Page 83 of A Baby to Seal the Duke’s Fate

Phoebe shifted her bag of supplies in one hand and moved a half step back, as if she knew enough to avoid the center of what was about to happen.

His mother did not bother with preamble. “I have tried everything.”

Leopold’s face hardened at once. “If this is about the nursery...”

“It is about the child.”

“No,” he said, “it is about your refusal to accept that I am not sending her away.”

Her eyes flashed. “I have tried reason, tried patience, and tried waiting for you to come to your senses on your own.”

Leopold said nothing.

She took a breath, then continued in a lower voice, “This is my last offer.”

He looked at her.

His mother’s expression had become very still.

“If you insist on keeping the baby,” she said, “then you need to marry.”

Leopold stared at her.

She did not look away.

“A settled duke with a wife and a legitimate household can weather a foundling scandal,” she said. “An unmarried duke cannot.”

His jaw tightened. “You are serious.”

“Entirely.”

Leopold let out a breath that was more disbelief than humor. “You have arranged all of this already.”

Her chin lifted. “I have done what I thought needed doing.”

His voice cooled. “Without asking me.”

“You would have refused.”

“I am refusing now.”

She held out a letter.

He did not take it.

“I have written to the Earl of Penmere,” she said. “His daughter Isolde has been available for years.”

Leopold’s expression went very still.

She continued as though she had not noticed. “You knew her in London.”

“I knew her in the same way one knows a room one has entered before,” he said coldly. “That does not mean I know her.”

“You rejected the idea three years ago.”

“Yes.”

“The situation has changed.”