“How? I thought ye said ye had sworn oaths.”
“I had. But I had also decided to tell you what I could regardless.” Fox moved back to his chair, motioning for her to continue eating. “Fortunately, it’s all rather moot now. I received a letter yesterday.”
“A letter?”
He nodded.
“Theletter?” she continued, her pulse racing. “The one that might take Madeline away from us?”
Not you.
Us.
The plural had dropped from her lips, unintentionally.
They had become a family in truth.
Fox nodded again.
Tears pricked, somehow finding the moisture to well up.
“Ah, sweetheart.” He reached for her hand across the table, bringing her fingertips to his lips, that earnest openness shining on his face. “The damage is done. All we can do is fight the duke.”
“Theduke?!”
“Yes.” Fox grimaced. “The Duke of Westhampton. Madeline’s grandfather.”
“Grandfather? Madeline’s grandfather is a duke?!”
“Eat. I’ll tell you the tale, and then answer your questions.”
Leah picked up her knife and fork, mind whirling.
Aduke? They were up against the might and power of a duke?
No wonder Fox had been so diligent in keeping his oath.
Whathadhappened in India?
“Where to begin?” He shook his head. “Perhaps with my betrothal to Miss Honoria Hampstead when I was still enlisted with the 64th in the West Indies. As you likely already know, Miss Hampstead was the sister of a wealthy plantation owner. She had a respectable dowry, enough to ensure she would marry. Though, of course, her dowry was secondary to the charms of her person. I courted her, and she accepted my offer of marriage, though she was not eager to wed right away. She wanted a change in our living circumstances first. Wishing to help, Lord Dennis arranged for each of us to purchase commissions in the Presidential Army in India. Dennis and I left Jamaica for London, intending to visit family before setting off to India. Honoria would follow six months after we had seen ourselves settled, at which time, she and I would marry.
“When I arrived in London, my sister, Susan—who had been living with our uncle there—begged to accompany me to India. She had seen so little of the world and was desperate for an adventure. As she had finally reached her majority, our uncle had no authority to stay her decision. I, foolishly, was only too happy to indulge her.
“In short, Dennis, Susan, and I embarked for India. I rather quickly noticed an affection brewing between Susan and Dennis. I will spare you the ins and outs of their amour, but by the time we arrived in India, they were besotted with one another.”
“So Lord Dennis was Susan’s lover? He is Madeline’s father?”
“Yes,” he nodded, “but let me get to that part of the story. As you’ve read in Susan’s letters, Dennis and my sister continued to write one another secretly once we were established in Madras. I made it very clear to Dennis that my sister was not to be trifled with. If he wanted to be with her, he had to marry her. I loved Dennis like a brother, but that didn’t mean I was blind to his faults. He adored the thrill of chasing and seducing women, lavishing them with romantic advances until they succumbed. It is perhaps why I reacted so strongly to finding out that he had slipped into your room at the house party. I am sure Dennis claimed at the time that it was an accident, but as he had a habit of ‘accidentally’ ending up in the wrong place when innocent women were present, it was hard to always believe him.”
Leah shook her head. “Ye think he came into my room on purpose? To force his attentions on me?”
“I cannot say with any certainty. Yours was not the first nor last bedroom I found Dennis wandering into.” Fox swallowed, looking into the fire. “Over the years, he had a way of preying on women who did not have a strong male protector. Women who would be unable to seek reparations for his improper behavior.”
“How despicable. And ye called this man a friend?”
Fox ran a hand through his hair, sighing. “I likely should not have. I could go on, naming excuses for my own actions, but the true answer is simple: I was culpable in his behavior, and I should not have been.”
“Och, ye cannae lay his sins at your own feet.” Leah pushed her plate aside, done eating for the moment.
