His mother frowned.
“How could I think her affection for you was genuine? She didn’t even look in on you when you were sick. And she was always eager to dance or walk with other men when you weren’t around. I simply cannot give my blessing.”
She set her mouth in a firm line, and Thaddeus knew she could be stubborn, but so could he, and losing Isolde now that he knew she cared was unacceptable to him.
“Believe me,” he said, taking his mother’s hand, “I’m very aware of what people might do because of my title. And you’re wrong about Miss Fairchild. It’s not your fault, but you’re very wrong.”
And then he told them everything that had happened, the whole long story.
“This is a true love match, Mother,” he said in the end. “Plain and simple. And I hope you will accept it because, forgive me, but I will marry her regardless.”
His mother rarely looked shocked, but she did now. After a moment, she composed herself.
“Very well,” she said. “If you are that determined, I will not speak against the match anymore.”
Thaddeus grinned. It wasn’t total acceptance, but he knew in time she would come around.
“Thank you, Mother,” he said, and took her hand to kiss it as Tatiana practically jumped on him to congratulate him once more.
He returned to Isolde’s home the next day as promised and was shown into the drawing room. A few minutes later, the door opened, but he was surprised to see Thomas enter instead of Isolde.
“Isolde and Cornelia are out on a walk, getting some air. You’re welcome to wait, of course. I just thought I would come in and greet you.”
“I appreciate that,” Thaddeus said as he grasped Thomas’s outstretched hand. “And actually, if you can spare a moment, I’d like to speak with you alone.”
“Of course,” Thomas said, sitting across from him at once, his brow wrinkling in concern. “Is everything all right?”
“Yes, don’t worry. I just wanted to discuss your father’s debts with you. I believe between the two of us, we can devise a plan to take care of them, and also be sure you and Cornelia are taken care of, as well.”
Relief bloomed in Thomas’s face.
“Thank you so much, Lord Hartington,” he said. “Isolde and I have been going through everything, but some your assistance would be so appreciated.”
“You have it – my assistance in sorting through the debts, and in any other way I can help.”
Thomas reached out his hand once again, shaking Thaddeus’s own with gratitude. He invited Thaddeus into his father’s study, and they began looking over the books, talking intermittently.
“I heard Lord Crowley has of late left Oxford and gone north,” Thaddeus said at one point. Thomas tried and failed to suppress his smile.
“Indeed. It seems the fortune he kept dangling in front of my father was not what he claimed, and some even say he’s gone to Scotland to avoid the bailiffs who will soon come to collect.”
Thomas’s face turned dark for a moment.
“Thank goodness neither Isolde nor Cornelia was ensnared by his designs in the end. We would have been worse off than before.”
Thaddeus wholeheartedly agreed.
After a bit more working, Thomas glanced cautiously at Thaddeus.
“Isolde did not say much of what happened between you and Lord Cassian, but I admit I’ve drawn my own conclusions from the few tidbits she’s shared. Have you … heard from him, or his cousin?”
Thaddeus shook his head. He felt a twinge of regret but knew that he could never trust Cassian again after what he’d done.
“You have good instincts,” he told Thomas. “Lord Cassian was not who I believed him to be.”
“I’m sorry to know that,” Thomas said, and Thaddeus shook his head. “Better to know the truth, always.”
Thomas nodded.
