Page 177 of Courting the Wrong Duke

There was already too much crowding his thoughts. Algernon’s birth. His father’s secret. Edmund knowing the truth all these years. Worst of all, the knowledge that Algernon had been frightened enough of William discovering it that he had imprisoned an innocent man to prevent it.

His own brother had done this.

William could not begin to understand what that meant yet. He could barely decide what he felt beyond a terrible sense that the family he had known that morning no longer existed.

One problem at a time.

The thought came back to him with almost painful clarity.

William turned to Rosalind. “I need you to find Gabriel.”

Her eyes widened. “You want me to leave?”

Only then did he realize what he was asking of her.

Rosalind had spent weeks searching for her father. She had crossed half the country with no certainty that she would find him alive, and now that she finally had, William was asking her to walk away from him again.

He stepped closer and lowered his voice. “Only for a few minutes. I don’t think I can force that lock alone, and Frost will be far more useful than I am willing to admit in his presence.”

The faintest hint of a smile touched her mouth, but it disappeared almost immediately.

“And Isabella?”

William glanced toward the stairs. “That call was a warning. If someone else is here, we need to stay together as much as possible. Find Gabriel first. If you see Isabella, bring her back with you.”

Rosalind looked toward her father.

William reached for her before he had quite decided to do it, his hand settling gently over hers.

“I will stay with him.”

Her gaze dropped to their joined hands before lifting to his face.

“I will not leave him alone, Rosalind.”

Something in her expression softened. “I know.”

The quiet certainty of the words caught him somewhere beneath the ribs.

Only a day ago, William had confessed to Gabriel that he did not know whether Rosalind truly trusted him anymore. Perhaps this did not answer that question completely. Perhaps there were still too many things between them that would have to be repaired once Edmund was safe.

But she trusted him with this.

With her father.

At that moment, William could think of very little she could have given him that would have meant more.

His thumb moved once across the back of her hand before he reluctantly released it.

Rosalind turned to the bars and reached through them once more. “I will be back.”

Edmund closed his hand around hers. “I know you will.”

She lingered for another moment before taking the lamp and heading toward the stairs.

William watched until the glow disappeared above him, leaving the cellar in near darkness.

For several moments, neither man spoke.