Page 48 of The Phantom Duke
“Why did your engagement end?”
Maria was taken aback by the suddenness of the question.
I will take it as another victory. If he was utterly ambivalent towards me or even openly hostile, he would not have asked. Does he regret his anger and mine? Is this an overture from a man who simply does not know how to offer peace?
“I discovered that he had been… no, that is not right. That he was being unfaithful and had been from the beginning. He was unapologetic and seemed to think that I would simply accept it as a natural part of marriage. One of my friends, Anna, does that very thing. Her husband does not bother her, and she is content. I could not be.”
“It is a world made by men. I can see how it must be difficult for a woman. If she commits adultery, she is vilified. If a man does the same, it is a sign of his prowess. He is lionized.”
“Yes, very unfair. And I found myself the brunt of my father’s anger. He took it as a personal insult.”
“Fathers are a tool for forging us into adulthood. At least for a son. I cannot speak for a daughter. I would not be the man I am if it were not for my father.”
“In a good way?” Maria asked, innocently, wanting to draw more out of Damien.
He scowled. “Certainly not. I made myself strong because of the example of his brutality, which I could not counter when I was young. I did not want anyone to have that advantage over me again. But apart from that. No. He was the very devil.”
“I am sorry.”
“Why?”
“For the pain you obviously suffered as a child.”
“It is past. It does not matter,” Damien said dismissively.
“I think it does. It shapes us. It has shaped you. But…”
Damien stood abruptly, tossing down his napkin. Maria inhaled sharply, knowing at once that she had pushed too hard and too quickly.
“I thank you for your company this evening. It has been… mostly enjoyable. I hope you sleep well.”
As he turned to leave, Maria hastened to her feet. “I understand!” she exclaimed. “I do. My father is—he can—he can be unkind, too. He threatened to purchase the Willow Street orphanage, so he can destroy it.”
Damien halted and cast her a sharp glance over his shoulder. “Why would he wish to destroy an orphanage? Is your father, perhaps, the villain in some lady’s romance?”
“I wish he was,” Maria sighed. “But he is vexed with me. I disobeyed him, and he wishes to—to destroy something that I love in return. I have received word that an anonymous benefactor agreed to buy the orphanage, and I had hoped that it might be you. But if it is not…”
She stared helplessly at him, aching for comfort, but none was forthcoming. The damage caused by her words seemed impossible to erase, and Maria lowered herself into her chair, unsteady and afraid that she might have made everything worse.
“He has sworn to haunt me forever,” Maria said. “And I fear he means to make good on that threat.”
Still, he said nothing until, with a final, lingering glance, Damien left the room.
CHAPTER 14
Despite having married Maria, Damien had not yet made the acquaintance of her father. It did not seem as though the man was worth meeting, but Damien could not forget how Maria had spoken about her father. She was a brave and stubborn woman, but her face had fallen when she spoke of her father. Her trembling lips and anxious eyes haunted his dreams, and he knew that he had to act.
It was not as though he was fond of Maria—not at all—but a smoldering guilt burned inside his chest. He was the cause of her injury, from which she had only just recovered. The least he could do was easethisworry.
Shelidan’s butler entered the foyer and bowed deeply. “Lord Sunspire will see you, Your Grace.”
“Good.”
The man had left him already to wait for several minutes, while he seemingly considered the question of if he should. Damien clenched his jaw. He hoped that the wretched man had spent every minute panicking. The Earl of Sunspire might be influential, but Damien was of a higher rank. If Shelidan knew what was best for him, he would comply.
“This way, Your Grace.”
Damien grunted in response and followed the butler across the foyer. He had only seen Shelidan on a handful of occasions, and those impressions had not been especially complimentary. The earl was a careless man, too fond of his cups.
