The Duke of Morewether’s Secret (32 page)

Christian looked at the ceiling for a moment before he continued. “Honey, I was told Lucy was dead. But even still, you’ve not been in London society. Who and where you come from is everything, and nothing is more important than what side of the blanket you are from. I can’t tell you how many bast — illegitimate children have come from
ton
assignations.”

Thea sighed. He didn’t understand. How could she be in love with a man with values so different than her own? Her fury seemed to leak away, leaving her feeling deflated like a balloon, the anger gone like so much hot air. “Then why would you let her go now?”

“I have no intention of letting her go.”

“What?” Veronica’s voice was shrill and her expression outraged. “This is unconscionable.”

Thea waved the woman back. This was an epic moment, and she wanted to be sure she understood the right of it. “You won’t let her take Lucy?”

“No. She talks all the time, so much I can’t listen to it all. She skips everywhere. She kicks in her sleep. She’s pushy, and she nags when she thinks she’s right. Worst of all she doesn’t think I’m perfect.” He shrugged. “And I’m hopelessly smitten with her.”

Thea flung herself into his arms. For once, finally, thank the pantheon; the stupid man had said the right thing.

He murmured in her ear, “I hoped you’d be happy ‘bout that.”

She kissed him hard once, twice, three times in rapid succession. “Why didn’t you say something sooner?”

“Woman,” his voice took on an attitude of exasperation. “You’ve locked yourself in our room for the last three days. I’ve barely had a string of sentences with you much less a full conversation about something this important. This particular part of our misunderstanding is entirely your fault.” He set her back on her feet, but his hands still encircled her waist.

She was too excited to be sheepish. “How could I possibly have known that you’d come to your senses so quickly? My father never did.”

Christian caught her gaze and held it with intensity. “I’m
not
your father, and I’d like the comparisons to end here.”

She kissed him. How could she not? She reached to slip her hands behind his neck and pull him down while she stretched on her tip toes. It was only a heartbeat before he took control. He tilted her off balance and angled his head to go at things properly.

“Oh, Lucy will be so happy,” she said when they finally parted for air. “She was fretful, absolutely fretful, you’d send her away.”

“Hello.” An annoyed voice cut in. “I’m still here, or have you forgotten?”

“Oh, right. I
had
forgotten you were the reason for this latest dustup.” Christian pulled away from Thea but clasped her hand in his own. “As I said before my beautiful wife burst through the door, Lucy is staying here.”

Thea thought Veronica looked quite formidable in a Lady Macbeth sort of way, standing straight and tall, a challenging look in her eye. It didn’t matter, though, because Thea would fight a battle to the death to keep her new family together.

“I’m her mother.” Veronica stated the obvious.

“Indeed, you are, and I am her father. I am also a duke. I don’t care how famous you are, I will win,” he told her decisively. “The law is on my side.”

“I’ll drag this out in public,” Veronica threatened. “Every single member of the ton will know. You’ll be a laughing stock.” The gleam in her eye promised she was telling the truth.

“I don’t care. We’ve survived scandals before,” Christian said, which was proof enough for Thea that he was sincere with his devotion to Lucy. If there was one thing Christian was adamant about it was that he and his family look good in public. The fact nearly everyone was gossiping about a peg leg and capture by pirates surely caused him no small amount of grief. “How well will your career fare when all your adoring fans learn you traded your daughter for a new lover? Think clearly, Veronica. Is this a path you want to traverse?”

The actress didn’t answer. For the first time, Thea saw Veronica’s façade crack. Granted it was a small fissure, but the vulnerability struck a chord with her.

Christian drove another nail into his argument. “With no patron and a sagging career, how long will your beauty and diminished fame keep you fed?”

“You can’t do this.” Still proud, but much less assured, Veronica stared Christian down. “I’ll … I’ll …”

“Do your worst, but I promise you she’s not leaving with you today.” Her husband was ruthless.

“Christian, wait.” Thea laid her hand on his forearm. She shocked them both again when she extended an olive branch. “This isn’t fair. We’re asking Veronica to do the exact thing I accused you of doing — abandoning her child.”

“She already did that,” he protested. “The only reason she wants Lucy back is so the money will continue because her benefactor dried up. She doesn’t care about Lucy. If she did she wouldn’t have left her here with a family she didn’t know.”

Veronica looked to Thea sensing the unlikely possibility she could somehow be persuaded to see her side. Thea couldn’t decide if the tears filling Veronica’s eyes were real or the ruse of an accomplished actress. “I’m getting older, Christian. I don’t get the best roles anymore. They’re never going to let me play Ophelia again. Last week they offered me Lady Capulet. Lady Capulet,” she exclaimed in disbelief. “Can you believe that? Me as Lady Capulet. I don’t know what I’m going to do?”

“What if Lucy stays here with us? She’ll have other children to play with since my brothers are here. We’ll send her to school.” When Veronica shook her head, Thea squeezed her hands gently and continued. “Christian will arrange to have an allowance continue in perpetuity so long as Lucy lives here with us.”

Christian moved next to Thea and added to the lure. “Surely you can see the wisdom of this solution. I will give Lucy my name, and she’ll receive all the benefits of being the daughter of a duke.”

A moment of hesitation flashed across Veronica’s face, and Thea jumped on it. “We don’t want to keep her from you. You can see her as often as you want but still be free to travel with your theater troupe without worrying about her.”

“You’re not jesting?” Veronica asked, hope in her eyes.

“This is your best and only offer,” Christian told her with finality.

Thea squeezed the other woman’s hands again. “We all love Lucy and want what’s best for her.”

Veronica’s eyes filled with relief. “Yes.”

A huge joyful whoop filled the air outside in the hall.

Epilogue

She rapped on the heavy wooden door of the study several times making her knuckles turn pink. There was no answer from within, but she was certain he was in there. She pushed it open and stuck her head in. Sure enough, he was at his desk deep in work.

“Papa.” Lucy said as she entered and closed the door behind her.

“Hello, buttercup.” Her father smiled widely and stood from his chair, his sheaves of paper abandoned for the time being. He rounded the desk and folded her in a strong hug. “Are you all packed?”

“Yes.” She pulled away and clasped her hands tightly in front of her. “I don’t think it’s a good idea. I can always go after next term.”

“Oh, no.” Papa took her hands in his to stop their fidgeting and gave them a gentle squeeze. “Thea wouldn’t hear of it.”

Lucy had posed the same question to Thea and had received a similar response. Still, it seemed like leaving now, with Thea so close to the end of her pregnancy, was a bad idea. She was going to need help, support her father couldn’t provide for her no matter how much he loved her.

“Stop fretting,” he told her, and steered her towards the huge sofa in front of the fire. “I know you think I’m incapable, and without you everything will fall apart, but we’ll manage.” She must have shown doubt on her face because he rolled his eyes. “Fine, Olivia and your Aunt Frankie will be here, not to mention your grandmother. They’ll make sure Thea’s well cared for.”

Lucy sighed in frustration. Surely Grand would be able to handle any eventuality, and Aunt Frankie and Lady Olivia were certainly experienced enough in the matter of child birth to see everything was all right. The real cause of the problem was she didn’t want to miss such a monumental event.

A brother or sister. She could hardly stand the excitement.

Usually she was excited about visiting her mother. It meant time spent in the theater. It didn’t matter how much she loved school — and she loved school a prodigious amount. Spending time watching her mother on the boards was thrilling. The costumes and scenery, all of it combined to create fabulous productions, and she was always in the middle of it.

“Don’t worry.” Papa told her. “You’ll only be gone two weeks.”

She sort of deflated on the sofa. She wouldn’t win this argument, and really she wasn’t sure if she wanted to. Lucy was torn. Both options were equally enticing. “It’s possible Thea won’t even have the baby before I get back,” Lucy mentioned hopefully. “I’ve heard first babies can sometimes come late.”

Her father laughed. She loved the happiness of it. He laughed a lot these days, something she never thought he’d do those first weeks they were together. “Are you an expert on this now, too? Don’t tell me, you read a book about it.”

Lucy wrinkled her nose at him. Actually she had. Well, it had been about cattle production, but surely the information translated.

“We’ll get word to you the minute the wee Morewether makes himself known,” he promised.

“You know, this baby might be a girl you know. Would you be terribly disappointed?”

“Do you think this possible sister of yours would talk as much as you do?” Her father tickled her side and she squirmed. “Do you think she’ll write me songs to sing to Thea when she’s angry at me?”

She giggled. “Would that be bad?”

“No.” He kissed her forehead. “No, it would not. I’ve never been so lucky as to get both of you in my life in the same day.”

No, she was the lucky one, Lucy thought. Once Thea made peace with Papa and her mother, her life was perfect. She had school and the theater during summer. She had made great friends with Lady Olivia’s youngest sister-in-law, Helen. She never thought she’d find another girl with as many strange ideas as Lucy had. Grand called them unconventional. Her family had grown so much, so fast. Thea’s brothers were almost like brothers to her already. A sister would be a dream come true.

“But you need a son to be the duke.”

He kissed her forehead again and directed her to the door. “There’s plenty of time to get a brother eventually. You finish packing your things so you’ll be ready to leave in the morning. Your mother will be heartbroken if you cancel.”

“I love you, Papa,” she told him before she quit the room.

“I love you, too, buttercup.”

And she did feel loved, really loved, for the first time in her life. Her mother loved her too, she supposed, in her way. But Veronica’s motherly love was never as transparent as her father’s. It seemed her mother was always looking for something, and Lucy felt she was forever in the way. These two-week sojourns, though, at the theater with her mother were wonderful, and Lucy allowed the tickle of excitement to well up in her belly.

Lucy was indeed having a wonderful time in Bath with the traveling company production of
Midsummer’s Night Dream
staring Veronica Clarke as Tatiana when the urgent letter arrived.

Dearest Buttercup,

Your twin sisters arrived today. They can’t wait to meet you.

Love Papa and Thea.

About the Author

Amylynn read her first romance novel in 2008 after being a lifelong literary snob. By the time she was done, she was hooked. Inspired, she challenged herself to write an entire manuscript from start to finish. Lady Belling’s Secret became the first in a three series set.

She is an Arizona native and lives in the same house her husband owned before they were married. Amylynn fears she will never call another state home unless someone tells her husband there are forty-nine others to choose from. In reality, she’d settle for a walk-in closet.

Her family consists of the aforementioned husband, two beautiful children, two dogs, two cats, some fish, and a hankering for a panda. She’d like it mentioned she’s never been in prison but we’ll see how that panda thing works out.

Visit my blog at
www.thequillsisters.com

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www.amylynnbright.com

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