Isabelle kissed her cheek. “Always. Happiness is what you deserve above all things.” And that is why I must tell you. Forgive me. “Cassidy, I received a letter this afternoon… I don’t know who wrote it, but it pertains to you, and you ought to be made aware of its contents.”
“A letter?”
“About Lord Greyburn.” She crumpled the paper, still inside her pocket. There certainly was no need for Cassidy to read the note itself. “It’s about his previous wife.”
“Milena?”
“Yes. I do not know how much truth is in it, but… Cassidy, it claims that Lord Greyburn… caused Milena’s death.”
Cassidy showed no signs of surprise. “I know,” she said. “Tasya, Stefan’s cousin, said that the Boroskovs blamed him for it. Braden told me himself that she died in an accident—she fell, during a storm. And she—” Her expression grew remote. “It was an accident.”
If only it were so simple. “The note also says that Lord Greyburn’s… love for Milena was a kind of sickness. That he held Milena prisoner here for months, cut off from the outside world, while she was with child. That he was so jealous that he refused to let anyone see her. When she was very near to her time, she escaped, and the earl hunted her down. She fell from a height during the confrontation—the note suggests that she was pushed. When she was brought back to Greyburn, badly injured, her… child was stillborn.”
Pale and tight-lipped, Cassidy stared at her. “That isn’t true.”
“I’m sorry. I thought it best that you knew what others were saying of the earl. If Lord Greyburn did any of these things—”
“He didn’t.” She stood up and walked rigidly across the room. “You don’t know him, Isabelle. He did love Milena—” She closed her eyes. “I can’t change that. But the rest… I don’t believe any of it.”
Isabelle sighed and covered her eyes. She’d done her duty, but she’d be damned before she made Cassidy suffer any more than necessary. “Perhaps the note is nothing but a malicious trick by one of the Boroskov’s or their people.” But she couldn’t drive away the notion that there was some kernel of truth behind the missive. If ever she’d planned to leave Greyburn, it was quite impossible now.
“Oh, Isabelle.” Cassidy knelt beside the bed. “Braden hasn’t treated you very well, and maybe you have good reasons not to like him. But I know him. He’s not what you think.”
Isabelle felt perilously close to weeping. “My dear,” she whispered, taking Cassidy’s hands. “All I want is for you to be happy.”
“I know. You’ve been such a good friend.” Cassidy kissed the back of Isabelle’s hand. “Trust me, Isabelle. I’m grown up now.”
“Yes. And I have no right to interfere.”
Cassidy rested her forehead on Isabelle’s knee. “Everything would be perfect, if only you could be as happy as I am.”
To that Isabelle had no answer. Matthew was gone. She was still isolated and alone here at Greyburn, but she dared not leave, as long as Lord Greyburn’s character remained in question. She doubted she would ever be sure of it.
Yet Cassidy had become a woman in every way. She’d chosen her own destiny. Isabelle had no doubt that she’d gone willingly into this marriage. She’d caught the earl herself.
Was it possible that this improbable union might work? Could Cassidy’s innocence, unsullied by her knowledge of sex, remain her strength?
Cassidy was fully capable of loving the earl with everything inside her, even to denying his faults. But was he able to return that love? Was he driven only by desire, or duty to some inner code?
If there was any justice in the world, perhaps Cassidy had changed him. If Cassidy could enjoy a full and happy life, then Isabelle had no regrets.
She smiled. “Don’t worry about me, my dear. I muddle along very nicely just as I am. I’m only sorry you couldn’t have had a proper wedding with all the trimmings.”
“I didn’t need it. Everything is perfect just as it is.”
But all was far from perfect. Though Cassidy moved into Lord Greyburn’s suite and everyone in the house was informed of the great event, it was almost as if nothing had happened. There was no party or celebration or wedding feast, not even among the servants. Cassidy didn’t seem to mind or even notice, but Isabelle was troubled. It became clear that Lord Greyburn did not expect Cassidy to take on the duties of a countess or the wife of a peer—that, in fact, he didn’t even want her involved with the Convocation.