Page 76 of An Orphan for the Broken Duke

“When I was at your old home earlier, I got the distinct impression that it is going to take some time for His Grace and Lucy to find comfort with one another. Lucy, obviously, is upset and will not make things easy. While His Grace…” She sighed. “It might be nice to assume that he will try his hardest, but he is just as likely to do the opposite.”

Violet focused on whipping the eggs; she did so with a little too much force, taking her anger out on the yolks. “I thought you said that you had a question?”

Rose exhaled sharply from her nose. “Why not tell Rhys the truth? Concerning Lucy and who she is?”

Violet stopped her mixing. She stared into the whipped yolks for some time, her thoughts feeling even more chaotic than the mess left in that bowl.

“Violet?”

“I want to, Rose,” she sighed. “I truly do but…” She then looked up so that Rose might see the pleading look on her face. “And I will. I plan on it. But not yet.”

“And the reason?”

“When I first met Rhys, he spoke of raising a child as if it was a business deal. He used words like protection and security, seeming to believe that having a large home and endless wealth was all that one needed to show someone love and affection. I do not even think he considered love and affection as part of the deal.” She chuckled at the memory and shook her head. “I truly believe that he wants what is best for Lucy. I would not have done this if I thought otherwise. But until he understands what that means, I think it is best if the truth is kept from him.”

“That makes no sense.”

“It makes perfect sense,” Violet said, her voice cracking with pain. “If I tell him the truth about Lucy, he will see it as his duty to care for her. He will see her as an obligation, as if looking after her will absolve the sins of his sister. It will be a formality, not done out of love or because…” Her voice cracked again. “Or because he wants to do the right thing. I believe that if I tell him the truth, it will only hurt their chances of growing close.”

“And if you are wrong?” Rose pressed. “What if it makes no difference and Rhys abandons Lucy? Then what?”

“Then I was wrong about him,” Violet said. “Then he is not the man who I know that he can be.”

“That feels like an awfully big risk to take.”

To Rose, it might have sounded that way. And it certainly looked as if Violet was gambling with Lucy’s future, as well as Rhys’. But Violet had to believe that she was right about him.

Rhys has the potential to love freely, to care openly, and to do the right thing not because he thought that he should, but because he wanted to do it. He needed to learn to love and protect Lucy because he was her father, and because she needed him, not because it might make up for past mistakes.

He can be that man. I know that he can…

“I will tell him when he is ready,” Violet said as she started to whip the eggs again. “And please, Rose, trust me on this. Lucy is who I care about more than anything, and if you care for her too, you will keep silent.”

“You know I will,” Rose said. “I just pray you know what you are doing.”

“I do too.”

Twenty-Eight

“There is something I must tell you, Your Grace.” Mr. Marrow found Rhys sitting in the drawing room.

It was early that same evening that Rose had come to visit, and with his depression at an all-time high, Rhys decided that the only means to cure it was with a drink… and several more.

What he ought to have been doing was trying to coax Lucy into trusting him. The little girl was still distraught, and Rose’s visit had only made it worse. But every time that he considered applying himself to the task, he found himself reaching for excuses to avoid her.

He had failed Lucy, was why. Bringing her into his home, Rhys had believed that he was doing the right thing. He was so sure that if he offered her a place to live, a future that she did not have, that it would be enough. Security and protection… was that not what a child needed?

What Rhys had since come to realize about himself was that he was a fraud.

It was never about Lucy; not really. From the very beginning, it had always been about Eleanor and what he had done. Believing that he could absolve himself of his sins if he helped another, he had brought Lucy into his home not because it was the right thing to do, but because he needed to feel better about himself.

Worse still, he had managed to drive away the one person who did care. Violet loved Lucy; she wanted to help the girl because it was right, and Rhys had spurned her for reasons that made no real sense now that they had come to pass.

I am not father material, and I certainly do not deserve to be loved.

As to what he would do about Lucy? That, he could not say. He still wanted to give the little girl the life that she deserved, but he was terrified that in so doing he would only further prove what he knew about himself. She would never love him, and maybe that was for the best.

“What is it, Mr. Marrow,” Rhys sighed as he had a sip of brandy. “I am rather busy.”