Chapter 16
“Ibelieve my wife asked you to leave, Lady Danford.” Alaric did not bother to hide the cold anger in his voice.
He had heard raised voices as soon as he had stepped into the house with Oliver. The look of panic on Oliver’s face had sparked Alaric’s ire, but the fact that someone had dared shout at his wife in his home had turned that spark into a white-hot wildfire roaring through his body.
He had instructed Oliver to take Daisy into the garden whilst he saw to whatever was going on and asked one of the maids to look after him. Then he had made his way toward the sound of arguing.
Alaric entered the drawing room like a panther stalking its prey. In a single glance, he absorbed the scene: a woman who resembled Catherine so closely she could only be her mother. Her title and name flashed through Alaric’s mind, but that was all.
“Y-Your Grace, I had not realized you were home.” All the color had drained from the woman’s face as Alaric moved further into the room, and she took several steps back.
“Clearly. Or I doubt you would have had the gall to behave as you have.” Alaric’s voice cracked out like a whip as his eyes sought Catherine’s.
Her face was pale, and her blue eyes were watery.
His heart twisted fiercely as blood surged in his ears.
Her lip trembled, and he positioned himself between Catherine and her mother.
The scent of lavender enveloped him. Her eyes widened as he moved closer.
His heart hammered so loudly he was sure it would burst as he fought the urge to pull Catherine into his arms.
“Your Grace, I... I can only apologize. This is all just a silly misunderstanding between a mother and a daughter, nothing you need to concern yourself with.” Lady Danford’s voice shook even as Alaric heard the pathetic attempt at false cheer.
Alaric saw Catherine’s eyes dart to her mother, her muscles tense, her jaw clenched, but beneath the anger, he saw pain. That pain broke a dam in his chest.
I may not know the man I was, but I know the man I will become: no one hurts my wife.
A cold, clear anger settled over Alaric—he did not need his memories, not for this. He turned slowly to face Catherine’s mother, instinct guiding his movements. “Lady Danford, just how big a fool do you take me for?”
“I beg your pardon!” Lady Danford’s smile faltered as Alaric rolled his shoulders back, letting his anger show in his eyes even as one corner of his mouth quirked upward.
“I asked you just how much of a fool you think I am.” Alaric’s voice carried a hint of danger, and from Lady Danford’s fading smile, it was clear she felt it too.
“I... I do not think you a fool, Your Grace.” Lady Danford swallowed. “I would never– ”
“Then why would you lie to me in my own house?” Alaric said, his smile razor-sharp as he loomed over her.
“I did no such– ” she started, but Alaric interrupted her once more, raising a hand.
“I will not tolerate it again, Lady Danford.”
“Your Grace, you cannot accuse me of lying when I was not. I apologize for the scene. I tried to tell Catherine not to behave like this, but she would not listen. She is in one of her stubborn moods, I fear, she is always so– ”
Her face was red with rage, but Alaric met her anger with his own.
“If you insult my wife one more time, I will make sure you regret it. I will ruin everything you hold dear.” Every word held a promise of pain, and Alaric let the threat sit between them, watching as Lady Danford recoiled away.
“If you cannot be civil, then be silent. Do not test me.”
He sensed Catherine tense behind him and turned to face her. He let his anger fade away as he canted his head in her direction, his eyes asking the question his mouth could not.
Are you all right? She bit her lip, and Alaric saw the answer in her eyes.
Without thinking, he wrapped his arm around her. He felt her body’s warmth against his as she moved to his side. He held her, shifting slightly to stay between Catherine and her mother as he turned to face the marchioness.
“Let us be clear, Lady Danford. Catherine may be your daughter, but she is a duchess. More to the point, she is my duchess, and as far as I am concerned, she has been more than patient with you.” Alaric stared down his nose at the woman.
Alaric’s words were hard as steel. “You arrive on our doorstep without invitation, you raise your voice to my wife in her own home.” Alaric narrowed his eyes, watching as Lady Danford opened and closed her mouth several times, but said nothing.
“Then you seek to deny the evidence of my own senses, and think me foolish enough to believe your lies.”
“I—”
“These alone would be bad enough, but it is your final transgression that is unforgivable.” Alaric met Lady Danford’s gaze, his voice like a judge sentencing a criminal. “You insulted my wife. That will not stand.”
Lady Danford’s eyes flashed even as she flinched away from him, and Alaric saw the same anger he had seen so often in Catherine’s eyes.
He met that anger and let his face become a mask of cold indifference.
Everything about his expression was calculated to convey that she was not even an insect worth his notice.
“I... I was only trying to help her.” Lady Danford tilted her chin toward him.
Alaric’s voice was calm yet menacing, like a snare hidden beneath leaves. “Did she ask for it?”
“No, but she needs it.” Lady Danford met his gaze, and Alaric could see the echo of Catherine’s fire in her mother.
“I doubt that.” Alaric stepped away from Catherine and moved toward her mother, ignoring the cold that crept over him as her body left his.
“You just wanted to control her, to bend her will to yours, to be the puppet master and turn my wife into your pretty marionette. You had such success with arranging our scandal, after all, why stop there?”
His words had the effect he had hoped for. Lady Danford stumbled back, her eyes wide.
“Did you think I would not discover your machinations? I am the Duke of Coldmere, Lady Danford. I know everything I need to.” He took another step toward her, the smirk falling from his face, knowing his words skirted the edge of truth.
“You were too blind to see just what you were giving away. Blinded by power or greed, I do not care, but your mistake has only made my life better.”
Lady Danford shook her head.
Alaric gestured between himself and Lady Danford.
“If you truly knew your daughter, if you really saw her, you would not treat her the way you do. You would not have forced her hand; you would have trusted in her judgment. Your daughter is remarkably brilliant, Lady Danford. She has a mind unlike any I have ever known. Her heart is good and pure. She is fiercely loyal and unafraid to speak her mind. She is beautiful both inside and out, and yet you see her as something to be tamed, to be controlled.”
Alaric took another step toward the Marchioness, letting his size fill the space between them. “To do that is to diminish her, and I will not allow anyone to do that.”
The silence between them was so thick he could have cut it with a knife. Alaric looked down at Lady Danford, his jaw clenched and eyes steel. Lady Danford looked up at him, anger and some other emotion Alaric could not quite identify flickering on her face.
“For your sake, I hope in time you see the truth of her.” His voice was little more than a whisper, but it filled the room nonetheless. “But until you do, you do not deserve her in your life.”
He straightened the lapels of his coat and stepped away. “In the future, you will contact us requesting permission to visit. Do I make myself clear?”
Lady Danford looked at him, let out a long breath, her jaw tight with barely contained rage as she curtsied.
“Good. Now, leave.” He gestured toward the door, and Catherine’s mother turned tail and fled.
Her footsteps quickened as she moved farther from the door, and Alaric felt a wave of satisfaction wash over him. The sound of shuffling behind him drew him back into the room.
His heart sped up as he turned to face Catherine, every shred of his righteous anger fading as his eyes searched her face. There was no smile, nor any anger.
“I apologize if I scared you.” Alaric took a step toward her, realized that his hand was moving to touch her arm, and hastily ran it through his hair instead.
“You did not.” Catherine’s voice quivered slightly, and her eyes were fixed on his face with such intensity it felt like a physical touch.
“Good.” Alaric swallowed and clasped his hands behind his back.
He wanted to go to her again, to pull her to him as he had done earlier, but the rules flooded into his mind.
“About earlier, I apologize. I should not have—”
“Thank you,” Catherine said at the same moment.
They both blinked at each other. Alaric opened his mouth to speak again, but snapped it shut when Catherine beat him to it. “Why are you apologizing?”
“For touching you. I was not thinking. It will not happen again.” His chest tightened as he said it, the fingers of his hand flexing unconsciously behind his back. “I swear it.”
“Oh, that.” Catherine’s hand ran along her arm, where Alaric knew his hand had touched her. “You do not need to apologize for that.”
“You asked me to respect your rules, Catherine, and that is twice now I have broken my word to you.” Alaric clenched his jaw and shook his head. “I ask that you forgive this transgression.”
I cannot let this happen again. I do not want to lose her. Several emotions flitted across Catherine’s face too quickly for Alaric to name. Her eyes narrowed, and she blinked at him slowly, as though seeing him for the first time. And then to his surprise, she laughed.
“Alaric, you just defended me to my mother. You literally put yourself between us and said things that I do not think anyone has ever thought about me, much less put into words.” She took a step toward him and shook her head.
“Though you did not have to lie like that. I suspect she would have left regardless.”
“What lies do you think I told?” Alaric felt the skin of his scar stretch as his frown deepened.
“Those things you said about me.” Catherine swallowed, her cheeks turning red. “I know you were trying to show her that we are a united front, but– "
“I did not lie to her; what I said is simply fact. Your mother might be blind to it, but I am not.” He stayed where he was, even as every muscle in his body begged him to move closer to her.
Control yourself. She does not want you. You are a man, not a dog like your father.
The smell of stale whiskey rose in his mind, and he pushed it violently away. The pounding in his head ebbed away as he met Catherine’s piercing blue eyes.
“I... I do not know what to say.” Catherine bit her lip, and Alaric had to force himself not to stare at it.
“You need not say anything.” Alaric rubbed his neck and shrugged.
“I do.” Catherine took a step toward him. “What you did just now... No one has ever stood up for me like that before, and well, thank you.”
“I have already told you, you need not thank me,” Alaric said with a smile. “You may not have chosen me, but I am still your husband. I was doing what a husband should do.”
The clock chimed behind them, and Alaric looked away from Catherine. “I should check on Oliver; he was unsettled by the shouting.”
He left without waiting for Catherine’s response, not trusting himself to stay with her a moment longer.
He had agreed to her rules; he would follow them, even if it killed him.