“I did tell you not to get involved,” he said.
“I can’t say I regret it, to be honest,” Thaddeus replied stubbornly. “I do not. I do, however, wish I could see how to best untangle the whole thing.”
“I was by earlier, but they said you were out. Did you go to call on Fairchild?”
Thaddeus nodded. “Fairchild wasn’t in a good state to receive company, if you can imagine,” he said dryly. Cassian snorted atthis, and Thaddeus felt a twitch of irritation at his new fiancée’s father. “I still made headway with Miss Fairchild, though.”
“The daughter? Your intended?” Thaddeus rolled his eyes at Cassian’s gentle mocking.
“Yes. She agreed to stay here, and please don’t offer your opinion on the matter. I’ve enough opinions on all of this already.”
“You invited her to stay here?” Cassian asked, ignoring his request and raising an eyebrow.
“Why not?”
“I just – Are you actually intending to go through with this? I had honestly thought you only meant to save the girl from Crowley.”
Thaddeus opened his mouth to agree, but Cassian continued.
“I mean, I have heard she’s quite the beauty. Maybe after seeing her today, you thought the better of relinquishing your prize?”
The tone of Cassian’s voice and his referring to Isolde as a prize made something snap in Thaddeus. The bad mood he’d been nursing all day turned hot.
“I know you’ve always kept yourself quiteclean,” Cassian said. He sniffed. “Never even a hint of rakishness about you. But if you’re legally wed, well, that’s another matter, isn’t it?”
“Enough,” Thaddeus said, slamming his hand onto his desk. The sound made Cassian jump out of his lazy posture, his eyes widening. He could feel his breathing speed up with his emotions. “This may all be a mess, and apparently a joke to you – but as you said, that woman is my intended wife, and you should speak of her with respect.”
Cassian was staring at him. They rarely fought, and it was even rarer that Thaddeus was the one to instigate it. He wasn’t sure what had gotten into him.
A knock on the door broke the tension, and Henry poked his head in without waiting for a reply.
“Ah, sorry Thad. I’ll come back in a bit.”
“It’s fine,” Cassian said frostily, standing. “I was just leaving. Good luck.” He snapped the last two words out as he slipped past Henry and out the door. Henry raised an eyebrow at the tone but evidently decided against asking about it.
He came in and took the seat Cassian had just vacated. Thaddeus tried to rein in his temper, realizing that his pulse was racing andhis breathing rushed. He ran a hand through his hair, careless of how unkempt he must look.
“You already know what I’m going to say,” Henry sighed. “This is wrong. It isn’t the way one should go about these things, and it certainly isn’t the way to get Mother off your back about marriage.”
Thaddeus didn’t reply, and Henry leaned forward, nervous but obviously determined to say his piece.
“Maybe you’ve gotten a little … too used to doing things on your own, in your own way. While you’ve been away.” Thaddeus was sure that Henry didn’t mean that to sound like an accusation, like he was suggesting that Thaddeus had run away. But that was how it felt. The anger started to bleed out of him, replaced with guilt. “Just think of us, too, Thad. What you do reflects on all of us. Think of Tatiana’s future.”
His words cut more deeply than Thaddeus wanted to admit. His father had been buried a day and already he was flailing under the obligations of filling his shoes.
And yet, for all his father had been a perfect marquess, he had been a terrible father. Cold, demanding, and willing to sacrifice anything for his reputation. That was not the sort of marquess Thaddeus wanted to be. He could not be.
He leaned forward and spoke gently, but firmly. “This might be a mistake, but it’s my mistake to make. You know I would never do anything that would harm you, or Tatiana, or Mother. Surely you know that,” he said, more to himself as he sat back and sighed. “Miss Fairchild is innocent in all this and deserves to be treated as such. For the rest, I shall figure it out. I’m marquess now, and I shall act like it, for better or worse.”
Henry looked at him for a long moment and finally nodded. He wasn’t convinced, but he’d decided not to fight. He stood and began to leave, but he paused at the door to say one last thing.
“This rivalry with Crowley will be the death of you, if you’re not careful.”
***
Isolde had sent word that she would arrive early in the afternoon, and to Thaddeus’s chagrin, it appeared the whole family had decided to welcome her.
He doubted very much that Isolde wanted to be met at the door by a whole party of people, but there was nothing he could do about it. Perhaps best to get all the introductions out of the way, anyway. He bounced on his feet as her carriage pulled up.
