"If you've brought me in here to say 'I told you so' then I have more important things to do," Adrian said, starting to rise.
His father didn't need to say a word, he simply looked at him, and Adrian sat back, restless. He hadn't seen Charlotte since the doctor had patched up her shoulder and pronounced her fit and pregnant. His mother had taken over from Lady Whitmore, and he'd been shut out, away from her, with no chance to hold her as he so desperately needed to do, to assure himself she was safe.
He needed to tell her the truth, that he was a worthless idiot, blind and stupid and shallow, but that despite all that he loved her.
They wouldn't let him.
It was a conspiracy, he thought grimly. He was going to have to take his punishment before they'd let him go to her.
"I want to know what you intend to do about the situation. "
He deliberately chose to misunderstand. "About your cousin, sir?" He let the deliberate emphasis be his one form of fighting back. "I'll have to deal with the local magistrate, I expect. "
"I'm the local magistrate," Montague said with a trace of his old energy. The doctor hadn't wanted to leave him, but Montague had sent him away with a querulous wave of his bony hand. "I declare you innocent of any wrongdoing. As for de Giverney, I imagine there's space in the village graveyard to dump him. ”
"Presumably he's Catholic," the vicar said. "If he's buried in Protestant ground he'll go to hell. "
"Oh, let's, then," said Lady Whitmore. "I'll be happy to help dig. "
"I mean, what's to be done with the young woman you ruined?"
With anyone else Adrian might have taken issue with the term ruined. Ruined her for any other man, perhaps, which was just what he wanted. "In case the others haven't told you, I've been trying to get her to agree to marry me. You know that I have the special license, and Pagett there could perform the ceremony. But she won’t agree. ”
"And who could blame her?" Lady Whitmore said. "With the idiotic way you asked her. Would you believe, Lord Haverstoke, that he told Charlotte that he was willing to marry her, and that he had no intention of keeping his marriage vows?"
"I said no such thing," Adrian protested. "I simply told her that once the. . . er. . . passion faded from our union she would be free to find other amusement, as would I. It's what everyone in society does. "
"Your mother would take exception to that. In fact, I believe you just slandered her. " His father rose to his still-impressive height.
But Adrian stood his ground. "You could hardly convince me that your marriage is in any way indicative of what usually goes on. Your devotion to each other is so extreme that it's almost bad ton. "
There was a dangerous glint in the marquess's hard blue eyes, so like his son's. "Tread carefully, boy. "
"You could hardly expect me to duplicate your good fortune in marriage. ”
"And why not? While it's true that no woman could ever equal your mother, I trust you have the good taste to come close. And as appalling a reprobate as you are, you're merely a child when compared to my reputation. ”
“Then I would think you'd appreciate how I got in this situation. " Adrian fired back, unwisely.
"No, I do not. I never seduced an innocent of good family. "
"Except for my mother. "
The marquess's eyes narrowed, but Pagett hastily interceded. "I think we need to look at the situation calmly," he said in his measured voice. "I believe we're all agreed that our most pressing concern is Miss Spenser. "
"She's my only concern," Lady Whitmore snapped. "I suppose you think she's a strumpet who should go into a home for fallen women. "
The vicar looked at her with cool dislike, but there was fire simmering beneath it. "Hardly a strumpet. Lady Whitmore. Even you don't deserve that term. " Before she had a chance to fire back, he continued. "I believe the best outcome would be for her to marry Lord Rohan, which is why I agreed to perform the ceremony. The church in the village stands at the ready. But I also believe that Miss Spenser's wishes should come first, and being shackled to a man of Lord Rohan's reprehensible character might be too unpleasant for her to contemplate. "
"I beg your pardon!" Adrian protested.
"Adrian's not repr
ehensible," Monty said in his faint voice. "The rest of you have hardly lived more stellar lives. I do believe Charlotte will be the making of him.
So, in fact, did he, Adrian thought, wondering how far he'd get if he simply walked out. He needed to see her.
"She doesn't have to waste her life on him," Lady Whitmore said. "She and I can live very happily together. I've grown quite weary of society, and a life in the country will suit both of us very well. "