“I don’t, and I told her she should have revealed the truth when she went to Syria, but honestly, what choice did she have?”
Thomas glared at the woman who was like a sister to him. “She could have annulled her marriage.”
Rose glanced at her husband. “Augustus, would you give us a moment?”
He nodded. “I will join Devons for a drink.”
She smiled at him, and a look of adoration passed between them. Thomas was so envious, but he kept it tamped down because it had nothing to do with Rose. The woman he loved had lied to him for over a decade.
“Rose, I don’t want to talk about this.”
“What do you think would happen to an unmarried pregnant woman whose family is destitute? What would happen if that woman married a duke and then revealed to society that she needed an annulment?”
He would not feel bad for Lisbeth. “I would have supported her.”
Rose snorted. “With what? While we’ve become wildly successful in the last ten years, we had nowhere close to the money Lisbeth would have needed.”
He didn’t want Rose to make him understand. “She and my mother kept my daughter from me.”
“And that is wrong. But I’m asking you, as the man who loved her, to try to understand that she had no other option as a woman.”
“My mother knew.”
“Thomas, you were a mess after Lisbeth left. Your mother was probably terrified of what you would do. You would have returned to England and destroyed your life. The famous explorer Thomas Easton wouldn’t exist.”
“I don’t give a damn.”
Rose squeezed his hand. “That is a lie. Would you have picked a life with Lisbeth and your child ten years ago? Of course. Still, life doesn’t always give us what we want. You’ve enjoyed traveling the world, sometimes too much. Now, you have a chance to love Lisbeth openly and to raise your daughter. I’ve spent time with both Alice and Jeremy. If you let yourself, you’d love them both.”
Thomas found himself unable to speak.
His friend added, “There are so many wrongs between you and Lisbeth that can’t be changed. But I remember the love the two of you had. I used to think how lucky you both were. What are you doing in this club? If you want to be her husband, you both have a great deal of work to do to mend the hurt and trust between you.”
Hoarsely, he confessed, “I do still love her.”
She smacked him on the arm. “I know. Go figure it out. Right now, you look like the pompous, famous explorer from the serials. That isn’t you, no matter how hard you are trying to behave that way. You will regret all of this.”
Thomas sighed. “I’m so angry.”
“You deserve to be angry, but you have Lisbeth now. It is up to you how real your marriage and your relationship with your daughter are,” Rose said, and then she glanced around. “At least leave this club. The gossip you are creating by staying here after your sudden marriage is atrocious.”
The back of his neck went hot. Thomas nodded. “Thank you for coming to see me and being honest. Do you think you and your duke could drop me off at my mother’s?”
She beamed at him. “Of course.”
Thomas was still angry, but Rose had pierced through some of it, and now the desire to stay and celebrate left him empty. What was he going to do about his marriage?
Chapter Twenty
Lisbeth sat withJeremy and Alice, wishing that this wasn’t all so difficult. Her daughter sulked. “Why do we have to go to the country? I want to stay in London. You said I could attend the next event at Seely House. I want to be there when Rose reveals the end of the epic. You should want to as well. You helped find the tablets.”
Alice’s older-than-her-years words did make Lisbeth smile. “I know you want to go, but I think we have had so much change; we should leave for a bit.”
“Is he going with us?” her daughter asked, folding her arms.
“Thomas Easton will stay with us in the country!” her son said, excited.
Her eleven-year-old rolled her eyes at her younger brother. “He is married to Mother.”
