“You are certain that he will not step up to take his rightful role in Catherine’s life?” she asked again.
Simon’s shoulders slumped with disappointment. “As much as I dislike saying it, I do not think he has it in him to become the father that Catherine needs.”
“No, Simon. I think you are wrong there.”
That caught Simon offguard, and he shot a quizzical look in her direction.
“Am I hearing you correctly, Duchess?”
“Yes,” Harriet nodded. “I know that you are jaded with your brother, owing to years of him disappointing you, over and over. But I believe in redemption.”
Simon snorted at that. “Oh, redemption is a privilege, Harriet. Not everyone lives to see it.”
Harriet shook her head, stubbornly maintaining her ground. “If I had never met Tobias, then I would have shared your pessimism. But Simon,” she paused, trying to find the best way to explain her thoughts, “I saw something in Tobias that day — that day when he met Catherine for the first time. It was as though something had awoken inside of him… it was..”
To her surprise, Simon nodded. “I do agree with you there. His behavior towards Catherine had caught me offguard as well.”
“Then, we must not let it go to waste! We must use that to build momentum — oh, perhaps there is a different way to settle this after all!”
Simon was looking at Harriet with a curiosity that emerged when looking at a madman on the street. He thought that she had gone insane.
What?” she shouted, “You do not believe that there could be a better way than straight-up bribery?”
“Go on then. Let us hear it.”
Harriet brought her hands together, rubbing them slowly. “I believe we need to find a way to bring Emma and Tobias together. That way, Tobias can marry Emma and she can avoid a fate where she is without little Catherine.”
If Simon had not felt so stunned, he might have even laughed.
“Excellent plan,” he answered, sardonically. “However, it is missing one crucial element. My brother is a rake — he has never expressed any interest in settling down.”
“Well, then, we must show him what he is missing out on,” Harriet nodded. “We must do this when he comes to visit tomorrow. Did you mention in the letter that Emma was here?”
Simon shook his head.
“Very good. We cannot let him know that she visited,” Harriet said, determined. “We must let him find her again, but in a way that is natural.”
“Natural?” Simon scoffed. “Harriet, I think you are forgetting the situation that we are in.”
“You need to trust me, Simon,” Harriet claimed. “Please, when Tobias comes to visit you tomorrow, have me be present. There is something that I wish for him to see.”
Simon would have been lying to himself if he did not admit that he was not in the least bit curious.
In fact, he was quite curious to know what his wife had up her sleeve. Her methods were always… innovative.
“Inform the duchess that Lord Tobias has arrived,” Simon told the butler, before heading into the drawing room, where his brother awaited him.
Tobias stood up immediately. “Simon. What is the reason you called me?”
“Sit down, sit down,” Simon heeded. Harriet had briefed him once again this morning that he was not — under any circumstances — to bring up Emma, or that he knew anything about her.
Begrudgingly, Tobias took a seat. But before he could get another one of his questions out, Harriet walked into the room. She was wearing a smile wider than one Simon had ever seen on her face.
“My darling,” she walked over to Simon, “why did you not tell me sooner that Tobias was here?”
Darling?Simon had never heard her call him that before. He straightened up slightly.
“Well, he has just arrived. Worry not, you did not miss anything.”
