“One never knows what might happen.”
“Even if something had happened to me, Colin would have been the next in line… unless… My God.”
“I would never have done anything to you or to Colin.”
“You can’t say that when you’ve just confessed to killing our father. I can’t believe anything you say, Margaret! How am I to know that if your child had been born, if my father had accepted it as his own, you wouldn’t have resorted to violence to ensure that it was your child who inherited the dukedom?”
“I never cared about the dukedom,” Margaret snapped. “I wanted my family to be taken care of—I don’t think that’s so very unreasonable—and your father was unwilling to provide. And I wanted my child to have a place in the dukedom, a title and a place in Society, and for his father to claim him as his own. And your father wouldn’t give me that either. He found it easier to believe that I had broken the vows of our marriage. I hadn’t done any such thing. He was the one who was disloyal to me by making an accusation like that.”
In spite of himself, Edward couldn’t help feeling some pity for her. If what she was saying was true—and he didn’t think she had any reason to make it up all these years after the fact—then it was tragic. His father hadn’t deserved to be poisoned over it, but all the same, it was hard to believe that his father could be capable of such a thing.
“I’m sorry,” he said quietly, his voice tight. His anger was still there, beneath his pity. “He shouldn’t have made an accusation like that.”
“The accusation was the reason I lost the baby,” Margaret said. “I couldn’t possibly go on with the pregnancy after that. I was too lost in my shame and grief—my own husband, denying that my child was his, suggesting that I had been with another man. I couldn’t even get out of bed. I couldn’t eat or sleep, I was so worried about it. And the physician was not at all surprised by the baby’s death. He said it was a wonder I’d lasted as long as I had because I was so unhealthy. It was entirely your father’s fault.”
Edward, thinking back, could remember Margaret taking to her bed around that time. It fit with his memory of events to think that she’d had an illness that had caused the death of her baby. But he never could have imagined that her illness would have come from his father’s treatment of her.
“If what you say is true,” he said stiffly, “then I regret the way you were treated. I’m sorry that happened to you. You didn’t deserve that from my father. He should have respected you. But it’s still no justification for what you did! You’re still a murderer.”
“My baby died because of what your father did,” Margaret hissed. “All he had to do was acknowledge our child, but he couldn’t give me that. Not even something as simple as that. It was all I wanted in the world, and it would have cost him nothing, but he refused me. After that, I knew the sole purpose of my life would be to ensure thathispurpose was destroyed. I promised myself I would destroy him, and not only him but his legacy.”
“Everyone thought Father died of heart failure,” Edward recalled, feeling chilled to the bone. He remembered Margaret standing there and crying over his father’s death. All that time, she had known she was to blame for it. “It was you all along. You’re a beast!”
“He’s the monster. At least when I brought harm upon someone, it was my husband and not myownchild. I’ll never regret what I did to your father, Edward. No matter what happens to me now, hediddeserve it, and I’mgladI was able to get my revenge on him!”
“You’re insane,” Edward breathed. He had never seen anyone look so mad. Her eyes were frighteningly wide, and if he hadn’t been as much larger than her as he was, he might have felt frightened for his own safety. She seemed as if she might lose her grip at any moment. “It’s a good thing the authorities are coming to take you away because you’re not just a danger to those around you. I think you’re a danger to yourself.”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“And why did you have to attack Lydia? You could have killed her. She couldstillbe in mortal danger, and I’m forced to be here with you. What crime could she possibly have committed to convince you to treat her the way you did?”
“She did nothing,” Margaret admitted.
“So, you attacked her fornothing? You poisoned her for nothing? Do you just enjoy doing it now, is that what it is?”
“Don’t be ridiculous.”
“I’m not the one at risk of being ridiculous, Margaret. Tell me why you did what you did to my wife.”
“I had to!” Margaret exclaimed. “I didn’t want to do it. I do like Lydia. I didn’t want you to marry her at first because I wanted your father’s line and legacy to end with you. I didn’t want him to have anything left behind. Even though he’s dead and gone, I wanted to destroy everything he tried to create, and that would mean ensuring that the heir he groomed couldn’t possibly produce an heir of his own. And you were so cooperative, Edward. You never wanted to marry. I was so sure you never would and that we’d avoid this dilemma altogether. For a while, I thought of finding you a wife who couldn’t bear you a child, but you showed no interest in anyone I found for you.”
“So, that’s why you were so interested in choosing a match for me. I thought you were controlling, but I had no idea the depths of your depravity.”
“And then, when you did marry, you were so determined not to be a true husband to Lydia—well, I was sure the whole problem was going to go away. I discovered that I genuinely liked Lydia, and I was glad that you showed no interest in her.”
“Because you knew you would have to kill her if I did?”
Edward’s rage came back in full force. He gripped the back of a chair to keep himself from lashing out at her.
“I didn’t want to do it, Edward, but I couldn’t just forget about the way your father treated me. What your father did to me. I couldn’t let go of my anger at him. I couldn’t allow his plan for the future to come to fruition. He had to be punished fully, even if he wasn’t around to see it, and that meant never allowing you to have an heir.”
“Even at the expense of Lydia’s life. Even though she had done nothing to deserve it. Even now, she could die, Margaret. If she does, I’ll spend the rest of my life making sure you suffer for your crimes. If Lydia lives, I’ll simply have you locked away. But if she dies, you’re going to wish you’d never seen my face.”
Margaret looked away from him. “There’s nothing you can do to me now, Edward,” she said. “Your father already destroyed everything I ever cared about. I don’t care what happens to me. Not anymore.”
And though it didn’t change the way he felt about her crimes a single bit, Edward found that he actually believed her.
CHAPTERTHIRTY-EIGHT
