“I know, and you will never know how sorry I am, but I–”
“I do not wish to discuss this with you.”
“Anna, I–”
“No. I do not want to speak to you. You could have written to me. You could have told me where you were going and what you were doing. You could have done so many things, and you did not. You have left me alone at every opportunity, and now you expect me to be grateful that you have returned. With a woman that you now expect me to care for, no less.”
He did not say anything further, and they finished the journey in silence. Anna hoped in part that he would say something foolish, so that she could speak her mind again, but she knew that she was exhausted too. It had been a long week, and it was only going to become more difficult. She had to save her strength, for she did not know what she was going to be confronted by.
They arrived outside, and Anna made her way inside without waiting for Spencer. All that she knew as she approached the door was that there was a stranger inside, likely making herself at home, and there was a strong possibility that a confrontation would ensue.
“Your Grace!” Mrs. Phillips greeted. “He found you.”
“Did you know?” she asked, her tone sharp.
“Your Grace, I–”
“Did you know?”
“Leave her be,” Spencer instructed. “She has only done what I told her to.”
Betrayal roared through her like a wave, and she wondered who else had known everything all along and kept it from her. There had indeed been another woman all along, and nobody had told her, even though they knew. She felt like her home was filled with strangers once again, and she longed to return to her friends. They understood her, and they never would have kept something so important from her.
“I missed you,” she said in an accusatory yet hushed tone. “I spent this week longing to see you, waiting for you to come home so that we could continue as we were. You have made me feel like the only lady you have ever seen, and all along you have been duplicitous. If you wanted to humiliate me the way I did to you, then you have succeeded. I ought to congratulate you.”
“Anna, of course, that is not what I was doing. I would never do that to you.”
But she did not believe him. She did not want to believe a word that he said, for she had to protect herself first and foremost. She stared at the closed door to the drawing room, knowing that there was a strange woman on the other side of it. She did not know whether to run away from it or to throw it open and confront her.
Then, she heard a child crying.
Her hairs at the back of her neck stood on end, her shoulders rising. It was one thing to know that her husband had brought a woman home with him. It was another entirely to know that there was a child involved.
She glared at Spencer and then reached for the handle.
“Wait,” he said quickly, taking her hand in his. “It is not what you think. If you would let me–”
“You have had more than enough time to explain. Let me speak with her.”
Reluctantly, he released her, and she stormed inside.
She only made it a few steps, however, before she realized that something was wrong. The woman that she was facing was not at all at ease, and she bore a remarkable resemblance to Spencer. She did not seem confident at all in herself, and she swayed from one foot to the other.
And when she saw the child in her arms, sleeping soundly, she could no longer feel the immense anger that had been there moments before. She had not been near children, with the exception of Maria’s, but she felt a maternal instinct flood her. She could not make it difficult, not while he was present.
“Is this her?” the woman asked as Spencer entered.
“Indeed,” he nodded. “Anna, this is Sophia. She is… she is my sister.”
“His half-sister,” she corrected.
Anna felt her knees almost give way.
She made her way to a settee and sat down shakily. She pressed her fingers to her temples, trying to make sense of what she was hearing. Sophia was the family that had been unwell, the woman who needed her help. Spencer had not lied to her. Not directly, at least.
And yet, she was furious with him all the same.
CHAPTER 25
