“So, it was my father,” Ezra said. “All along, it was my father. I thought he was the victim, but…”
“There is proof,” Xander said, nudging the stack of papers closer to Ezra. “Mattigan kept all the angry letters your father and Dugley sent him—they weren’t pleased that he burned the wrong part of the house, though your father did admit that it was an effective way of getting rid of the other dukes.”
“I don’t need any proof,” Ezra mumbled. Then, his brain caught up to the second part of what Xander had said. “Oh, fuck! Xander—my fatherkilledyour father. I am so sorry. I can never apologize?—”
“No,” Xander interjected, gentle but firm. “If there is any lesson that this family is determined to teach me time and again, it is that we are not accountable for the sins of our fathers—or our grandfathers,” he added wryly. Ezra made a face of agreement. If any of them could be blamed for Cornelius’ misdeeds, they were all in a great deal of trouble.
“Yes, but?—”
“I will not hear any apology. You owe me none,” Xander said finally. “We are a family, Ez. And it’s beyond time that we started goddamned acting like it.”
He stuck out his hand to shake. Ezra didn’t hesitate for a moment before accepting it.
“Family,” he agreed. “Now, in the spirit of such things, do you want to meet your… Well, we don’t exactly know what Iris is, but she calls me ‘Uncle Ezra,’ so let’s just say she’s your niece.”
Xander brightened, and Ezra was reminded, not for the first time, how marriage and fatherhood had softened his cousin.
“I very much do want to meet Iris—though Helen and the children will be positively furious that I met her without them.” He paused again, and a mischievous gleam came into his eye. “Does that mean I will be seeing Miss Knightley as well?”
Ezra should have expected that.
“She is here,” he admitted. “I don’t think she could bear to return to her old rooms, since that was where Dugley attacked her. But… She is not Iris’ governess, no.”
“Well, of course, it isn’t the bloody governess, Ezra!” Xander kicked out at him lazily, as if they were boys in the yard, not grown men and dukes. “I want to know what you are going to do about the fact that you are in love with her.”
Unlike the last time Xander had said such a thing, Ezra didn’t deny it. He had tumbled headlong into love with her so long ago that he hardly knew when it had happened—when she had argued with him over Sarah’s kitchen table, perhaps? When he had first caught her laughing with Iris?
When he thought he might never see her again, he had not been able to deny it any longer.
“I don’t want to pressure her,” he hedged. “She has just had a terrible shock…”
“That is stupid,” Xander said flatly. “If you love her, you should tell her.”
Ezra huffed out a laugh.
“I do,” he said. “God help me, but I do.”
“Splendid,” Xander said, looking very pleased with himself—as if this had anything to do with him. “Before you declare yourself, though, I think there is one more thing that you should know about Miss Knightley…”
CHAPTER 27
“Please be careful, Iris!” Letitia called.
Iris did not listen to her at all.
Letty wasn’t sure if it was because she was no longer officially the child’s governess or because Iris was four years old and therefore ungovernable. Or maybe it was just that she was laughing so hard as Hermes chased her around the garden that she could not even hear Letitia’s words.
But no sooner had Letitia called out the warning than Iris stumbled over her own feet and fell so dramatically that her heels went over her head.
Letty was on her feet instantly, rushing over to the girl. Iris was still lying on her back, trembling. Still, when Letitia got closer, she realized it was from laughter, as Hermes was frantically licking Iris’ face, showing her own canine reassurance that the child was unharmed.
“Oh Hermes, you are sowet,” Iris cried, joyfully trying to shove the dog away.
“Get away from there, you silly puppy,” Letitia chided, reassured by Iris’ laughter. “Let me see.”
Iris popped up the moment that Hermes was out of the way, unharmed except for a dozen blades of grass sticking out of her hair. Then Letty saw Iris’ necklace, the Lightholder medallion that she always wore.
It was broken; only the thin loop that held the larger metal circle in place was still hanging on the chain.
