“How fortuitous,” Sybil said. “The Duke of Kingham has agreed to join us for dinner.”
Devil take it. Since when had King begun accepting invitations fromMaman?
“He has?”
“Yes.” Sybil’s gray gaze searched his. “He has been occasionally calling upon Lady Verity. She says they are friends, but… You do not think…”
Her words trailed away, unfinished. She didn’t need to finish them. Everett knew precisely what she meant.
“No.” He forced a smile. “Kingham has no interest in innocent misses. And he would absolutely never dally with Verity.”
“Well, then.” Sybil’s lush lips turned upward in a bright smile, her cheer seemingly forced. “I am relieved to hear it. Ireally should get back to my mending before I need to dress for dinner. I intend to send this over to the Children’s Foundling Hospital today.”
Good God.
He’d been dismissed.
His own wife would rather stitch the clothing of orphans than linger in his presence. He stood and offered her an elegant bow.
“Until dinner, madam.”
Without another word, he turned and left her there in the sitting room, the sun glinting off her chestnut hair, lovelier than he’d ever seen her.
And never more unattainable.
CHAPTER 16
“There is something I wish to talk with you about,” Sybil blurted uncertainly that evening when Everett came to her bedroom for his nightly call. His unlikely visit with her that afternoon—sohusbandly—had given her the courage she required, prompting her to voice the worry that had been plaguing her. “A rather delicate matter, actually.”
She knew from experience that if she didn’t speak at once, she would be swept away by his embrace and kisses. Losing the rational part of her mind was frightfully easy in her husband’s arms. And Everett was not just handsome in his dark dressing gown, a swath of his chest showing beneath, but tempting. She longed to throw herself into his arms and blot out the rest of the world.
But she couldn’t. Not yet. Not until she said what she needed to say. For this was something she had been meaning to discuss with him for weeks. Because of the sensitive nature of the subject and his glacial disapproval of her, she had hesitated to broach the topic. But the time had come. She could not continue to do nothing on Henry’s behalf. Even if doing so left her husband more vexed with her than he ordinarily was.
Everett’s pale eyes searched hers, his jaw hardening. “Are you trying to tell me you are with child?”
“No,” she hastened to say. “It is a different matter entirely. Perhaps we should sit.”
She gestured to the pair ofLouis Quinzearmchairs flanking the hearth. His expression turned questioning and curious, but he followed her, waiting until she was seated before folding his tall frame into a chair.
“What is it that concerns you?” he asked, his tone almost solicitous.
Sybil took a deep breath, preparing herself for her request and whatever her husband’s reaction would be. She knew, of course, that this was no common matter. That it was indeed complicated, if not downright scandalous. She had no experience in asking her husband if her illegitimate brother would be welcomed under their roof.
“At Eastlake Hall, there is a servant. A footman, to be precise…” Her words trailed away hesitantly as she took in the sudden fury that darkened her husband’s countenance.
She faltered, dismay washing over her. Perhaps she had been wrong in broaching the subject of Henry so early in their union, given the tenuous nature of their marriage thus far.
“I am already aware of the footman.” Everett’s voice was as cold as January air.
Surprise washed over her, for he had never intimated that he was aware of her half brother. But then, Henry was not a well-kept secret. The domestics at Eastlake Hall all either knew or suspected his connection to her father. His mother was one of the housemaids, and tongues had likely been wagging ever since her condition had become apparent and Father had set her up in a small cottage on her own.
“You know about Henry?” she asked Everett cautiously.
“Indeed.”
His frosty voice and clipped response took her aback. Mayhap the gossip had traveled further than she had supposed and word had somehow reached Everett. And judging from her husband’s reaction, she had been wrong to suppose that he would consider her request where her half brother was concerned. Bastard children were one of polite society’s darkest shames.
She had known she couldn’t expect her husband to immediately take on her illegitimate sibling into his household. But he had been so kind to Mother, and although he remained aloof toward Sybil, she couldn’t help but to feel that their intimacy had brought them closer. No more so than earlier today when he had tended to her pricked finger. Each day that Henry remained at their father’s mercy was one that left the guilt inside her growing.
