“What was a waste of time?” Thaddeus demanded. He could practically see Cassian’s mind searching for an answer to give him.
“Coming here,” he finally said, “to speak to you about this –”
“No,” Thaddeus said. “That’s not it. Tell me the truth.”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Cassian said.
Thaddeus opened his mouth to press him further, but just then, there was a hurried knock on the door, and then, without waiting for a response, Henry rushed in.
“Thaddeus,” he said, “I thought you would want to know. I just heard from Miss White. Miss Fairchild’s father has died.”
All thoughts of this argument with Cassian immediately disappeared. He barely even responded to Henry, just muttered a few words of thanks as he rushed past. His only thought was to find Isolde. She had been so upset earlier – he could only imagine how she was feeling now. And though he still wasn’t sure of her feelings, he knew he had to stay close to her, just in case she needed him.
He was halfway to her room when he ran into Thomas.
“Mr. Fairchild,” he said, stopping to grasp Thomas’s hand. “I’ve just heard the news of your father. I’m so very sorry.”
“Thank you, Lord Hartington,” Thomas said, gripping onto the hand Thaddeus had offered tightly. “It’s all a bit of a shock but …” Thomas suddenly seemed to think better of what he was about to say and went quiet.
“It’s all right,” Thaddeus said, lowering his voice. “It was a complicated situation. However you feel … it’s all right.”
Thomas nodded.
“I appreciate you saying that. I believe I shall miss him, even though I felt I barely knew the man he became at the end of his life. And I certainly didn’t expect it to happen here and now, butI can’t say it hadn’t crossed my mind, him going like this. His lifestyle was not a healthy one.”
Thomas’s eyes clouded over with sadness, and Thaddeus clapped him on the shoulder in what he hoped was a comforting, brotherly gesture.
“And perhaps,” Thomas whispered, “perhaps this will be a chance for our family. If we can pay off his debts, find a way to bring money into the estate again…”
“You’ll have whatever aid I can give you,” Thaddeus assured him.
“Thank you,” Thomas replied. He eyed Thaddeus, seeming to focus on him for the first time. He frowned. “I’m afraid you also look a bit shaken, My Lord. Is everything all right?”
“It’s nothing,” Thaddeus said.
“No, you must allow me to help you if you are going to help me. Please, tell me your troubles,” Thomas said. He smiled ruefully. “If only to distract me from my own for a moment.”
“Ah, well,” Thaddeus hesitated, but Thomas had asked … “It’s just Lord Cassian. He and I just had a row. But it’s not a big matter. Certainly not important in the light of everything else going on.”
“I see,” Thomas said. He also seemed to hesitate, then spoke again. “It may be out of line for me to say, Lord Hartington, and I acknowledge Lord Cassian is your friend, but I must say … I have gotten an odd feeling about him. A few of the things he’s said to Isolde especially … I just felt perhaps he wasn’t to be trusted.”
In a way, Thaddeus was relieved to know that he wasn’t the only one who found Cassian’s version of events lately to be suspicious. But it hurt to think that perhaps his friend wasn’t just thoughtless and unobservant but perhaps purposefully deceptive.
“You’re not out of line, Fairchild,” he said. “I appreciate you telling me.”
The words “to Isolde, especially” made him wonder what exactly had been going on behind his back these past few days. He still needed to talk to Isolde. But first, he needed just to be there for her in her grief.
“I beg your pardon, but I hope you won’t mind if I go to find your sister? I want to be sure she’s well taken care of.”
Thomas smiled at him.
“Nothing would make me happier than to know Isolde is well taken care of – she deserves it. And I fear she will have thehardest time with our father’s passing. She could never truly stop loving him. She knew him the longest before, when he was better. She could never let him go. And she always felt so duty-bound to him.”
Even when he bet her future and lost it to a stranger, Thaddeus thought with a twinge of guilt.
“Then I’ll go to her now,” Thaddeus said. “And please, if you or Miss Cornelia need anything, don’t hesitate to ask. I’m here for all of you.”
Thomas thanked him again, and the two parted, with Thaddeus heading again for Isolde’s room. As he neared her corridor, though, he heard raised voices nearby. He followed the voices and found Cassian and Vivienne tucked into an alcove, arguing.
