by Diana Quincy
“And what future is that?”
“A life with a wife you might actually care for.”
Sunny contemplated Cosmo’s words after taking his leave to walk home. Did he love Isabel? The world certainly seemed to be a glorious place now that she was in his life. He loved being with her. To even think of losing her was agony. Isabel’s happiness—and that of the children—was more important to him than his own.
If this was love, it really was rather magnificent.
* * *
—
One of his father’s bastards was waiting for Sunny when he returned home.
As soon as Sunny arrived, Dowding informed him that Malcolm Gilpin had called with a pressing matter and awaited Sunny in the ducal study.
“This is a surprise,” Sunny said to his half brother as he entered the study. “Your timing is rather bad. I have a previous engagement.”
“Forgive my calling unannounced.” Malcolm Gilpin came to his feet. Although he possessed the famous Fairfax eyes, Gilpin’s dark coloring came from his mother’s people, whoever they were. Sunny didn’t keep track of such things. He had, however, paid for Gilpin’s schooling, and the man now served as his solicitor. “I’m here on a rather urgent matter.”
“Can it not wait for a few days? I’m off to Lyon House with my wards this afternoon.”
“Actually my urgent business concerns your wards.”
“It does?” For the first time, Sunny gave the other man his full attention. “How so?”
“It seems the Earl of Winchester and Viscount Denbury have decided to take up the children’s cause.”
Sunny frowned. The two old goats were puritans who made no secret of their disapproval of his scandalous pursuits. “What cause is that?”
“There is to be an informal hearing to discuss altering the children’s guardianship.”
“Altering it how?” Sunny demanded impatiently. “And what business is it of those two old bastards?”
“They claim to have a vested interest in the children’s welfare.”
“Like hell they do. Patience and Prudence are Fairfaxes. My blood runs through their veins. I am the head of this family, and they belong with me.”
Gilpin’s brows lifted. “I’m surprised at your reaction. I’d assumed you’d be eager to be rid of the children.”
“Circumstances have changed. Allowing my wards to go elsewhere is no longer a consideration.” He rose, meaning to dismiss Gilpin, and be on his way with Isabel and the girls. “Tell Winchester and Denbury to go to the devil.”
Gilpin came to his feet. “Unfortunately, it’s not as simple as that. This is a serious matter. Their lordships claim to have proof that the children are being corrupted under your roof.”
“They can go to perdition.” Sunny’s neck burned. “Where is this proof?”
“In a letter.” Gilpin reached into his worn leather case.
“Written by whom?”
“They are withholding the name of the person who lodged these allegations against you. I expect we won’t learn your accuser’s identity or view the actual letter until the hearing.” Gilpin pulled a note from the case and handed it to Sunny. “However, the specific concerns expressed in the letter are listed here.”
Sunny snatched the paper from the solicitor and tore it open, his eyes scanning the list of accusations.
Two impressionable young innocents in danger of being corrupted…Scandalous parties…Unclothed women performing perverted acts upon each other…The young ward almost walked in on the duke behaving shamelessly with a topless woman on his lap…
Sunny’s stomach rolled. The words on the page struck him like hammer blows to the heart. The way the sentences were strung together sounded familiar. And he knew who had recently witnessed him cavorting with a half-naked strumpet on his lap.
The full force of Finch’s betrayal slammed into Sunny like a runaway carriage. He slumped down into his seat. He felt like he couldn’t breathe.
“Your Grace.” Gilpin came to his side, his concerned voice barely penetrating Sunny’s consciousness. “Are you well? Shall I summon Dr. Jarvis?”
A knock sounded from out in the corridor. Gilpin strode over to see who it was. “The duke needs assistance,” he called out as he pulled the door open and stepped out into the corridor. “I’ll go and find Dowding.”
“Sunny?” Isabel’s voice. He heard the quick shuffle of her skirts, and she was by his side. She put a hand on his sleeve. “What is it?”
The moment she touched him, a fury unlike any other he’d ever known engulfed him. “Get away from me, you traitorous bitch.” He flung his arm away from her and shot to his feet. “I know what you’ve done.”
Shock filled her eyes. “What is wrong?”
“You did this.” Anger seethed so strongly in his gut, it felt like it might burst.
“What?” She looked bewildered. “What did I do?”
“You told them to take Patience and Prudie away from me.”
“Told who?”
For a moment he almost believed she truly didn’t know what he spoke of. “Winchester and Denbury. Do you deny it?” He threw the letter at her.
It fell on the floor near her feet, and she stooped to pick it up. As she read it, Dowding appeared. “Your Grace. Are you in need of assistance?”
Sunny kept his eyes on Isabel but with a toss of his head directed his words at the butler. “Get out.”
“Mr. Gilpin informed me that you might be ill.”
He looked at the butler. “Get. The. Hell. Out. Of. Here. Now.”
Dowding cast a worried look between Sunny and Finch.
Sunny gritted his teeth. “She stays. You go. Now.”
As Dowding closed the door behind him, Sunny’s attention went back to Isabel. And the expression on her face told him everything he needed to know.
Any sliver of doubt he might still have that she hadn’t completely betrayed him evaporated.
Chapter 24
Isabel stared at the letter as her world imploded for the second time in her life. These were her words, but the letter wasn’t written in her hand. How had this happened?
“Well?” Adam demanded, his voice hard and angry. “Do you deny writing a letter to Winchester? Or was it Denbury? He is the father of your former employer, Mrs. Drummond, is he not?”
Isabel couldn’t find the words. “It’s not…” She tried again. “It wasn’t—”
“Spare me the false denials, if you please. Are those your words or not?”
“Yes, but I didn’t—”
“Just tell me why you did it.” His face became a cold mask of fury. “Was it out of spite because you feared I’d soon take other women into my bed? Do you wish to punish me for not wanting you above all other females?”
“No, I never expected that of you.” Her heart felt like it was breaking. “I told you that.”
“Yet at the same time you apparently were chronicling how many whores I’d slept with.”
Isabel took a deep breath. “Do you want me to explain?”
He gave her the floor with an exaggerated flourish of his arm. “Enlighten me.” His voice dripped with contempt. “I cannot wait to hear it.”
“I confess that I wrote the letter, but I never sent it. I swear it.” Then she realized. It was Abigail. Abigail must have sent the letter in a misguided effort to help Isabel.
“Someone did.” His expression grew more remote. Suddenly the man who’d shared her bed, the man she loved, was looking at her as if she were a stranger to him. “Get out.”
“Very well.” She saw there was no reasoning with Adam when he was this angry. “I’ll be in the playroom with the girls.”
“You misunderstand me. When I said get out, I meant get out of my house.”
“I’ll get the childr
en.” She spoke calmly but all of the muscles in her body had gone painfully tight. “We’ll be at Mrs. Drummond’s.” She turned to go.
“I don’t give a damn where you go, but my wards stay here.”
“Very well. I shall return in the morning, and we can discuss this once you’ve had a chance to calm down.”
“Are you daft?” he asked coldly. “I’m done with you. I want you out of my house and out of my life.”
She gripped the fabric of her skirt to quell her trembling hands. “There are the girls to consider.”
“Allow me to clarify.” He spoke to her with utter condescension. “You go. The girls stay. I’m their family, and they are mine. You are the hired help. Or at least you were, but now you’re not, because I am relieving you of your duties.”
She struggled to subdue the rising panic in her stomach. “You clearly need a few days to calm down.”
“I’ll never calm down where you are concerned. Get out now.”
“You cannot force me to abandon the children.”
He raised his chin. “I can and I will. Leave now, before I have the footmen forcibly remove you.”
She stumbled toward the door, numb with grief. She reached blindly for the door.
“Wait. Finch?”
She pivoted to face him. “Yes?” she asked hopefully. He had to know she would never intentionally hurt him, not after what they’d experienced with each other these past few weeks.
“Be advised that I intend to do everything in my power to keep those children with me.” His silver eyes were flinty and hard. “If you help them take Patience and Prudence from me, I will be forced to tell everyone that you are not a virtuous woman, that you implored me to seduce you, which is the truth.”
Isabel stepped back, her posture rigid. “No, Adam, please—”
He continued as if she hadn’t spoken. “I will tell everyone who cares to listen how many times you came to my bed, and I will be graphic in my descriptions of what occurred there. If I must, I’ll convince the entire metropolis that you’re a whore. I’ll ruin you. We’ll see how much the righteous earl and viscount support you then.”
* * *
—
By the time Isabel reached the Drummond house on Duke Street, she’d momentarily put aside her grief in order to accommodate the full force of her anger. She stormed past the stunned butler and burst into Abigail’s sitting room without waiting to be announced. “How could you?”
“Isabel.” Abigail put aside the book she’d been reading. “What is it?”
“I placed all of my trust in you, and you betrayed me.”
A furrow appeared between Abigail’s eyebrows. “I don’t know what you mean.”
“You gave the letter I wrote about Adam to your father.”
Abigail tilted her head. “Adam, is it?”
“Oh, Abigail.” Anguish tunneled Isabel’s body. “How could you betray me this way?”
Abigail came to her feet. “I would never do anything to harm you. I love you. I was trying to help you. It was only a matter of time before Sunderford hurt you again.”
Isabel collapsed on the sofa. “You had no right.” She stifled a sob. “Everything is ruined.”
The other woman knelt at Isabel’s knees. “What has happened?”
“He knows about the letter. He thinks I’ve betrayed him.” Isabel didn’t bother to wipe away the tears streaming down her face. She could barely breathe through the paralyzing pain in her lungs. “He’s cast me out.”
“You shall stay here, of course, until we sort this all out. Where are the girls?”
“That’s just it. He’s keeping them from me.”
Abigail inhaled sharply. “That cad.”
“You don’t understand. These past few weeks, while you’ve been in the country, we’ve grown very close.”
“How close?”
“I love him, so much so that it hurts.”
She handed Isabel a kerchief. “He seduced you again?”
“No, I seduced him.” She blew her nose. “It’s been wonderful. I never expected to fall in love. I know someone like Adam can never be faithful for long, but there’s nothing to be done for it.” She unburdened herself, telling her friend everything about the last few weeks, from Sunny’s thoughtful birthday gift for the girls to the loving tenderness he showed both them and Isabel.
When she was done, Abigail’s eyes watered. “I’m so sorry. I wanted to protect you from being hurt again, but I’ve done just the opposite.”
“You had no right. You were perfectly aware that I had no intention of sending that letter to anyone.”
“I’m so sorry. You’ve been through so much already, and I wanted to spare you that pain again.”
“Well, you haven’t.” Isabel stood, feeling restless. “I must go.”
“Go where?”
“I cannot bear to stay here with you. Not after what you’ve done.”
“Oh, Isabel.” Abigail’s voice cracked. “Please forgive me.”
“Perhaps I will in time. But for now, I have to get away from here.”
Abigail followed her to the door. “At least tell me where you’re going.”
Isabel shook her head. “No. That way if Sunderford asks you where I’ve gone, you won’t have to lie to him.”
“But you cannot just leave. Tell me what can I do for you. I’ll do anything.”
Isabel looked at her friend. “You’ve done quite enough. It is up to me to put things to rights now.”
* * *
—
About thirty minutes after Isabel’s departure, Sunny was about to down his third glass of whiskey when the girls came bounding into his study. Patience did a cartwheel across the green patterned Axminster carpet, while Prudie skipped up to his chair.
“Cousin Adam, when are we going to the plunge pool?” she asked breathlessly, her sweet round face full of happy expectation. “Izzy said we’d be going soon.”
“Where is Izzy anyway?” Patience came to a tumbling stop next to her sister, her honey-colored curls askew from her exertions. “We cannot find her.”
Uneasiness slid through Sunny’s gut. He couldn’t exactly tell them the truth—that Finch was a traitorous lying wench who’d tried to tear all of their lives apart. So he lied. “Finch was unexpectedly called away.”
“Called away where?” Prudie asked with wide, innocent, trusting eyes that made him feel like a damned liar, which he was.
“By whom?” Patience asked. “And why didn’t she take us?”
“She never leaves us,” Prudie put in.
Bloody hell. Sunny silently cursed the nanny with the most filthy language in his rather extensive vocabulary for placing them all in this situation. “Her aunt is ill. Finch is going to stay with her until she is well.”
“Which aunt?”
“Where does she live?”
“The coast.” He tried to recall where Finch had said her people were from. “Plymouth.”
Prudie leaned over his armchair, invading his space as usual. “Who’s going to take care of us?”
An excellent question. He scrambled to find an answer before settling on a satisfactory response. “My sister Anne.”
“You have a sister?” Patience asked.
“Yes, she is a teacher who can continue your lessons.” Sunny knuckled his eyes, still feeling completely battered by Finch’s betrayal and unable to fend off the usual barrage of Patience/Prudence questions. “Girls, I’m feeling a bit out of sorts—”
“Poor Cousin Adam.” Prudie climbed over the chair arm and into Sunny’s lap.
“What are you doing?” he asked wearily. At the moment, he did not have the wherewithal to comfort the child.
“You look sad.” She wrapped her arms around his neck and squeezed hard. “Izzy
says when people are sad, a big hug makes them feel better.”
He took her into his arms, surprised at how much comfort he took in her earnest sweetness and the steady beat of her heart against his. A strong surge of emotion engulfed him, soothing his sore heart and calming his anger. Profound gratitude settled over him at the realization that even though Finch was gone, he wasn’t alone.
* * *
—
Tom’s concerned face peered down at Sunny, who was sprawled on his bed, legs and arms askew. “How are you?”
“How the devil do I look?” Sunny kicked repeatedly at the crumpled bed linens tangled around his feet. Isabel had been gone for seventy-two hours, and he’d been abed for most of that time. “I feel like I’ve been run over by a carriage.”
“I see.” There was no hint of empathy in the doctor’s voice. “Would you care to explain your symptoms in greater detail?”
Sunny didn’t even know where to begin. What was this god-awful feeling? “My head aches, my chest feels like it’s being shredded. It’s painful even when I just blink my eyes. It hurts to breathe.”
There was a knock on the door and Anne came in. “Your Grace. Are you unwell?”
“That’s what we’re about to see.” Tom removed a hollow wooden tube from his worn black leather doctor’s bag. “Let’s have a listen. Please remove your shirt.”
Sunny sat up, his body heavy and lethargic. His head felt as though a horse had trampled on it. He shrugged out of his linen shirt and tossed it aside.
Tom placed the tube on Sunny’s chest and put his ear to the opposite side. “Please breathe normally while I have a listen.”
“What in Hades is that contraption?”
“Just a hollow tube. Listening to the internal sounds your body makes assists me in diagnosing any maladies you might have.”
“Why have I never seen you use that before? Usually you just put your head to my chest.”
“It’s a device some of my colleagues at the physicians’ college and I have begun using. It allows me to hear with more clarity. However, if you don’t stop talking, I won’t be able to hear anything at all.”
