Page 100 of A Bride for the Sinful Duke

His father would have been utterly disappointed and ashamed of him which was a different standard of disappointment on its own because there was nothing like disappointing one’s dead, awful father.

Just as Hector had begun to think that he couldn’t feel any worse, the doors to his study opened, and Marcus walked in. He was the last person Hector wanted to see at that moment.

Marcus took one look at his disheveled appearance, made a face of utter disgust and declared, “Dear cousin, you look like the devil’s own arse spat you out.”

CHAPTER 37

“Marcus,” Hector sighed tiredly. “How lovely of you to drop by just to insult me. The least you could have done was inform me of your intentions to visit and ridicule my appearance.”

“If I did that, it would not mean as much to you as taking you by surprise does. That is why I have won nearly every argument we have ever had since we were little boys. I surface out of nowhere and pick a fight, and you are too confused and stunned to do anything about it.” Marcus shrugged, sitting down in the chair in front of Hector’s desk.

“You won fights because you made absolutely no sense, and no one wanted to waste time in exchanging confusing drivel with you,” Hector pointed out with a narrowed gaze.

Marcus waved a hand in the air, clearly realizing he’d been had and wished to change the topic. “I am not here to discuss the validity of my past wins. We can do that some other time…”

“Or not at all.” Hector lowered his pen, finally coming to terms with the fact that his annoying cousin would not leave until his business was concluded.

“I came to ask why you have not responded to my invitation to have dinner with my family. I had expected to see Juliet lounging around and tolerating your annoying attitude, but she was nowhere to be seen. What have you done with your dear wife?”

Hector flinched, and then he forced the words out of himself.

“She is gone.”

Marcus stared at Hector blankly. “Gone? Gone where? To visit her family? To a carnival? To Spain? To the modiste? Be specific, Hector.”

Hector raised his head to glare at his cousin. “She’s gone back from whence she came.”

“Hector. Please tell me you did not…”

“Due to a disagreement…we decided it would be best if we spent some time apart. She had expressed that she wished to visit her convent, and I let her. That is all there is.”

Marcus snorted. “That is untrue. If that is all that it was, you would not be sitting here looking as though your life had endedwithout your knowledge. Hector, you look like you have not seen the sun in days—like you intend to shrivel up and die.”

“That is not such a bad idea at all.”

Marcus frowned, and Hector saw that his cousin was no longer jesting.

“Seriously, Hector. What happened? Why has your wife left? Does this have anything to do with the recent rumors spreading around? It is all a pile of rubbish in any event, so you do not have to pay it any heed.”

“That is easy for you to say. You have not been haunted by your past at every turn. I…I seem to owe so much. Debts I can never repay, no matter how hard I work, regardless of my efforts. I always seem to fall short and fall apart when it matters. This is no fault of Juliet’s. I am the one who ended up as a worthless husband and duke. She deserves better.”

Voicing his innermost thoughts simultaneously felt as though a weight had been lifted off his shoulders and as though someone had taken a dagger to his guts.

He had been quietly acknowledging his shortcomings to himself. Admitting it aloud was much more devastating.

“Have you finally lost your mind?” was Marcus’ response.

When he was met with silence, Marcus pressed on.

“Have the spirits finally set what was left of your terrifying mind aflame? What is this talk of incompetence? Since when have you felt like less than a gift from God himself?”

Hector was tired. He had been tired for days now, and his cousin’s presence was only making things worse for him.

“Marcus, I really don’t have the time for this…

“No,” Marcus snapped fiercely. “I am not leaving you like this. Not until you shake yourself out of this ridiculous fugue. I do not understand what has brought this on, but you have never been anything other than inspiring, Hector. You might look at your past and see failings, but all I see… all I have boasted about to my family and friends is your remarkable strength.”

“What strength? I failed to protect my mother. I could not save Lydia. Now, I can’t help my wife. It is all undeniable proof that I should not have tried to get more out of life than I already had. I should never have become so greedy.” Hector snorted, reaching for a bottle of whiskey that had been sitting at a corner of his desk.

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