wilson.” Isadora was being harsher than she normally would, but her frustration with her husband had reached its zenith. It was only natural.
The head maid exhaled, glancing down the hall before answering.
“The Duke had a visitor this morning. It was… a man.”
“What was his name, and what did he want?”
Mrs. Wilson shook her head. “I do not know his name. I did not recognize him. He was not one of the usual gentlemen who calls upon him.”
“I see,” Isadora groaned. “Thank you.”
Mrs. Wilson hesitated again before blurting, “Your Grace?”
Isadora turned. “Yes?”
Mrs. Wilson bit her lip, as if deciding whether or not to speak, then, in a quieter voice, she said, “Be careful.”
Mrs. Wilson offered no further explanation. She merely dipped into a quick curtsy and hurried away, leaving Isadora alone with her thoughts.
And, not for the first time since marrying Evan Marwood, she wondered if she truly knew the kind of man she had wed.
“You have been asking questions.”
Evan’s voice was calm as he interrupted her at teatime. She did not even know when he had gotten back home.
Isadora barely had time to set down her tea.
She lifted her chin, feigning innocence. “I do not know what you mean.”
“Sweetheart, do not insult my intelligence.” He walked over to her. “Your perfectly loyal maid that you’ve been interrogating got back to me that you’ve been asking questions about my visitors and my whereabouts.”
Isadora’s mouth hung open. She had trusted Mrs. Wilson to be a confidante.
“I do not believe that,” she insisted. “You must have sent some of the staff to spy on our conversations.”
Evan smirked at that. “Well, perhaps I did, but the point remains, you have been asking about me.”
She sighed, placing her hands neatly in her lap. “If you must know, I was merely trying to understand what my husband does when he disappears for hours without a word.”
“You are making inquiries among the staff,” he replied. “I am not sure if that is the way to go about it. I married you because you are a proper lady, not one that gossips about her husband to the maids.”
That stung, but Isadora struggled to compose herself.
“Ilivein this house, do I not? Surely, I am entitled to know who comes and goes.”
“You are entitled tonothingbeyond what we agreed,” Evan snapped. “You wanted a marriage that was comfortable, safe—was that not what you told me?”
