“I spoke harshly, I admit, but it was imperative that you return home and with speed. I had to ensure your safety, Miss Emerson, and you were disinclined to take my counsel.”
“I think there is more to the matter than that, sir.”
“Indeed?” Joshua was puzzled.
“And her name is Mrs. Lewis.” She fairly spat the last two words.
She was angrier than he had ever seen her, and Joshua could make little sense of her reaction.
“What do you know of Mrs. Lewis?”
“That you have bought an annuity for her and her son, that her son resembles you greatly and that she is expecting another.” Her eyes flashed. “That you should have a mistress and hide this detail from me, even when you made an offer for my hand,is outrageous beyond every expectation. That you concealed the fact of a son is even more appalling…”
“She is Gerald’s mistress,” Joshua said softly. “I encountered her for the first time last week, and recognized that her son had to be Gerald’s son, as well.”
Miss Emerson fell silent, an encouraging sign.
Indeed, her very anger was encouraging, for he had thought her indifferent to him and any details of his life.
He offered his hand. “Will you walk around the garden with me while I explain?”
She hesitated the barest moment before taking his arm.
Joshua led her away from the house, choosing where best to begin. “If you recall, a week ago, I believed my brother to be dead.” She nodded. “When I encountered Mrs. Lewis and her son, and recognized the connection, I also saw that her circumstances were less than affluent. I believed it fitting to provide for my nephew and spoke to my estate manager, Mr. Newson, about it.”
Miss Emerson bowed her head, watching the ground before herself as they walked, hiding her reactions from Joshua. He took encouragement from the fact that she listened at all.
“Mr. Newson confided that Gerald and my father had argued about the lady. Gerald had been determined to wed her, and my father had disapproved. Though Newson was disinclined to share all the details, by dint of a pledge of confidence made to my father, I can only conclude that this relationship, deemed unsuitable by my father, was the reason my father bought Gerald’s commission. I do not think my father knew about the child.”
Miss Emerson looked up at this.
“There can be no denying it,” Joshua said. “He is so like Gerald at that age. And I could not in good conscience allow Gerald’s son to grow up in poverty. I arranged for the annuity,over the objections of Mr. Newson, and when I learned the boy—Francis is his name—had an ambition to become a smith, I offered to pay for his apprenticeship if the smith was willing to take him on. He cannot be responsible for his parentage, but I can give him an opportunity to create a respectable life for himself.”
“You did not have to do as much,” Miss Emerson breathed, admiration in her tone.
“I believe I did, for it was right, but Mr. Newson is inclined to share your view.”
“Oh,” she said softly and he dared to smile at her. She smiled in return and flushed in the most becoming way. Her eyes were sparkling now. “I thought she was your mistress and he was your son.”
“No,” Joshua said flatly. “Ten years ago, I was betrothed, and afterward I mourned Miss Havilland’s loss. I have no mistress and no by-blows.” He leaned a little closer to her and spoke sternly. “I would have confessed to them before making an offer of marriage, Miss Emerson, as any man of honor would have done.”
“Yes,” she said with evident relief. “You would have. I am sorry that I believed idle gossip.”
“I am sorry that I spoke harshly to you yesterday.”
She flushed again. “I understand, for I did not heed your advice.” She raised her gaze to his. “I was afraid for you.”
Joshua could not find fault with that explanation. “And I appreciate your concern.” Their gazes clung in a most satisfying way. Truly, Joshua might have wished for Gerald’s return and intervention earlier, even to the point of the bruises he had sustained, had he guessed that his brother would lend such speed to Joshua’s suit.
Miss Emerson averted her gaze, and was clearly puzzling through some detail. “Is this Mrs. Lewis why your father sent your brother away?”
“Possibly. There is a tale that they argued about my brother’s inclination to wed the lady. Of course, I had no notion of his survival when I arranged for the annuity.”
“You simply acted as you believed was right,” she said with undisguised approval.
“Indeed.”
“Do you think he might have taken refuge with her?”
