Free The Duke's Divorce (The Reluctant Grooms Series Volume IV) by Anne Gallagher Page B

out, rose from her chair and checked her face
in the small mirror on the dresser. Her cheeks remained blotchy and
her eyes puffed. There was no help for it. She went to the door,
opened it, and found her mother-in-law.
    “Lady Joanna, please forgive me for ruining
your lovely breakfast this morning,” Fiona said in a rush.
    “Nonsense, child. After that display from my
son, it is a wonder you have not packed your bags and fled. I would
like to apologize for his behaviour. May we talk?” Lady Joanna
walked across the bedchamber and opened the door to the sitting
room.
    Settling herself in one of the rose velvet
chairs, she waited for Fiona to do the same before she spoke.
    “Fiona, there are facets of my son I should
like to share with you. Perhaps that will explain his obvious lack
of manners.”
    Fiona doubted it would make any difference.
He was a brute, plain and simple.
    “Robert has always been interested in
beautiful women. Quite frankly, what man is not? When he came of
age, naturally the marriage minded mothers of the ton practically threw their daughters at him. His charm allowed him to
turn down several ladies his father and I thought would clearly
make a wonderful wife. He refused them all. However, there was a
young lady with whom Robert became completely smitten.
Mary-Elizabeth was her name. He was all of four-and-twenty, still a
young man, but he loved her deeply. Stephen and I gave our
blessing, she was a delightful creature, and we could not have been
happier. Unfortunately, right before the wedding Mary-Elizabeth met
a young man who turned her head with pretty lies, and they eloped
to Gretna. Robert was beside himself, for months it seemed.” Lady
Joanna heaved a heavy sigh.
    “I watched him suffer cruelly. He drank in
excess to overcome his sorrow and humiliation and I was helpless to
ease his torment. He became bitter and remained angry for a long
time. I ached for my old Robert to return. It took a long time, but
finally he found himself again, and he is the man you see today.
Only he has lost the will to love.” Lady Joanna sighed.
    “Over the years, as his friends married and
had children, whenever asked, Robert asserted he would never marry.
He knew his quipped answer would allow no more questions on that
quarter for his friends understood the mortification he had been
subjected to. Mary-Elizabeth broke his heart, and time does not
heal some wounds. I despaired of Robert ever finding someone to
love again. ‘Tis an intangible thing in our Society, only very few
have found it, and only the bravest dare seek it.”
    Fiona stood up and walked to the window. This
was not what she wanted to hear.
    “My son married you out of some arcane duty
to honor. I know this. However, I also know if he did not feel
deeply for you, nothing would have made him take those vows.”
    “Lady Joanna, forgive me, but Robert married
me because my father literally held a gun to his head. I’m sure he
has told you the story.”
    “Yes, he has, but if Robert did not wish to
marry you, he would not. He is a stubborn man, and exceedingly
rich. I am sure he and your father would have agreed to a financial
settlement.”
    “Yes, Robert offered, however, I take
responsibility for the refusal. I’m afraid my pride was hurt.
Nothing happened between us that night at Castle Cornnan and
placing a monetary value on my virtue was extremely insulting to
me.” Fiona paused and spoke more to herself when she said, “If I
had know then what would transpire, I believe I would have asked
for quite a bit more.”
    Lady Joanna laughed. “There is no price high
enough on our virtue, my dear.”
    Fiona wondered just how far Robert would have
gone.
    Lady Joanna continued. “Nevertheless, because
of Mary-Elizabeth, Robert does not trust women. His problem is his
pride. Though he would never dare say it, I do believe, he still
loves her, or rather, the idea of her and their life together. That
being said, I think you are the answer to