Estella straightened in her seat. "I’m fine. Just…thinking about what you said, Thea."
Thea had been right. Sebastian had set the terms of every interaction between them. He'd decided what their relationship was, just like he'd decided what the kiss meant.
Well. She'd been running a household for years. She’d practically raised Charlotte since their mother died, and she’d taken over running the household after Andrew died, and?—
She could certainly manage one infuriating marquess.
"I’ll do it," she said suddenly. "I will prove whether he’s truthful about his motivations." She narrowed her eyes, looking into the distance as she plotted just how she might test Sebastian’s true feelings. "If his interest in me is purely rooted in guilt, so be it. But I owe it to us both to be certain." She looked to the duchess. "Do I not?"
"Indeed you do." The duchess’s smile made her appear younger and far less intimidating. But it faded quickly. "Estella… What exactly did Blackwood say about his guilt over the fire?"
Surprise had Estella looking over to Thea, but the other girl looked just as startled at the change in the conversation. No help there. "Well, he… He made it clear that he blames himself entirely."
The duchess’s flinch was so quick Estella nearly missed it.
"It seems he’s dedicated himself to making up for it, to the best of his ability," she added.
The duchess was quiet, and Estella considered asking “why do you wish to know?” but before she could, the duchess was back to her usual self—all calm control and unreadable expressions. "It seems you have your work cut out for you, Miss Hale." She straightened as if to stand. "Please do let me know if you require assistance."
The duchess stood and faced Thea. "That goes for you as well, Miss Evermore. Don’t think I have forgotten your role in all this. Nor have I forgotten that you seem to be a young, unmarried lady wandering alone in London."
Thea’s eyes widened in alarm, but she stayed silent.
The duchess huffed a laugh as she turned from Thea to Estella and back again. "But one problem at a time, I suppose."
And with that, she swept out of the room, leaving Estella and Thea staring after her.
18
That night, the Duchess of Ashworth sat alone in the drawing room for a very long time.
She'd known, of course, that Sebastian blamed himself for the fire. But hearing Estella say it… Hearing the full scope of his self-imposed sentence…
It left Philippa deeply unsettled.
He blames himself.
He shouldn't. Or at least, he shouldn't bear the weight alone.
The fire had not been an accident of disrepair and carelessness. Philippa had suspected that from the start, and her investigations since had only strengthened that suspicion. But suspicion was not proof, and the person she needed to protect most was the one person who could provide it.
Lydia.
Philippa closed her eyes. Should she tell Blackwood that her sister was alive? That Andrew had rescued her in time, and that his death had not been in vain?
She let her head fall back with a sigh. If she told him, there’d be questions. And she’d be trusting him with the truth she’d been working so desperately to hide.
Lydia was safe for now, but she wasn’t out of danger. Her husband was still out there, albeit out of London for the moment. Last she'd heard, he'd been traveling the continent. But if he knew Lydia was alive. That their child lived…
Philippa’s hands clenched into fists. Oh, how she wished her own husband still lived. Yes, he’d been sickly those last few years of his life, but even so, he’d have known how to wield his power.
She had power of her own as a dowager duchess. She had far more power than most women in this country, but some days it still didn’t feel like enough. Her power was only useful in ballrooms and parlors, not in court.
When it came to the law, Philippa had no proof. It was all her word against a peer.
If Sebastian knew the truth… If he knew that the fire wasn't his carelessness, that Andrew had died because of another man's deliberate cruelty, that his two years of guilt had been built on a false foundation…
It would change everything for him. Free him, perhaps. Certainly free him to love Estella without the cage of self-punishment he'd built for himself.
