Chapter 36

CHAPTER 36

I n the morning, Marina was allowed to sleep for as long as she liked and came down late for breakfast. Her family had finished eating, for the most part, but were sitting around the table—likely gossiping about her. She could see the guilt etched into their faces as she approached.

"Good morning, Marina!" her youngest sister chirped. Marina studied her face with a kind smile, thinking how much she had grown since her wedding. It had only been a short time, but children grew quickly. One missed it if they only blinked.

"Good morning," Marina answered in kind. "Father, Olivia, may I speak with the two of you in private?" Olivia nodded and dutifully shooed the two youngest Linfields out of the room and to where their governess was preparing their lessons for the day. She took a seat again, and she and her father were silent while a butler brought in Marina's breakfast and hot tea.

"Have you come to a decision about whether you will tell us what happened?" Olivia asked, her eagerness evident in her every mannerism.

Marina gave her a tired smile and a tight nod. "I have." Her eyes turned to her father, and she took a deep breath. It was her goal to reveal only as much as she had to. While she read last night, Marina remembered how hard her mother had worked to raise her and her sisters to be strong, independent young women. She knew, too, how hard her father had worked to ensure that she be married and have a chance at her own happiness with her own family. She had not seen it at first, but that felt like so long ago, now. Marina could understand, now, having read about Phillip and marriage from his mother's perspective, that he truly only wanted the best for her, even when he was at his most misguided.

"I met again with Emmanuel Hayward yesterday," she said plainly.

"Phillip's uncle? The one who held the ball at Glastonbury?" begged Olivia, her eyes wide and trained on her sister.

"The very same," Marina sighed. "He wished to speak with me about Phillip.'

"And? What did he say?"

"Oh, all manner of things. Most troubling of all was that he called into question my husband's intentions." She spoke carefully and softly. "I was beside myself, as you can imagine, and then Phillip happened upon us and seemed to confirm what his uncle said. I…have reflected on the conversation from yesterday, but I am not yet certain when or if I will return to Peterborough as its duchess. For now, I wish to remain here with you where I am comfortable."

"Marina," the Earl muttered, reaching out for his daughter's hand, "if I had known at all what would happen to you once you left this house, I would never have wished to send you away. I only thought that in the right marriage, you might flourish and grow. I wished to allow you to live for yourself and not for us, for once. But I was mistaken."

"No, Papa," Marina gasped, shaking her head vehemently. "You are not to blame. What's happened in my marriage is an issue that I intend to resolve myself. I only ask for your support and love while I attempt to put together what I should do next."

"If there is anything at all that I can do to help, I will do it, Marina."

"There is. I have some questions about matters I would normally never ask you about, Papa, that may help me determine what to do next."

"Anything, my love."

"Lord Glastonbury had much to say about my marriage arrangement, but you were the one who made it, Papa. Was…Did the Duke seem at all as if he were interested in your finances?"

The Earl stared at his daughter as if she had just asked him whether or not the sky was blue. "In what manner could you mean?"

"Did he behave strangely when the two of you spoke about my dowry?"

"Yes, but not in any horrible manner. He—" The Earl threw a sideways glance at his youngest daughter, then continued, "He refused your dowry outright. I was inclined to feel offense at the time but settled with him on a smaller amount. Now, I fear that I was wrong not to scrutinize him."

"No, Papa. That is good news. What of your relationship with his father?"

"His father?"

"Yes. Phillip's father, the old duke—how did the two of you get along? What was the nature of your business together?"

"You sound just like him," the Earl muttered. "The late duke primarily had business with my uncles. If we spoke at all, it was amicably. I would not have considered him my close friend, but when there was some sort of dispute about property between my uncle and him, he came to me and asked me to mediate. It was resolved in the end. Marina, I do not mind telling you the truth, but I cannot fathom your reason for asking."

Marina bowed her head in her father's direction. "Thank you, Papa. I know that I am not exactly being forthcoming with information right now. But what you have told me has helped immensely."

"I hope that it has helped you decide to come home," he said, his tone a little bitter.

"Papa!" Olivia and Marina cried in unison.

"I do not wish to see you off with that man if he has hurt you."

"My Lord," came the steward's voice from the doorway. He carried in a card on a tray, and Marina's heart sank. She recognized the stationery and print immediately. After all, she had been the one to put in the order last she was in town. She watched her father read the card, turn red in the face, and storm out of the room and down the hall. She and Olivia followed, quietly, their breath hitched. They waited together out of sight in the receiving hall as their father came face to face with Phillip Hayward.