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“Allowed?” Scarlett laughed harshly. “That man? In case you have not noticed, dear brother,that manis the Duke of Wolverton.”

“And he is not the man you think he is!” Alexander burst out. “There are rumors, Scarlett?—”

She looked at him in disbelief. “You would harm his reputation based onrumors?”

“We have proof that they are real.”

She had known Alexander since they were children. He meant well most of the time, but he was swayed so easily by his companions that he was forever getting into scrapes during his boyhood. She would have thought that he had grown out of his childhood naivete, but here he was now, accusing her husband based on some wild rumor that heaven only knew where he picked up.

“What is going on?” she demanded. “What rumor do you speak of?”

Her brother swallowed and looked at Lord Colton, who only nodded, his expression grave. He took a deep breath and looked her right in the eye.

“We have cause to believe that your husband has taken a life,” he told her.

So, they knew about those rumors, too. So be it. She would not let them speak ill of her husband.

She rolled her eyes at them both. “Well, of course, he did!”

Alexander’s eyes widened in surprise. “You knew about it?”

“Hudson was a soldier in thewar, Alex. Of course, he would have killed someone. As morbid as it sounds, that ispreciselywhat happens on the battlefield, or are you discrediting the valiant sacrifice our troops have made?”

Her brother paled. “I did not mean it like that!” he protested.

Scarlett suspected as much. But she was not about to reveal to them what her husband had entrusted her with. It was a fleeting moment, and he had spared her the details, but he had not hidden his truth from her.

“What your brother means to say is that your husband murdered someoneoutsideof the battlefield,” the Marquess clarified. “A member of his family. That, my dear, is an entirely different thing than being a soldier in His Majesty’s service.”

A member of his family?

“Do not call me your dear,” Scarlett snapped.

“Scarlett, please,” her brother pleaded with her. “You cannot possibly go back to him. He is a violent man. He has killed someone merely because they crossed him.”

“Listen to your brother, Your Grace,” Lord Colton spoke softly. “We cannot let you risk your life with him. You can leave with Alexander, and he can file for an annulment.”

“An annulment?” Scarlett choked out. “Do you evenrealizewhat you are saying, Lord Colton?”

The Marquess straightened up. “Yes, I do. We know that you have yet to consummate your marriage—the maids talk about it. The whole of London knows about it.”

“Well, it is a great comfort to hear that the entire city is so invested in my marriage!”

“You can still return to London,” Lord Colton told her, his voice becoming infinitely gentle as if he was placating a child. “Given your… circumstances, I am sure the King will allow an annulment. We can get married, just as it was always meant to be.”

“Oh my God, I cannot believe I am hearing this,” Alice muttered, shaking her head in disgust.

Scarlett narrowed her eyes at the Marquess. “So, these are your true intentions. You go around in circles with your words, but it all comes down to this.” She laughed harshly at him. “You really should learn to take rejection more graciously, My Lord.”

He stiffened, his expression hardening at her words. “You?—”

She held up her hand to silence him. “I am the Duchess of Wolverton, wife to Hudson Barrow, sixth Duke of Wolverton, and I amnotleaving my husband.”

She turned on her heel when she felt a hand clamp tightly around her wrist. She looked at the Marquess angrily.

“Unhand me at once, Lord Colton!”

“Not until I make you see reason?—”