Chapter Seven #2
Furious, Maximilian charged at him, perhaps to push him or strike him.
Maximilian wasn’t even sure. But the drink he’d imbibed all evening was causing him to behave foolishly, even with men he respected.
William caught the movement out of the corner of his eye, and he threw up an arm to protect himself, but his balled fist struck Maximilian on the side of the head.
The man went down, falling awkwardly on his right arm.
Maximilian started howling.
“My arm!” he cried, cradling his right arm against his chest. “It is broken!”
Addax had enough. He bent over and pulled Maximilian to his feet, assisted by Essien, as they waved on William.
“Go,” Addax told him. “I will tend to him.”
But William paused. “I did not mean to break your arm, Max,” he said. “But I will not let you strike me.”
Maximilian ignored him, howling about his broken arm, as William gave up trying to reason with him. As he and Paris and Kieran headed for the castle, Addax and Essien had a miserable Maximilian between them.
“Christ, Max, calm yourself,” Addax muttered. “You are screaming like a woman.”
In great pain, Maximilian yanked himself free of Addax’s grip.
“Enough,” he snarled. “I have listened to you call me names and belittle me ever since we left the tavern, but it stops now. Clearly, you are upset because you were forced to pull Lady de Grey out of the river, and you believe I am the cause of all of the trouble, but I tell you that it was not my fault. I did not do anything to the woman that a husband is not allowed to do, so did you ever stop to think that she is the one being dramatic and trying to gain your sympathy?”
Standing a few feet away, Addax simply looked at him.
“Max, the woman was genuinely distraught,” he said.
“Have you ever treated a woman kindly—any woman? What I mean to say is that women are delicate creatures. What you may not consider brutal, she very well may. You did not think that consummating the marriage in a storeroom was an issue, but she very much did. Did you even think to talk to her about it afterward? I understand your father wanted the marriage consummated right away, but did you even explain that to her? Did you tell her what you were going to do, and how you were going to do it, so she was at least prepared? If you had, she might not have been so frightened by it.”
Maximilian clearly couldn’t see what he was talking about. “But she understands this is only a business arrangement,” he said. “Furthermore, she has been married before. She knows how a marriage works. I must explain everything to her still?”
“Mayhap if you do, you will have the marriage that you want,” Addax said.
“You cannot expect her to read your mind if she does not even know you. Talk to the woman, Max. Then you can avoid things like this, but for her to try to throw herself in the river… That should be an indication that you should have done something differently.”
By this time, Maximilian had calmed down a little.
Addax was making some sense about Lady de Grey, about the situation in general, and given that Maximilian wasn’t a complete idiot, he could understand that Addax wasn’t completely condemning him.
Perhaps the man wasn’t so much against him as much as he was actually trying to help him.
But this marriage had Maximilian greatly confused.
“Very well,” he said. “But this has all been quite overwhelming. If my father hadn’t told me about his heart, I might not have gone through with it. But I am certain that is why he told me, because my father is not beyond manipulation in such ways.”
Addax’s brow furrowed. “What about your father’s heart?”
“He said that the physic told him that it is weakening,” he said.
“That is why my father wanted me to marry Lady de Witt now. At least, that is what he has told me, but my father has lied about his health before in order to get what he wants. I’m not entirely sure it is true, but it is possible. He doesn’t exactly look well.”
Addax was starting to understand more about the dynamics of the situation.
“So you did what your father wished, only you literally threw a tantrum doing it,” he said, lifting a hand to ease Maximilian when the man opened his mouth to protest yet another insult.
“Max, it’s as I’ve said before—you are punishing her for your father’s actions, and it simply isn’t fair.
She was a widow, probably pushed into this by your father, so she is as much a pawn in this as you are.
The least you could do is be civil to her, because if you are not, your reputation as a wife-beater will get around.
Men will distance themselves, and you will probably sacrifice a few friendships as a result. ”
“Including yours?”
“Probably.”
Maximilian sighed heavily, looking to Essien, who had the same expression his brother had.
Maximilian knew he would sacrifice Essien’s friendship as well, only Essien wouldn’t be so discreet about it.
The man wasn’t the diplomatic sort like Addax could be.
But the gist was that Maximilian didn’t want to sacrifice any friendships he’d cultivated over the years because he was angry at his father.
He had come to a crossroads, and he didn’t want to choose the wrong path, at least for his own reputation.
With that realization, he was forced to back down.
“Then I suppose I have no choice but to apologize to her,” he finally said. “I still do not think I did anything that was not within my right, but if it upset her so terribly, then I am sorry. It was not my intention to cause her grief.”
Addax visibly breathed a sigh of relief. “I knew you were a better man than that, Max,” he said. “Anger sometimes causes us to do things we would not normally do.”
Maximilian was still cradling his right arm against his chest. “Like attacking de Wolfe,” he said. Then he rolled his eyes. “God, I do not know what I was thinking. I should not have done it.”
Addax smiled faintly, putting a hand on his shoulder. “You can apologize to him, too, once we’ve had the arm looked at,” he said. “Come along, now. You’ve had a busy day, old man.”
Maximilian couldn’t disagree. With an aching arm and a swimming head, he allowed Addax and Essien to lead him back to the castle, where the surgeon did indeed diagnose a broken arm.
With that turn of events, Maximilian was out of the rest of the tournament, and perhaps tournaments for a few months to come.
It had been a busy day, indeed.