“You were Fairclough’s property, and thus, you could not be responsible for his debts, nor even your own in most cases. I thought I made that clear to you before.”
She narrowed her eyes and tilted her head. “Is that true? Gerald maintains —”
“Gerald can go to hell,” he blurted, then at her wide-eyed look of alarm, he calmed himself. “The laws that restrict you from owning property or signing a business contract also protect you. I know the laws of Great Britain seem to treat you as a child or even an inanimate object at times, but I swear that many of usare trying to change them in Parliament. In the meantime, they protect you from your husband’s debts.”
“I see.”
Accepting his words, applying this information to what she thought was true, Alice looked so adorable, he wanted to relent and kiss her. But his heart ached at her mistrusting him and running as if she could easily bear a life apart.
Then she added, “But he can still have me charged with murder.”
“He cannot. Foxford easily located Fairclough’s mistress because the man knows that world, which is not a mark of distinction for Purity’s husband but useful in this instance. And Hollidge determined the woman is willing to testify on your behalf. Even now, he has composed a letter for her to sign, telling the new Lord Fairclough to scuttle off, except in legal terms. The rat should be receiving it soon.”
Her expression came over utterly stunned. “They did all that for me?”
“We are family,” he reminded her, wondering how long it would be before she understood what that signified. “I have tried to make you believe that and to trust me. Until you do, we are husband and wife in name only.”
Her silvery-green eyes widened, then she looked at her lap and nodded. He could tell the notion of depending upon him still seemed an unfamiliar and dodgy one at best. Moreover, she had proven she preferred to cut stick rather than to stay and fight.
Adam could not change her nature, nor perhaps could she. But he would remain hopeful Alice could change her mind. Inside her was a loving, passionate woman who wanted a family and wanted to trust others — he believed it was so, especially after seeing her blossom under the attention of his parents and sisters. Berating her for leaving him wouldn’t help at all.
“I came to tell you all this in person, as a letter seemed insufficient to the importance of the message. But I did not come here to drag you back to London. You must only come when you’re ready to return and be my wife, no longer looking back at the past.”
He smiled gently and leaned over to tap the side of her head — for it seemed to him she had let her former husband and his brother remain in her thoughts — but he couldn’t think of what more to say.
“I don’t want to be tangled up with the Faircloughs any longer,” she vowed.
With a finger under her chin, Adam turned her to face him.
“May I kiss you, Lady Diamond?”
She nodded.
He took her beloved face in his hands and claimed her lips, hoping she realized she need never feel alone and unsupported again. But it had to come from within her. He’d done all he could. The decision was hers.
Chapter Twenty-Two
When Adam heard female voices, he thought Alice had returned. Three days had passed since he’d left her. As intended, he’d stayed only the one night and had not invited her into his bed. Nor had she asked him into hers. If she had, he would have resisted. His heart was bruised by how easily his wife had left him behind, and he needed to know she was entirely committed to their marriage.
His hopes were dashed that Alice was in the foyer when he recognized Purity and Clarity’s familiar tones and went downstairs to greet them.
“Tell us you came home with her,” Clarity said, for they’d heard of Alice’s departure through their husbands.
He shook his head.
“I should have known you didn’t by the mopey look upon your face,” she said. “You are not happy, and I warrant your wife is not happy either.”
“If I had dragged her back here, I doubt she would be any happier,” he quipped, having the sudden primitive urge to do exactly that, to tangle his fingers in Alice’s glorious golden caramel hair and hold on to it like a horse’s mane.
“This doesnotlook good,” Purity said. “It is highly irregular for a new couple to be so quickly separated and living apart. People will wonder and start to talk.”
He didn’t care too much for gossip, but he knew with Alice’s past, she wouldn’t like to be whispered about again.
Clarity frowned. “Adam is correct about not bringing her back if she doesn’t wish to be here.”
“I suppose you are right,” Purity said. “And if he knew she was resistant, then he wouldn’t enjoy her company to its fullest.”
He wished they weren’t discussing his marriage as if they were haggling over vegetables at an open-air market. And as if he wasn’t even there.
