Page 41 of The Scarred Duchess Deal
“You could have come back to me! I would have spoken for you! I have spoken for you on many occasions,” Tessa said.
“I… I know that now. But I was so frightened of the pit that I had dug for myself I needed the time to clarify myself… to put old habits to rest and restore myself.”
“And have you done that?” Leo asked seriously. “Are you restored?”
Mortimer nodded. “As much as I can be.”
“My old friend, it pains me to think that you lived so much on your own. Not only that, but we are now brothers joined by marriage. I would see you returned to your former vibrancy. I shall pay your debts, no matter the sum, but on the condition that you never gamble ever again. Not even a passing wager among friends. It is a sickness. A black spot on your soul that you cannot fight. Can you swear to me that you shall never gamble again?” Leo offered.
It was a very generous offer. Leo did not know the whole extent of Mortimer’s debts, but in order for them to still stand today, they must be significant.
“Y… yes. Of course. Though I do not deserve it. The offer is too generous–” Mortimer countered, shame still in his eyes.
“If you will not accept it on behalf of yourself, then accept it on behalf of your beloved sister who has missed her brother very, very deeply. Nobody deserves happiness more than her. She has suffered enough.” Leo’s comment was aimed primarily at Mortimer but applied to everybody else at the table as well. “Are there any objections?”
Nobody said a single word.
“Then it is settled. Grandfather, I will need your assistance in clearing Mortimer’s name and restoring the Windrop legacy to its former glory. I see no reason why men of our status should not be able to swiftly accomplish such a thing.” Leo lifted his glass of orange juice to the room. “To new beginnings.”
One by one, they all lifted their glasses into a toast. “To new beginnings!”
All except Sophie.
ChapterTwenty
Three Months Later…
“It feels so strange to walk out in public once more,” Mortimer confessed.
“It did not seem to take you very long to become properly adjusted to your old life.” Tessa agreed happily as they walked arm and arm. Resuming their walks had been one of the very first things that they had started to do once he was cleared with the constables. Having the Duke and Duchess as family certainly helped in such matters. Given that the constables did not have much in the way of proof on their side either, there was nothing to hold against him.
“It is a wonder what a proper bed and good food can do for one's complexion, is it not?” Mortimer teased and gestured to his handsome features. He had filled out quite a bit in the time that he had come to stay with them. Tessa had insisted. Certainly, he could have found a place in their uncle's home, but she had been without her brother for long enough now. She was going to keep him where she could see him for every meal of the day and ensure that he was coping well for himself.
“Yes, yes, we all know that you are very handsome, Brother.” Tessa laughed. Her face ached constantly now due to how very much she found herself smiling.
Mortimer turned to glance at his sister in order to make another teasing comment, but his eyes lingered on the damaged portion of her skin and the amusement faded from his eyes. “I do not see how you can stand to be in my company. If I were you, I would be cross with me for all infinity.”
Tessa lifted her hand to touch her scarred cheek. “I have been angry over many things over the course of the years, but never once have I blamed you for them. Certainly, that would have been simpler. The only thing that I ever held you responsible for was leaving me to suffer Sophie all on my own. That was a cruelty far more difficult to endure than a little bit of pain.”
“Does it hurt terribly?”
“It did at first–” she started to explain and cut herself short. “I would rather not dwell on uncomfortable things in the past. At the time, the pain in my heart was nearly as much as the pain I suffered externally… they all run together. You were not the one who started the fire. Debt or not, it takes a particular sort of monster to set fire to the home of a sleeping family. You could not have known that they could be so depraved. You did your best to help me. It is a wonder that you did not die of smoke inhalation or the house falling on top of you.”
“Even still, it is surreal that so many things can happen and now we are having a walk as if nothing had ever transpired,” Mortimer said. “Some days I feel more adjusted than I do on others.”
“I will agree with that.” She snorted with laughter. “Certainly you could not have been feeling very adjusted when you dared to propose toSophieof all people! You do not even like her!”
Mortimer blushed with embarrassment. “I confess, that was a moment of weakness. I proposed for all of the wrong reasons. I wished for Uncle Theodore to forgive me. I thought that perhaps offering marriage and status as an olive branch might have… it was stupid.”
“I think that might have been the biggest blow to your pride yet, Brother. You shall forever have to live with the knowledge that not only did youproposeto Sophie – sherejectedyou,” Tessa said wickedly.
“Yes, yes. Have your laugh while I die of mortification.” He sighed. “Has anyone heard from her in the recent weeks?”
Tessa heaved a long-suffering sigh. “No. According to Leo’s grandfather, Aunt Anna is still in a state of mourning. She has donned her black dress and has absolutely no plans of taking it off any time soon. He claims that she has even gone so far as to cancel not one, buttwoof her embroidery gatherings. It is all the scandal.”
“How can she be in a period of mourning when her daughter is still alive?”
“You know our aunt. She claims that she no longer has a daughter for acting the way that she did. With the scandal of being caught, skirts lifted, with a Marquess who refused to marry her? The only way that she would be able to remain in Society herself would be to act as if in mourning. I believe that she is hoping to garner pity from the women she thinks are her friends, but I would not be surprised if she did not cancel her beloved meetings by choice but rather because nobody chose to attend. One pain is easier for her to endure.”
