Chapter 24
Chapter Twenty-Four
“Vicky!” Daphne cried as soon as she saw her beloved twin sister arriving at Wilhelmina’s townhouse.
She didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. That was the extent of the emotions building and bubbling within her chest as soon as she saw the sister who looked so much like her, but not so much.
Victoria appeared a bit slimmer. Having shed some weight, she now looked more like Daphne than ever before. Still, Daphne believed, no one could replicate the expression of despair that showed on her own face.
“You look terrible, Daphne,” her twin declared, confirming her fears.
Meanwhile, Victoria looked like a fairy princess with the dust motes swirling around her, illuminated by sunlight. She was sunshine to Daphne’s rainy days, which meant that something shifted. They had exchanged roles in a way.
“Thank you,” Daphne said, rolling her eyes.
She tried to use more sarcasm but failed. She could not help but smile. Victoria was the half that she had been missing. She had thought that Adrian could fill the void, but her husband would rather be on his own or with a hundred drunken patrons in his gaming hells than be with her.
“Oh, Daphne,” Victoria gushed, reaching to fold her into an embrace.
Daphne could feel her twin sister’s worry.
They might have been separated for a long time, but reuniting would prove that nothing had changed.
They were still the same. Their bond was strong.
“Mina said you needed a change. I imagined you were either too bored or too exposed to danger. It seems that with Wolfcrest, there is no middle ground.”
Of course, Victoria had already heard all about Daphne’s struggles from Wilhelmina. Her knowledge made things easier. Daphne didn’t have to sit down with her twin and provide a litany of everything she felt and experienced.
The sisters walked toward the drawing room, hand in hand just like when they were little. Her hand was cold and clammy in Victoria’s warm one.
“He chose the ghosts of his past, Vicky,” she admitted, as they sat down. A maid quickly followed them with a tray of tea. “He would rather focus on revenge than live with me in peace, and he said he was only trying to protect me!”
Daphne was aware of the risk of opening up to Victoria. Her sister had a vicious temper, but she would be quick to take Daphne’s side, and that was comforting. There was no need to hide her feelings. She needed someone’s support. Her twin was the best one.
“That devilish… evil… serpent!” Victoria yelled, startling the maid, who almost spilled some of the tea she was pouring into the cup.
“Victoria!” Daphne widened her eyes at her sister.
“Well, I don’t care who can hear,” she said, looking defiantly at the maid, who thought it wise to slowly leave the room. “I’ll break his legs. I told him that I would hurt him if he did something to you. I will tell Daniel that he is not taking care of you as promised.”
“I believe our brother already knows,” Daphne murmured, reaching for her sister’s hands. “They already had a confrontation. The two of them were not listening to me. They were more interested in satisfying themselves in believing that I am safe.”
Victoria sighed heavily. Her eyes were sad and wary when they met with Daphne’s once more.
“Then, I can only offer you comfort, darling,” she said, nodding.
And comfort she gave. They spent the next few hours simply sharing stories and jesting about everything from London’s most abominable members of society to their own mother.
“Don’t tell Mother about this,” Daphne begged.
“I’m sorry to disappoint you, sister, but I believe she might already know. Word gets around very fast. People are gossips who don’t know how to leave other people’s business be. For good reason, in your case.”
“Ha!”
“Perhaps you can get an annulment?” Victoria asked hopefully.
Daphne gave her twin a mock-glare. They both knew that would be a disaster to anyone’s reputation, and it was more likely that they would not grant her, having consummated her marriage with her husband.
“I’m merely jesting, Daphne.”
Again, that heavy sigh. Throughout their years together, they’d shared their frustrations about marrying as a woman of society. Even though Victoria might not say it, both had high hopes that her marriage to the Duke could be her way out of despair.
An escape.
Meanwhile, the following day, Adrian had a visitor. Caleb went inside without announcing himself, and the footmen tried to get him to step back outside, but to no avail.
Adrian did not expect him. He had not been particularly kind to his friend.
All right. He probably never was, but the past few weeks had been worse.
He sat in his study with his head bent close to the surface of his desk, which was cluttered by papers.
His glass of whiskey was almost drained just like the bottle next to it.
Caleb remained standing. For once, he didn’t have a smile on his face.
Adrian remembered Kettering. It seemed he had that effect on people these days.
He placed his hands on Adrian’s desk. The Duke looked up at his friend reluctantly, not too happy that he had to lift his head to meet the disappointment in Caleb’s eyes.
“What is going on with you, Wolfcrest?” Caleb demanded. There was no hint of humor in his friend’s voice. It was low and dangerous, more like Adrian himself. “I heard that you’ve become fully the Wolf.”
“Fully the wolf?” Adrian’s tone was incredulous, but he understood what his friend was trying to say.
“It is best for Daphne to be away from me, Amberwell. Didn’t you hear about what happened?
She was there when the Obsidian Card burned to the ground.
I can see from your face that you’ve heard about it.
Of course you have. The whole ton is abuzz with the news that I endangered my wife by taking her to that hole. ”
“You are an utter fool,” Caleb muttered, groaning. He turned around and pulled at his hair, as if he was willing to shoulder all his pain. All his suffering. As if he could feel the devastation Adrian was feeling. He could not possibly do that.
Caleb shook his head in disbelief and looked at his friend with a surprising blend of pity and shock.
“You sent her away. All right. Let us be accurate about it. You let her leave, without knowing if she is coming back. I have never seen you like this with her, not ever. All your past women were merely diversions. I have seen how the shadows peeled away since you met her. The light in your eyes became even clearer as the two of you became closer. You retreated. You are giving up. How can you do that when it’s so plain to see that you love her? Yes, you do!”
Adrian blinked. His hands clenched into fists as he took the blows his friend sent with his words.
Did I really love her?
He regarded her with affection. He wanted her to be safe. However, he never planned to have that terrifying and unnamed beast to hold his heart hostage.
Caleb dared name the feeling. Adrian could not accept it. Sharp clarity descended upon him, but denial overtook it all. It was the way he was, and he thought that he would always be.
“I am protecting her, as I’ve promised when I offered her marriage,” he corrected huskily. His throat was suddenly dry and all he could do was strain to utter anything at all.
“Do you still remember how your mother and sister died, Wolfcrest?” Caleb asked, still looking and sounding grim. Of course, he knew the answer to that, but it looked like his friend wanted to push him to the brink until he was ready to admit his feelings.
“Do not dare speak their names,” he growled, slamming the desk with one fist.
The memory was etched in his mind, and perhaps his soul. What kind of question was that? How dared his friend? Then, he gripped the edge of his desk, aiming for self-control.
“Of course, I will!” Caleb raged, defiant for the first time.
“You must learn from the past. You cannot just push all those memories away. They loved you, and you loved them. You bring honor to their names. But look at you now, Wolfcrest, you are becoming your father! He thought he was protecting them by keeping all his secrets. He thought that by sheltering them in the house, oblivious to his debts and the people he dealt with, they would be safe. And they weren’t, as you now know.
They were not prepared for any kind of danger.
Can you imagine the surprise and shock they felt when the men descended upon them? ”
“Stop it, Amberwell! Stop it!” Adrian bellowed.
“You are not protecting the Duchess by abandoning her. Tell me. If it’s about protecting her from Briarwood, why have you not pursued her yet?
The blackguard is dead! Now if you think there are other dangers out there, do you think she is safer away from you, in a place where people do not have the means to fight?
Or is she safer here with you, with Kettering and your other men guarding your properties?
You are making your wife face this danger all alone. You have left her unprotected.”
Adrian was rattled with the force in which Caleb declared his anger and frustration. They stood there, with the mahogany desk between them, staring each other down. They were panting from anger, but Adrian was beginning to feel something else.
Fear?
Despair?
Regret?
No, not just one, but all of them.
The Marquess straightened himself, and with a voice full of contempt, he said, “A true man stands by his wife, Wolfcrest. Such a man shares the burden and is honest. I have always known you as a man who takes what he wants. You are so eager to take Briarwood’s property, but can’t you claim your territory this time?
Why are you trying to run away from that one thing that you thought you’d never possess? ”
“It is for her safety, Amberwell. She is safer in her own world. It was my fault. Everything! I should not have pulled her into my darkness.”
Adrian was fully aware he was being stubborn.
Caleb shook his head once more, looking defeated.
“Cassandra and your mother were both strong. You know that. The same constancy and resolve were supposed to flow in your veins. Your father was a coward. Don’t be like him.
Be like Cassandra and your mother, who would want you to be happy.
Please think about it. Don’t give up. Do it for yourself and for Daphne.
Don’t let their loss drag the rest of your life down. ”
Caleb left the room just as quickly as he arrived.
Adrian almost made himself believe that he had never been there, but he had.