Page 43 of The Lady’s Dirty Letter

“You said I do not love her, but the fact is I do. I love her with everything in me, more than I have ever loved another woman, and yes, that includes you. She is everything you are not, and no matter how hard you try, you can never be as important to me as she is. My Carol would never act the way you do, no matter how desperately she wanted something. She is compassionate, kind, and thoughtful.”

Alexander realized as he spoke, just how much Caroline meant to him. He had originally spoken those words to make it clear to Isabella that nothing could ever happen between them again and their past was old news. Now, however, he realized these words came directly from his heart.

“You are the wife of another, and I belong to my wife. You may not have a problem with bedding another man, but I assure you, you will not be finding that man in this household. Now if you could please find your way out, you are delaying me from seeing her,” Alexander finished.

From the expression on her face, he had shocked and hurt her. That was not his intention, but he needed to make sure she never returned so his wife would never have reason to doubt him or hear any unseemly rumors from the gossipmongers.

Alexander had spoken about his wife so passionately that Isabella turned away from him and made her way out the door, unable to say a word.

He heaved a sigh of relief as he watched her leave. He could not understand why she came to his house after the first time he had turned her away, making it clear that he was not interested in starting an affair with her.

Alexander finished with the papers that had originally brought him to the office as fast as he could so he could take care of Caroline. He could not wait to tell her about his ordeal with Isabella and how she had made him realize how much she meant to him.

He arrived at the bedroom and was surprised to find it empty. After asking Polly, he was told that she had gone out. Alexander decided to wait for her to return. He was glad that she was finally well enough to leave the room. He had been so worried.

Alexander waited for a long time and his previously forgotten worries started to return. She had never stayed out so late before; coupled with how recently she had been unable to get out of bed without wincing in pain, he worried that something might have happened to her.

He made his way downstairs, deciding to go search for her. He called for the carriage and was about to get in when it occurred to him that she must have had them drop her off wherever she went to.

“Brunswick, do you happen to know where my wife went?” he asked.

“Yes, Master Alexander. At her parents’ house,” Brunswick offered.

He got into the carriage to quickly make his way over to the Campbell house, worried that she might have become ill again, and her family had kept her with them to take care of her.

The carriage rolled to a stop and Alexander quickly got off, eager to see his wife. He knocked on the door and their butler, Carlisle, opened the door and closed it behind him. The action was strange, but Alexander was too worried to think much of it.

“Carlisle, is my wife here? I need to see her,” he said, trying to walk past the butler who stopped in his tracks.

“I am sorry, Master Alexander, but I cannot let you in,” he said.

Alexander was flummoxed by what he just heard. “What can you mean? Why can I not see my wife?” He was trying to force his way in when his father-in-law came out.

“Thank, God you are here. He refuses to let me in,” he said, relief flooded him at the thought that he would finally be let in to see Caroline.

“Get off my property, you bastard!” Lord Campbell screamed, red in the face. “And do not ever show your face here again!”

Alexander was taken aback. “What did I do?” he spluttered, very confused by the scene playing out before him.

“I cannot believe the gall of you! Did you think she would not find out? Here you are acting like you do not know what you did when she saw you! I know that you do not love my daughter but that does not mean you can make a fool out of her!” His father-in-law looked like it was taking everything within him not to physically attack Alexander.

The blood ran out of his face as it dawned on him that Caroline must have seen him with Isabella and read the scene all wrong. “Sir, I can explain, it is not—”

“Look here, Alexander. My daughter means a lot to me, and I do not take kindly to people thinking they can mock her and treat her terribly. You have hurt her, and I am letting you leave here unscathed so consider yourself lucky. I never want to see you anywhere near my house or my daughter, or else you shall suffer the repercussion that comes your way.” With that, his father-in-law turned around and went back in. “Shut my door, Carlisle!”

The butler gave Alexander an unreadable look before shutting the door in his face. He stood there for a moment, wondering what he should do. He wanted to bang on the door, or to jump in through a window like a thief and run through the house until he found Caroline, but he doubted that it would work. He would only upset them all even further.

Not knowing what else to do, he let Brunswick take him back home. He knew how the time spent in the study with Isabella must have looked to someone else, so he did not think it would be easy to get her back with just words alone.

Barnaby was waiting for him by the door and frowned when he saw his expression. “You did not return with the madam, sir?” he asked.

Alexander studied him for a while. “I do not know what to do, Barnaby. Everything appears to be falling asunder, and I have no idea how to fix it,” he said despondently and started making his way up to his room.

“Sir, I think there is something I should tell you,” Barnaby called after him, his voice sounding shaky. Alexander turned to him. “Lady Caroline is with child. The physician confirmed it today.”

CHAPTERTWENTY-FIVE

Alexander did not know how much time he had spent sitting in the dark after Barnaby told him about Caroline's pregnancy, but he knew he needed to do something. His heart hurt to be away from her, and he had already been thinking of a way to get her back. Now that he knew about the baby, he needed to double his effort and do whatever was necessary.

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