Gasps met his words.
Grace's hand flew to her mouth. "What?"
Sophia gripped the arm of the settee she shared with Philip. 'He came here. To this house?'"
Nathaniel nodded. "He spoke with Philip and I. He... explained himself. Claimed he believed the lies his sister told—about Philip's supposed promises to her, about a child lost after his rejection. He thought he was exacting justice."
Grace's eyes filled. "So he used our daughter to do it?"
Philip's voice was low and tight. "He confessed. Plainly. I wanted to throttle him. But Father sent me out when Abigail knocked on the offices' closed door. We didn't want her to see him."
Sophia's voice trembled. "And now?"
Nathaniel retrieved the letter. "He's written. He wants to see her. He's leased a house nearby, only minutes away. Says he wants to speak in truth."
Grace turned to her husband. "He doesn't know about Emmeline?"
"No," Nathaniel replied. "Not yet. But he will. And when he does..."
Sophia murmured, "He could take her. Abigail too. He has the law on his side."
The room stilled.
"No," Philip said firmly. "He might have a legal claim. But he willnottake her. I swear it."
Grace's eyes found Nathaniel's. "What do we do?"
Nathaniel looked down at the letter. "We tell Abigail. Carefully. Gently. Together. And if she agrees to see him—it will behere. On our terms."
"And if she refuses?" Sophia asked.
Philip's answer came without hesitation. "Then we protect her. With everything we have. But the law... the law is not on our side. He didn't strike her. There's no evidence of any grievous offence a court would consider sufficient to keep her from him.As her husband, he had the right to send her away. Just as he now reserves the right to demand that she—and their daughter—reside with him, should he choose to exercise it."
Nathaniel stood and quietly asked a servant to fetch Abigail.
She entered a few minutes later, Emmeline in her arms. She sat silently, holding her daughter tightly.
Grace, her voice tender, began. "Abigail, love... something has happened. Jasper came to Bramblewick yesterday."
Abigail didn't move, but her arms tightened around Emmeline.
Philip added gently, "He's been looking for you. He learned you left Greystone. He... wishes to speak with you."
Abigail was silent for a long time. Then, in a soft, hollow voice:
"I don't know why."
She looked down at Emmeline, brushing a lock of hair from her brow.
"He told me I was too quiet. Too plain to be his Duchess. That I embarrassed him."
Her voice cracked.
"He said I wasn't worth the effort. Told me not to say another word. Then he left me there."
Her tone was not bitter—only confused, as if trying to understand a wound long scarred over.
It was the first time they had heard anything directly from Abigail about what had happened after her wedding to Jasper. They had made assumptions, of course. Mrs. Rigby had filled insome of the gaps, and she had let them know all of what had occurred during her time at Greystone. But Abigail had never spoken of what Jasper had said or done before he left her. The assumptions, the silences, all of it shifted as the raw truth finally broke free.
