I am pleased to see in that we are like-minded.
Lady Phoebe took a deep breath, as if to steady herself, then said, “I truly believed that when I met you, you would reveal to be a rich merchant with social aspirations like many in society. Your advertising for a wife was unnecessary, as your consequences are so elevated you can pick any female from the marriage mart and make an offer. How can I then dare to think you could overlook my situation, my lord?”
And what situation is that, Lady Phoebe?
She stared at him, and he returned her regard unflinchingly. The lady was quite pretty, beautiful really, and a beguiling mix of vulnerability and courage. It was evident that she fought tears with impressive willpower.
“It is a matter of some delicacy.”
Do you fear for my sensibilities?
“If you do not agree to marriage after, I would ask upon your honor that you keep my confidence.”
A silence fell, throbbing with undertones of tension.
You have my word.
Hugh lifted a hand to encourage her to speak. She stood and went some distance from him. Instinct urged him to stand, so he did. With fingers that trembled, she untied the strings that held her cloak together and allowed it to fall from her shoulders to the carpet. Her cheeks flushed a delicate shade of rose, but her eyes shone with fierce pri
de and a bit of defiance. Yet behind it all, he still saw the fear. He had spent too much of his life observing others to miss that expression. An unexpectedly odd and fierce surge of protectiveness went through him.
You have nothing to fear from me, he thought but did not sign.
The cut of her traveling gown accented all her generous curves. She lifted her chin, which pushed her delightful bosom out more, and it was then he noted the high roundedness of her belly. For a moment, Hugh could not breathe. The shock was an icy blast to his heart. Now he understood why she wanted to leave despite the desperate air that surrounded her.
“You are with child,” he signed before he could stop himself. Foolish, of course, as she would not understand. But she had perceived some of his signs, especially the one that created the shape of a baby being cradled.
Her throat worked on a swallow. “Yes. I am five and a half months with child.”
Hugh faltered into remarkable stillness. And for all intent and purpose, I am an earl…who will need his heir.
At his silence, she lifted a hand to cradle her stomach tenderly and glanced down briefly. When she looked up, her eyes revealed so much hurt and fear, he flinched. He felt something tearing in his chest, a rush of emotion that was almost as frightening as it was inexplicable.
He took a few steps toward her before he turned around, marched over to the table, and with quick, almost violent motions scrawled, Is there someone who needs to be killed?
Then he spun around and thrust the paper toward her.
Shock widened her eyes. “No!”
He spun back to the table and scratched the quill over the paper. Hugh felt her moving closer, and when he turned around, she was right there… If he wished it, one step would have him in touching distance. Hugh could smell the faint scent of her perfume, a whiff of jasmine and roses. He could see the wild flutter of her pulse at the base of her throat, the wetness on her lips.
She was too close. Yet he did not retreat.
He lifted the paper. Given the influence of your parents, why did your father not force this bounder to marry you?
She was blushing furiously now, and for the first time, he saw a dark wash of shame in her beautiful eyes. The rawness of that emotion strangled his breath.
“I…I was not forced or seduced by a rake!”
She was not forced. Ah…so this was the folly of believing herself to be in love. Do you love this man still? Something elusive whispered through Hugh, but it was gone too quickly for him to intercept or even begin to understand its nature. But it felt dark and turbulent, something different from the icy indifference that had served him well for so many years.
Her entire body trembled. “I…I wanted to escape a marriage my parents were trying to force me into, and I acted with reckless disregard, and now…now I am ruined. The man I thought I could build a life with…he is beneath my parents, and when he asked to marry me, they offered him twenty thousand pounds instead. And he took it.”
She swiped furiously at the tears that finally ran down her cheeks. “When I found out my circumstance, I was so confused and uncertain as to my future path, I informed my mother.” Lady Phoebe’s voice cracked, and she pressed a hand over her mouth. Her entire body shuddered as she regained her composure.
“The duchess made arrangements for me to be taken to the country and held in a remote location under guard until the child…until my child was born, and then it was to be taken from me and given away to an orphanage or a baby farm. I…I could not bear it, so I ran.”
To me.