“Youaren’tprotecting me. Mars, he didn’t do anything. He is my father.”
The moment she spoke the words, the true horror of them rang through her. She was the daughter of the man who had claimed Mars’s father’s life.
Her husband jerked around to frown at her, as if she jested and he didn’t appreciate the joke. “Yes,” she pressed, “it is true. I just learned the story. He said I am the image of my mother.”
For his part, Lord Dervil acted as if he’d been punched again. “You are my child? Priscilla had my child?”
Clarissa looked to him. “Yes, I believe so. I’m turning five and twenty shortly. Is that not the right length of time?” In truth, Clarissa wasn’t exactly certain when her birth date was. The Taylors had celebrated it on October the twenty-seventh, the date she’d been placed on the step.
“My daughter,” Lord Dervil repeated, his balance steadying. “I have a child. I can’t believe it.”
“I know it is fantastic,” she agreed. “And yet it all makes sense.”
“It is also all the more reason you will meet me,” Mars said, interjecting himself. “Name your seconds.”
“No, my lord,” Clarissa said, “you must not do this.”
But he was not listening to her. It was as if he was caught up in his own momentum.
Lord Dervil heard. “Marsden, I shallnotmeet you. There is not cause.”
“Exactly,” Clarissa agreed.
“Oh, there is a very good cause,” her husband snapped. “You abandoned my lady’s mother, you turned your back on her—”
“Mars,that is not fair,” Clarissa said.
He wasn’t listening to her. “I shall have satisfaction. You will pay for the murderous damage you have done in your life, on the way you prey on the weak. You left a young woman to be disgraced by her family. When they found out she was carrying your child, they tossed her out and you weren’t there for her.”
“Tossed her out?” Lord Dervil repeated. He looked to Clarissa for confirmation, his expression stricken.
Clarissa thought her heart would break at how callous her husband was being. But before she could answer, Mars jumped in. “Yes, she came looking for you only to learn you already had a wife. It was cruel, Dervil, but now you will answer for your actions.”
And in that moment Clarissa hated her husband.
He was like a madman, charging around, throwing out insults without thought to the damage he was doing. She gave his arm an angry shake. “Stop this. It isn’t right.” She looked to Lord Dervil. “I’m sorry, my lord, I would not have told you, at least not in this fashion.”
Lord Dervil’s expression was tight, and then his lips twisted in a grim smile. He pulled himself upright. His eyes became unnaturally bright. “I understand, Lady Marsden. I do not lay any of this at your feet.” To Mars, he said, “On the morrow, Marsden? Excellent. We might save everyone from a vote if I lose.”
“Absolutely,” Mars agreed. “I will await word of your seconds.”
“You can’t do this,” Clarissa demanded. “I will not be your reason for a duel.”
Mars turned to her. His face could have been carved from stone.
What? Was he going to blame her for not supporting such an obscene challenge? Instead, he said, “Shall we leave, my lady?” He offered his arm.
And he expected her to take it.
Clarissa stared at her husband and she did not like what she saw. This couldn’t be the same man she had married. That man was kind and caring. That man she was beginning to love—but now?
Now she had no idea who he was, and she cut off all mental attempts to understand him. She could not love this—especially since he was using the sad tale of her mother to his own ends. He’d never had any feeling for her mother. He hadn’t known her.
He also didn’t have true feelings for Clarissa. Not if he would use her confidences as a weapon without regard to how she felt.
She backed away, turned, ready to run—andrealized to her shock that a crowd had spilled out of the doorway to gape at her and the two men. She paused. Had they heard everything? About her being born out of wedlock? About her mother being treated so callously? All these people who did not know who she was?
Clarissa glanced back at Mars. He behaved as if he was coming out of a spell. He shook his head and then noticed the crowd and realized the magnitude of the scene. He shot an angry look at Lord Dervil as if this was his fault.
