face the ton's wrath. Laura certainly had paid the ultimate price for giving her heart to a man.
"Henry got her with child, and when she demanded he do the right thing by her, he threw her aside. Laura threatened Henry in a letter to my mother. A mistake she would live to regret. No one tells the Duke of St. Albans what to do."
She narrowed her eyes, the arrogance of the man, of his family. "She was an heiress, more than suitable for your family. I'm sorry, Your Grace, but the notion behind your excuse is absurd. For years, you've been living abroad, people know it only to be you that was shunned out of society, not your brother. I do not believe you."
"I took the fall, Molly. That is all. I was forced to leave England for the sake of the family image. I prefer Rome in any case, and I've been happy here. But now, as a married man, I know that my life has been missing one important element. You."
"Well, you shall miss that element again, for I am not staying. I cannot believe the Duke of Whitstone is your friend. Once he finds out that Laura was my cousin, I doubt you'll have even him as your supporter."
"Did you hear a word that I said?"
"I did," she said, “and I do not believe it. No one would leave their homeland, take the fall for anyone, not even for their brother." She glanced about the room, the well-stocked shelves of books, the leather chairs before the fire, and mahogany desk. The opulence that she'd never noticed before. Of course, she knew he was not struggling, but she had not seen everything as clearly as she now did. "They paid you to leave. Guilty or not, you choose money over honor." She rushed for the door.
"Molly, wait." He clasped her arm, and she shook off his hold.
Molly held up her hand, trying to gather all the tidbits of information as she knew them. "Say your brother did dishonor my cousin, you still chose to leave England. To live abroad and in the same type of lifestyle that you enjoyed back home. Instead of forcing your brother to do the right thing, making him marry Laura, you ran away. Like a coward."
He swallowed, his skin a deathly gray. "I had no choice, Molly. Please believe me that I did try. I know you do not believe me, but I did fight for Laura. Henry would not be moved, and my mother even more so. Do not leave me. I cannot live without you."
Her eyes burned with unshed tears, and she sniffed, not wanting him to see her cry. "You did not try hard enough. I do not know who you are."
He clasped her arms, pinning her before him. His hands shook, and she willed herself to be strong. To not be swayed. "You do know who I am. More than anyone else. Do you believe I could act so callously toward a woman? For all your sweetness and how much I love you, you are not nobility. I did not have to marry you if I did not choose to. I love you, fell in love with you, and want to spend the rest of my life with you. No title, not even a ducal one, could stop me from having you forever, and it did not.
“When we took our vows, I said mine as the Duke of St. Albans. The registrar is signed with St. Albans, not Armstrong. Why would I have not married your cousin had I loved her? She was an heiress, some would say more suitable than you were for my rank. It was not me, Molly. I was not the man behind your cousin's downfall."
She pushed him away, having heard enough. "I do not know what I believe, but what I do know is that everyone believes it was you, even your mother. You ran away to Italy and hid here for years like some sort of criminal. How am I to just dismiss all of that? I cannot."
"You're making a mistake."
She turned and reached for the door, wrenching it open. "Maybe I am, but know this, you allowed me to marry you when so much of your past was hidden. Like a thief in the night, you concealed why you left London and your true name. Even if my cousin was not involved, you seem to be so very comfortable living a lie