Chapter 27

CHAPTER 27

S amantha had to sit down.

Adam had said everything so quickly that she had not had time to think about it all. One thing remained in her mind, however. They had placed the blame falsely on Graham's brother because it had been her own father.

"I understand that this is not easy to hear," Adam said gently, "but believe me, I would not have told you if I did not think it was necessary. I do not mean to cause you pain."

"I know," she replied kindly. "And I thank you for coming all this way to tell me. If it is any consolation, you should know that simply by doing this, you have proved you are nothing like our father."

"I should hope not. He is insufferable, and I hate the fact that I must face him when I return. He shall be furious that you know."

"Then do not tell him," Graham replied. "There is no need to, truly. Samantha and I are happy, and I suppose I should thank him for what he did."

"You need not say that for my sake," Samantha began, but he laughed gently at her.

"I would not, and I believe you know that."

"So I am not to say a word?" Adam asked.

"No. Simply tell him that you took a walk. Should Samantha and I wish to confront him, we will do so. Thank you for bringing this to our attention, but I believe it is time for you to go."

"No," Samantha said suddenly, "he can stay for a while. We ought to at least have him for tea."

The tea arrived whilst Adam explained his story, but nobody had dared eat anything. Samantha, however, could not send him away so soon. He did not have to tell her all of this, and he could have decided to keep his loyalties with their father, but he had not, and she felt the need to thank him for that.

"I do not mean to intrude," her brother replied. "I understand if the two of you must talk."

"We do, indeed," Graham agreed.

"Then we will go to the study," Samantha said. "You can stay here and eat. We will return soon."

Graham gave her a puzzled look, but Samantha left the room. He followed behind her.

"What is it?" she asked once they arrived there.

"Do you trust him?"

"I do. He has no reason to lie after all. Besides, how could he have known about the blackmail if Father did not tell him?"

"I suppose you are right. Very well, what do you suppose we ought to do about this?"

"You told him that there would be no need to tell my father."

"I told him that there was no reason for your brother to say that he told us. I did not say that your father does not deserve exactly what is coming to him."

"Oh, Graham, don't. It is bad enough that I must live with this knowledge. Do not make it worse by going there yourself."

"I do not intend to go alone. I want you to come with me."

"No. This is not your concern. It is mine."

"Your father blackmailed you into marrying. That makes this my concern. I am not very pleased that your brother has told us all of this as I would personally have much rather lived in ignorant bliss and blamed my brother for it, but we are here now. We need to do something about it."

"We do not. I could go myself and ask him why he did it. There is no need for you to go out of your way."

"You will not be alone with that man so long as I am still breathing."

"I would not be alone. I would be with Adam."

"Another man that I do not trust."

"Graham, I — you believe that I am capable, do you not?"

"Of course I do, but that does not matter. You are my wife, and you will not be alone with people that I do not trust. I will not allow it, not when I can be there to take care of you."

"But this isn't something you ought to do. I did not insist on confronting your brother, and so why you believe you should do so to my father is something that I do not understand."

"My brother is dangerous as is your father. That is precisely why I will not allow it."

"And so now I must do what I am told?"

"Samantha, why are you making this difficult? I am telling you that I want to help you."

"I do not need your help!" she snapped. "I have lived my entire life without needing you to help me and over a year without Diana being there each and every time that I needed her. I did not need your help then, and I do not need it now."

"I did not say you need it. I am saying I want to help."

"And I am saying that I do not want you to. He is my father. This is an issue in my family, not yours."

It was an unkind thing to say. She knew that. She also knew that she did not truly mean it; she had been considering Graham and herself a family for the past while, and she had been hoping that he had felt the same.

Regardless, it was the only thing she knew to say that he would not have a response for, and she was right. He fell silent in an instant, and though it pained her to see him troubled, she was at least pleased to have made him see things her way.

"I shall speak with my brother," she continued, "and see what he believes to be best."

"Do as you please," he replied.

She left the study. She knew that she should have been pleased about it; he was no longer telling her what she could and could not do, but she still felt immeasurable guilt. Thanks to her father, she had trapped Graham into a marriage that he did not want, and now, he felt forced to defend her. She could not allow it. She knew what it felt like to be forced to care for someone that one did not care for at all, and she could not allow the same fate to befall her husband.

"You seem unhappy," Adam observed as she entered the room.

He had already eaten most of what was on the tray, and he cast his gaze down onto it.

"My apologies," he said quickly, "I lost my appetite at dinner."

"It is perfectly fine," she replied. "And yes, I suppose that you could say I am upset."

"I apologize for that. Had I known you would have rather not known —"

"No, I needed to know. I have never much liked my — our father, but I had never thought him capable of this."

"I feel the same way. I knew he was not an honest man after what he did to me, but I assumed it was out of desperation. I wish I had arrived sooner so that I could have learned the truth and told you."

"It would not have made a difference even if I had found out before the wedding. That is not how it works in London."

"Another reason to loathe it."

"Why do you hate England so much?"

"Anything good that has ever happened to me happened in Scotland. Everything bad that has happened to me has happened in, or come from, England."

"Including your two sisters?"

She did not know why she was teasing her brother as if they had known each other all their lives. She had only truly just met him that evening after all. Even so, there was something about him that made her want to trust him, and that was not something that happened incredibly often anymore.

"The two of you are an exception though I cannot truly speak for Diana yet. I suppose she hates me."

"I do not think that Diana hates anyone. Not even our father though she claims to. She is not the sort of person to hold any hatred."

"Then she might wish to know me after all."

"There is certainly no harm in trying. We could go there together. She would be more inclined to listen to you if I were there."

"I may just have to take you up on such an offer."

"Then we shall arrange it. Now, as for what I am going to do about our father…"

"It might be better to simply leave him be."

"I cannot forgive him for what he did. Surely you do not expect me to?"

"Of course not, but you do not need to forgive him in order to leave him be. He is a lonely man. He lived that way, and he will die that way, and he will have nobody to blame for that but himself."

It did, Samantha thought, feel like justice in a way. But she was angry. She wanted to do something about it rather than simply allowing him to do whatever he wanted to whomever he chose with no consequences. She had allowed him to do it all of her life, and she was tired of it. She could not take it anymore.

She would not take it anymore.

"I suppose you are right," she lied. "Besides, I would much rather discuss more pleasant matters, such as a meeting with Diana. She will love you once she gets to know you."

"And what of the Duke? Does he have any sisters? Brothers?"

Samantha did not know how to answer him. He did, of course, but it was not as though Adam would ever meet any of them. Samantha had only met one, and it was not by choice, and she would never see him again. It was better not to tell him of their existence, but she did not wish to lie to him.

"I have brothers," Graham said, entering the room. "Three, to be exact, not that I speak to any of them."

It appeared that he was more than happy to tell people about them.

"Graham?" she asked.

"My apologies, Samantha, but my ears were burning."

"I was not trying to be anything but kind, Your Grace," Adam explained.

"I am aware. Might we have a word?"

He did not sound angry or unpleasant in any way. Samantha gave Adam a look, and he shrugged at her before leaving with Graham. She did not wish to eavesdrop on their discussion, and so she would not know what Graham wanted, but that did not matter. She had a far more pressing matter to tend to.

She ran to her room, grabbing the first piece of parchment that she could find and taking the quill that was sitting on her desk.

Graham,

My sincerest apologies for disappearing once more. I know that we promised one another not to do this anymore, but you must understand that this is the last thing I want to do.

It is my fault that you were trapped in this marriage. I should have known better than to drink that blasted alcohol, and thanks to my father, I have ruined your life completely. I never wished to trap you like this, and I hope that you know that.

I know that you see it as your duty to protect me, and I appreciate that more than you shall ever know, but you must understand that I have to do this for myself. It has been a long time coming, and at last, I must see my father and tell him exactly what I think of him.

There is no need to follow me. I shall be back before you know it, and then we can discuss your feelings about me doing this. I can only hope that you are not angry because I truly do not want you to be.

Samantha

She considered adding some sort of form of politeness, such as ‘Yours' or ‘Faithfully', but it did not seem correct. Either way, she did not have time to think on it. It was only a note to explain her absence, if he even noticed it, and nothing more. In all likelihood, she would be gone and back before he saw that she was missing, and then she could prove to him once and for all that she was capable.

She could also, at last, be done with her father.

As she rode to her father's house, she thought about how he had tricked Adam so easily. He had never revealed his plan to anyone, of course, meaning that Adam had never spoken with anyone but their father, who had been posing as several people.

Samantha could not help but smirk. Her father could not even find the ability to write one letter to her during his time in Scotland, but he now had the time to write several letters posing as several people. Once again, she had the undeniable proof that she meant less than nothing to the man.

She wondered if there was any point in speaking to him at all. After all, she was positive that he would not listen, and then he would find a way for it to be her fault to begin with. He had always had a way of doing that, and it had always worked, but not this time. Not only had he threatened her with ruin if she did not comply, but he had threatened Graham, and that angered her more than anything.

And she knew precisely why that was, and once she had returned, if he still wished to see her at all, she would tell him.

She did not know how he would respond, but she knew it would be better than her father would with what she had to say to him, not that he would listen.

No, she told herself as she continued on, he would listen. No matter what, she would be heard this time. If he did not want to, then she would force him. He had ignored her for too long without consequence, and if this was to be the last time that she saw him, then she would make sure that he did not ignore her.

And then she would return home, having done what was necessary, mend things with her husband, and tell her the truth that she had been concealing for far too long.

She was falling for him.