When Strangers Marry (Vallerands #1)(69)

Max sent them both a cold glare.

“Well, it is true,” Bernard said. “Max, you know what the boy is like. You cannot say you weren’t expecting this. And you are a fool if you don’t expect it again.”

Before Max could vent his fury, Lysette’s calm voice interceded.

“Max,” she said, coming into the room and taking his arm, “I do not wish to deprive you of such brotherly compassion and sympathy, but Berté has warmed some food for our supper. Come, have something to eat.”

“I’m not hungry—”

“Just a little something, bien-aimé,” Lysette entreated in a winsome manner. “You would not have me eat alone, would you? Please… for my sake.”

With a low grumble, Max turned to accompany her, the quarrel discarded for the moment. As they reached the doorway, Lysette looked back over her shoulder and gave the brothers a quick, shaming glance before serenely following her husband from the room. The glare was such a contrast to the sweet expression she had used with Max that Alexandre couldn’t help chuckling.

“In her own soft little way,” he commented with a smile, “she’s rather a despot.”

“It is not amusing,” Bernard said.

“Why not? Lysette is obviously good for Max.”

“I wouldn’t say so.” Bernard took a long drink, staring at the empty doorway.

Alexandre tilted his head thoughtfully. “You don’t like her, do you? I never realized that before now.”

Bernard’s voice was flat and cold. “No, I don’t. I don’t like the effect she has on Max, or the trouble she stirs up in the family. Things were better before she came.”

———

When Justin awakened the morning after his duel, he found his room invaded by his brother, father, and stepmother. Lysette fussed over him like a mother hen, arranging his breakfast tray and tying a napkin around his neck as if he were five instead of fifteen. He was grateful for her presence, for their unspoken understanding that Lysette would use her influence with his father on his behalf. Justin wasn’t certain when or how Lysette had become his ally, but as he stared into her steady blue eyes, he felt a rush of adoration.

His father, of course, started the morning by demanding a full explanation of the previous day’s events.

“Tell me your part of it, Philippe,” Max said from the side of the bed, where he sat in a mahogany chair with a curved back.

As always, Philippe chose his words carefully. “I was having a confrontation with three boys, one of whom wished to provoke me into a duel. I refused, and that was when Justin appeared—”

“And eagerly picked up the gauntlet,” Max said ruefully.

Justin scowled. “They called him a coward,” he said defensely. “No one insults a Vallerand and gets away with it.”

“Was that all that was said?”

“No.” Justin’s gaze fell to the counterpane over his lap. “They called me a bully, and you—” He stopped suddenly, while a tide of red swept over his face.

“And me what?” Max asked gently, although it was clear that he already knew.

The heat spread to Justin’s neck and ears. “The same thing,” he said tightly, “that you’ve always been called.”

“And what is that?”

“Why ask? You already know!”

“I want to hear you say it.”

Justin dragged his hands through his hair several times, feeling as agitated as a caged animal.

“Say it,mon fils,“ Max prompted quietly. “Please.”

Lysette and Philippe might not have even been in the room. The tension gathered until none of the four of them dared to move or breathe.

Suddenly tears shimmered in Justin’s blue eyes, and he gritted his teeth in humiliation and anger. “They called you a murderer. It’s what they’ve always said. Everyone. And you ask why I fight? I’ve never known what it is to have a friend. Neither has Philippe.” He turned his head to glare at his brother. “Tell him!”

Max moved to the bed and sat beside him. “Listen to me, Justin. I understand everything—”

“No—”

“By God, don’t interrupt me! You’ll never be able to change what they say. You’ll never be able to stop them. The rumors will go on, and you can’t crush them, you can’t silence them. You can even kill a man, Justin, dozens of them, but the past will not change, and you’ll still be my son. Curse that fact if you wish, but you can’t change it. You’ll die trying… and that would break me as nothing else could, Justin.”

“What happened to my mother?” Justin demanded, the tears sliding down his tanned cheeks.

“There isn’t much I can tell you,” Max replied gruffly. “I married your mother because I loved her. But the marriage turned sour, and not long after you were born, I realized that Corinne was having an affair with another man.”

“Who?” Justin demanded.

“That doesn’t matter—”

“Was it Etienne Sagesse?”

“Yes.”

“Why?” Philippe asked from several feet away. “Why would she do that?”

“I believe she thought that she was in love with him,” Max said with outward calm. Only Lysette knew of the effort it took for him to speak of the past. “I was not able to make Corinne happy. That, in part, drove her to someone else.”