"We went to retrieve her," Grace continued, her voice softening only slightly. "But it was like retrieving a ghost. She barely spoke. Only began caring for herself once she realized she was with child. We were terrified that once the baby was born, she would stop even doing that. Now she acts like she is only here on this earth to be Emmeline's mother."
She paused, resting a hand lightly on Nathaniel's arm. "You gentlemen may speak alone. I find myself in need of air." Then she turned and left the room.
She didn't look back as she left.
Nathaniel gestured to the opposite couch. "Sit."
Jasper obeyed.
For a long moment, Nathaniel simply stared at him. Then, he inclined his head slightly and said, "Like Philip, I understand your motives. What I can't understand is how you forgot who your sister truly is. Your mother used to worry about her—often apologizing for the things she said to my wife, to Abigail. You knew exactly what she was capable of."
He leaned forward slightly. "She has never cared about anyone but herself. And you knew it, Jasper. So how could your brain forget that?"
Jasper swallowed hard but didn't respond.
"You met your daughter today," Nathaniel said. "Congratulations. Now imagine someone doing to her what you did to my daughter."
That landed. Jasper's shoulders slumped as the breath left his lungs.
Nathaniel's eyes softened, but his voice remained steady. "I want to protect my daughter—more than anything. I want her to be the Abigail she was before all this—full of hope, full of life. Every night, I pray she'll find her way back to that woman. But the law isn't on my side. You're her husband, Emmeline's father. You haven't done anything the law can punish. So if you chooseto come back into her life, there's nothing I can do to keep you away."
He let that settle.
"But I'm asking you as her father—don't harm her further."
Jasper nodded slowly. "I do not wish to ever harm either of them again."
Nathaniel said nothing.
Jasper leaned forward. "I want to make amends. I want to be a family. I love Abigail. And I love Emmeline now that I know of her. I hope we can come to an arrangement—something that allows me to visit. To show them I mean to do right by them. Maybe, by being present, I can help ease some of the pain I caused."
Nathaniel's gaze narrowed.
Jasper hesitated. "I know I don't have the right to hope. But I do. I hope that someday, we can be together. As we should have been."
He met Nathaniel's gaze. "I won't force it. That's not what I want. But I won't disappear, either. I can't. If we're to move forward—if we're to heal—I need to be present. That's the only way."
The fire popped in the hearth. The silence between them was heavy.
At last, Nathaniel said, "Come back in two days. At tea."
Jasper blinked. "You'll allow me to see them?"
"You may see them then," Nathaniel said. "Both of them."
A breath of disbelief, of fragile relief, left Jasper's chest. "Thank you."
Nathaniel didn't respond. He didn't nod.
He just stared at Jasper for a long, long moment.
A moment later, Jasper let himself out.
Nathaniel remained in the morning room, unmoving, his eyes fixed on the hearth. The fire had burned low. The warmth was fading.
Eventually, dinner was announced.
It was a quiet affair—muted, strained. Everyone kept to their own thoughts. Sophia barely touched her plate. Grace picked at hers in silence. Nathaniel's gaze wandered often to the doorway, though he couldn't say what he was hoping to see.
