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Phoebe carefully repeated exactly what her husband signed. Richard’s lips twitched, and the viscount’s expression grew more foreboding.
“I should call you out for this,” Sparrow said icily. “Many children in the slums depend on my wealth to survive. Dozens, in fact, and you casually play God with their life and welfare.”
Tension snapped through Phoebe as her husband signed. She cleared her throat and carefully translated, “If you wish to call me out and lose your life, I will oblige.”
A tense, perilous silence blanketed the library, and Richard’s face was carefully composed as he stared at her husband. Phoebe could tell he was wondering if he should allow her to go back with him. Anxiety cramped her stomach. She did not want Hugh and Richard to fight. She had always been loyal to her brother, but that was before she got married. Unquestionably, she would stand with Hugh, always. The awareness was painfully shattering. Oh God, she loved him, desperately so.
His fingers moved again, and Phoebe said, “I trust you will tread carefully in the future, knowing you have such vulnerable dependents.”
Then he faced her. “I will wait in the hallway while you say your good-byes. Your few items of apparel have been packed, and our carriage is waiting. I propose for Franny’s sake we delay no longer.”
Then he turned and left.
“My…he has always been a man of few words,” she said by way of explanation, flushing slightly.
“That’s it?” the viscount demanded. “I have words to say to him,” he said and marched out of the library.
With a sigh, Phoebe faced her brother. “Our carriage is waiting on me. Franny is waiting on us, and we must leave right away.”
Richard
scrubbed a hand over his face. “I will convey your regrets to Evie and to our mother. The duchess returned to her townhouse. I will send her a note that you are returning home. She was hoping to have us over for dinner tonight.”
“Thank you. I am very astonished you and Mother have come to some sort of amicable resolution. And Father, too?”
“Your disappearance brought us together. The relationship is still…very tentative, but I have seen their efforts with Emily. Her illegitimacy is not a sore point for them anymore. Unless they are pretending. Either way, my daughter is happy to know her grandparents.”
“I have missed little Emily,” she whispered, thinking of the beautiful, golden-eyed child her brother loved with his whole heart.
Richard smiled. “I have not asked about my niece.”
“Francesca Winthrop. She is…wonderful, Richard.”
“And Albury has willingly claimed her as his?”
“Yes,” she said softly.
Richard stared at her. “George—”
“No. He is in the past, and I do not even think of him. None of his words impacted me last night. We were friends, but I did not love him.”
Richard frowned; then he stiffened. “I will clean up the mess I made, I promise. I will be careful to not reveal the child, for he will cause trouble over it, though he knows you are no longer available to him. Why do you frown?”
“There is a part of me that feels incredibly sad that George might never know that he has a daughter,” she murmured.
“It would be foolish to tell him given that he showed up here this morning, creating a scene even after seeing you with your earl last night. Any fool watching you dancing could see the attachment.” Richard cleared his throat. “The knowledge would serve George no purpose, since he can never claim or acknowledge her in any way. The scandal and damage that would cause does not bear thinking about.”
Phoebe nodded. “I am aware of that, so I do not know why I should feel this sadness for him. Do not mistake me, I do not feel this sadness for my daughter, for in Hugh, she has a father who is incomparable.”
“I agree,” Richard said with a small smile. “There are days I also wonder if I will ever reveal to little Emily the identity of her mother. Perhaps when she is of age, but I do not want to ever hurt Evie, who has lovingly claimed Emily as a daughter.”
“I believe it is a discussion Hugh and I will also have in the future,” Phoebe said contemplatively. “Thank heavens that is years from now. George is in the past, and I bear him no ill will. In truth, when I think I might have been married to him, I get terrified because I would have missed Hugh and the wonderful life I have with him.”
“Is it, Phoebe?” her brother demanded. “Is it wonderful?”
“Yes.” She took a few steps closer to him. “We will need your support and those of your friends.” Especially the Duke of Wolverton, who was influential. Though he’d had his own scandal of a young lady climbing into his bed at a house party to deliberately compromise him, that had turned out well, and those whispers had died down, and many even admired his duchess for her daring.
“Society will love your husband because he is enigmatic.”
