Free Mortal Arts (A Lady Darby Mystery) by AnnaLee Huber Page B

Hollingsworth huffed. “Well, regardless, I do not want my daughter within ten miles of your brother.”
    Caroline shifted anxiously. “Mother . . .”
    “And I am furious that you would risk her safety in such a manner,” she continued, heedless of her daughter. “You have misrepresented yourself since the moment you presented yourself to her, and I will not stand for it.”
    Michael’s temper exploded again. “I never misrepresented myself.
You
were the one who assumed I would petition the Court of Chancery for my brother’s title.” He stabbed his finger at the marchioness. “I never mentioned doing any such thing, and I always flatly refused whenever I was questioned about it.”
    “Well, you should have known it would be expected. What self-respecting mother wouldn’t wish for her daughter to have a title? And your failure to mention the mental illness that runs in your family was inexcusable.” She rose stiffly from the settee. “This engagement is at an end. We will be leaving first thing in the morning.”
    “But Mother!” Caroline gasped, tears already streaming down her cheeks.
    “Hush! I’ll hear no word from you. To bed.”
    Michael rose to try to stop them, but Keswick put a hand out to prevent him. “Not now,” he said with a shake of his head.
    Michael watched in misery as Lady Hollingsworth ushered her children out the door. Caroline glanced over her shoulder one last time before her mother forcibly pulled her from the room.

CHAPTER SEVEN
    M ichael dropped back into his chair and stared forlornly at the door. Seeing him like this, I wanted to do nothing more than run after Lady Hollingsworth and shake some sense into her. Couldn’t she see what a good man Michael Dalmay was? What tough decisions he’d been forced to make? Couldn’t she see how much he cared for her daughter?
    But for all the displeasure I felt at the marchioness, I knew she was right to question Michael’s behavior. He
hadn’t
been completely honest. And, regardless of his reasons for doing so, and whether his intentions had been good, she wouldn’t have been looking after her daughter if she did not at least call him to task for it. Her ending of their engagement had been a bit precipitous, but perhaps she could be made to see reason in the morning.
    The others seemed to be of the same mind-set.
    “Take heart, old boy,” Keswick told his brother-in-law, clapping him on the shoulder as he slumped forward. “I predict cooler heads will prevail tomorrow.”
    Michael nodded absently, his elbows braced on his knees.
    “Keswick’s right,” Philip said. “We may yet be able to resolve this matter to everyone’s satisfaction or at least give you some more time to prove your brother is stable. But not tonight.”
    Michael lifted his head. “I’m sorry, Cromarty. I didn’t think. I should have realized you’d be alarmed to hear your children were sharing the same floor with my brother.”
    I glanced at my sister, whose complexion was paler than normal. I couldn’t tell whether that was due to her recent illness or worry over her children. Either way, it was impossible not to think of the manner in which she had reacted to the news of the murders two months past, locking herself in Gairloch’s nursery with her three children.
    “But, I promise you, they are safe,” he vowed to Alana, clearly realizing she was the one he needed to convince of his sincerity. “I would never allow them to come to harm. But if you would like to have them moved, to the room next to yours or somewhere here on the ground floor, I will do whatever you feel is necessary.”
    Alana looked up at her husband, who was waiting for her to decide what should be done. She smoothed her hands over the creamy satin of her skirts. “I know you would never place our children in danger.” Her gaze flitted toward Laura and Keswick. “And if little Nicolas is safe in the nursery, I’m sure our children are as well.”
    “You’re certain?”