“What will you do?” he asked.
“I don’t know.” She turned away from the window, searching the Captain’s face for something familiar, some small thread that tied him to her past.
Her father had died just weeks before the arrival ofThe Maitland. She remembered her grief, her distress. In a place where lives were short and harsh, her father had done little to protect her beyond leaving a modest amount in the funds. Even a small sum caused the men of the island to circle like vultures...
Then came Octavius, and his ship full of gallant officers.
She frowned, looking past the leathery texture of the Captain’s face, conjuring the face of the boy he’d been.Cheverley.She knew she recognized the name the duke had spoken.
“Lady Stone, if you will permit me to suggest—”
“Haven’t you done enough,captain?”
He looked stricken. “You have me at a loss, Lady Stone.”
“IknewI could not recall an officer named Smith.” She took a deep breath. “Cheverley, correct?”
He blinked. “My lady, you are clearly overwrought—”
“Is it a coincidence, Lord Cheverley, that you are connected to the Duke of Ashbey?”
The captain’s gaze sharpened. “Ashbey?”
She had been so, so foolish. “His graceknew enough about Octavius’s debts to place me in his. How?”
Lord Cheverley’s expression was proof enough of his guilt. She pressed her hands to her head and began to pace.
“I prayed and prayed and prayed for a child and none was given to me. When my husband found another, I suffered in silence. Thenhefound me. And now, the life of an innocent will be forever bound to a devil because you—”
“Lady Stone!”
She froze, breathing heavily. “Forgive me. The fault is mine alone.”
“Not yours alone,” he said quietly.
No. Not quite. One devil duke was intimately involved.
“I—I trusted a friend...” His voice faded.
“A friend?” She snorted. “Can a recluse have friends?”
A strange fire glowed behind his eyes. “The man I knew would never have taken advantage of your grief. I wish I could make this up to you. I just...” He paused. “I cannot tell you how sorry I am.”
His remorse was real. So was the deep well of concern behind his eyes.
Good God. For the first time since the doctor had spoken, the truth penetrated her heart. She was going to have a child. Not just a child, butAshbey’schild.
“This is none of your concern,” she said.
“Is there anything I can do—anything at all?”
“You can keep my secret.”
“Ah,” he sighed. “Even you will not be able to keep your secret for long.”
She slanted him a look.
“Unless you marry,” he continued, “or bare the child in secret and send him or her away, the child will be considered the admiral’s heir.”
