Chapter Thirty-Four
Rhys and Violetstayed at Hartwick House when they returned to London.Rhys was taking no chances with Violet.Her staff, no matter how loyal, were still employed by the Duke of Lavensham.And because Lavensham had her followed, he knew where Rhys’s house was located.Hartwick House was fully staffed, and security was tight as a drum.Hart assured him she would be safe here.
It was late at night, and Rhys had wandered down the stairs with the intention of finding a snack in the kitchen when he heard the mewling cry of the baby coming from the study.Inside, Hart paced back and forth with his tiny daughter in his arms.
“She won’t settle.After she fed, she was still restless.I came down here to allow Lucy some measure of sleep.No one tells you how little sleep there is for mothers.”
“Don’t rich folks have nurses and such to watch the baby?”
Hart sighed and bounced the baby gently.“Lucy insists on nursing the baby herself.She is like a lioness, growling anytime the nurses come near to take Julia from her.I finally convinced her to let me hold her.And while little Julia and I rocked, Lucy fell asleep.So, I brought her down here in order not to disturb her mother.”He patted gently on the baby’s back.
Rhys studied the baby girl, with her tiny clenched fists and her head covered in dark, downy hair.“Does that work to settle her?”
“What?The patting?I have no bloody idea.But I have seen the nurse do it, so I figured it can’t hurt.”As he bounced and patted, Rhys sat down to watch.Then a loud burp erupted from the baby.His wide-eyed shock was mirrored on Hart’s face, and both of them chuckled.Julia settled after that.Hart carefully sat with the baby asleep on his shoulder.
“So how did the meeting with the king go?”Rhys asked.
“Better than I expected.Lavensham has fewer friends at court than one would think.Violet’s father, Lord Blackpool, told him in no uncertain terms what happened the day of the duel.”Hart sighed again.He rubbed small circles on the baby’s back.“It is the final answer.I don’t know how you were able to get Lord Blackpool to admit that Lavensham was the one who shot Robert.”
“I don’t know that I had anything to do with it.The man’s guilt over his daughter’s circumstances finally became too much, I guess.When Lavensham took her against her will, it was the last straw.”
“The trial will no doubt be lengthy.And sensationalized,” Hart said.“They have offered Adeline’s father, Lord Rawlings, a deal to shorten his sentence if he testifies against Lavensham.I think he will.He has nothing to lose anymore.”
“I have to go tomorrow and tell Elizabeth,” Rhys said.“She should hear it from me before any other reports come out.”Knowing that the man who had killed her first love would be punished would give her a sense of peace.It would also fulfill her sense of justice.He ran a hand down his face.It was times like this when he wished he drank alcohol.It had been a long week.There was one more secret that he wanted to share with Hart, a man whom he had come to see as a brother, which made this even harder.
“There is one more revelation to tell.”
Hart’s eyebrows rose.“Indeed?”
“My mother lied to me about who my father was.”Rhys explained the whole sordid tale to Hart.“Yesterday afternoon, I went to see my mother’s best friend, Viola Rigby, and demanded she tell me what she knew.She confirmed that my mother had been wooed by the Duke of Lavensham after her affair with your father ended.He promised her everything Hartwick could not.They were married at his estate.And later, she fled Eastwell Park with all her jewelry and gold.When the money ran out and she could no longer pay rent, she came to stay with Viola.Then one day, while she was walking with me in the park, the Duke of Hartwick spotted her and came over to greet her.Apparently, when he saw me, he did the math and demanded to know if I was his child.My mother said yes.”
“Why?”
“I asked Viola the same question.Her reply was that my mother, in her own heart, wanted it to be true.She always loved your father, even years later.”Rhys shrugged.He’d never understood his mother’s obsession with the Duke of Hartwick before.But he grasped better now that he loved someone with as much passion as he loved Violet.He would love Violet to the end of his days, no matter what the future held for the two of them.
Rhys gave Hart a half smile.“This all means that we are not brothers after all.And little Robert is not my nephew.I feel as though I have lost the only family I ever had.”
“You have not lost anything.We will always be your family, blood or not.And I think Matthew would be damned insulted that you would consider blood ties to be the only ones that matter.”
“You’re right, he definitely would.”Something settled in his chest.“Thank you for saying so.”
“Anytime, brother.”
Chapter Thirty-Five
Four months later
Violet slowly madeher way down the staircase at Rhys’s house…their house, she corrected herself.She was pleased to see fresh flowers on the round entryway table.Voices came from the music room and she headed inside.Rhys handed a glass of wine to Zeke with a chuckle.
“What’s funny?”she asked as she crossed to her new husband.
“I was just commenting that I never thought I would see the day when Rhys actually invited people to his house,” Zeke said.“I told you that dining table was aspirational.”
“And I told him to fuck off,” Rhys said.“But only because he was right.”He wrapped his arms around her from behind.His hands rested on her very large belly.“Are you sure you are up to having a dinner party?”
“Absolutely.Next week, Adeline and Malcolm leave to go home, and I wanted to have us all together one more time before then.”
The door knocker rang out.Rhys started to answer it, but Mr.Hodgins raced across the front foyer, throwing him a dirty look as he passed by.Hodgins was constantly exasperated by Rhys’s inability to let the butler do his job.Rhys wasn’t trying to step on the man’s toes; he was just having trouble adjusting to having servants around to take care of things.
