On the first day of October, Dev was perusing a few reports on various harvests throughout the dukedom when he finally came across the letter he’d been watching for.
He recognized Harold’s handwriting right off.
Feeling as though he held a bomb in his hands, he tore open the seal and methodically deciphered the code he’d taught Harold so many weeks ago.
The wording was awkward, but it took only a moment for the meaning of the letter to become apparent.
Received your letter before sailing.Distraught hearing of the tragedy but sailed anyway. I cannot return. Please understand and support my decision. Happiness at last within my grasp. You were born for this. More a brother to me than the Saint. Be happy with her. No turning back. A free man at last.
Joy and satisfactionassailed Dev at the news.
Harold was alive.
He was happy.
And with Harold’s happiness, Dev knew what he must do.
Pulling the bell pull, he sent Mr. Evans to request that the duchess and Lady Harold join him in the library.
If he and Sophia were to have a future together, free of deceit and guilt, the truth must be told. He’d considered this conversation for weeks now. At last the time had come.
The ladies arrived together. He rose from his chair and bowed when they entered.
Waving at him to sit, the duchess smiled benevolently. “Evans said you wished to speak to us.”
Sophia found a wing-backed chair off to the side, and the duchess sat in her usual place.
Dev cleared his throat and, despite having rehearsed his words a thousand times in his mind, suddenly had no idea where to begin.
“You poor dear…” His aunt was in a gracious mood today. “…I know you did not anticipate any of this falling upon you. But you must know you’ve handled everything wonderfully. I don’t know what Sophia or I would have done without you these past weeks. Do you, Sophia?”
Sophia must have sensed that he had something of importance to discuss. She merely smiled timidly and agreed. “I do not, your grace.”
“Aunt,” Dev began, “I must confess something to you. Before I explain, please understand that the blame ought to rightfully be placed upon me. I could have stopped the events of what I am to tell you at any time, but I did not.”
Sophia sat up straighter at his words.
Her grace’s brows furrowed at his statement. “What is it, Dev?”
“Before Harold and Sophia married, before they traveled to Priory Point, you must have known that Harold’s life was in grave danger, as was Stewart’s.” At the mention of Harold’s lover’s name, the duchess looked away from Dev and pinched her lips together. “My father,” Dev continued, “informed me at the time that Prescott had received some threats, as had Harold. Did you know of any of this?”
“Vile creatures.” She surprised him with her answer. “Blackmailers and hypocrites, the lot of them.”
Dev nodded and then forced himself to continue. “Harold did not wish to marry Sophia but conceded in order to protect you –– and Stewart –– in order to protect the family from scandal.”
The duchess blinked away tears. “Why are you bringing all of this up now?” She shifted her eyes in Sophia’s direction, obviously not wanting to share such skeletons with her daughter-in-law. She had no way of knowing that Sophia had learned of Harold’s proclivities firsthand. And, of course, no one was happy to discuss such matters openly. “None of it matters any longer, after all.”
“Ah, aunt, but it does. Because Harold devised an alternative solution, one where he and Sophia would not be required to live out their lives as man and wife, one where he could live openly with the person he loved.” He then handed Harold’s letter, with his own translation scrawled in the margins, across the desk to the duchess.
“This is gibberish,” she said at first. And then realizing the carefully written letters were familiar somehow, she set to examining both the handwriting and the decoded words.
“It came in the mail today.” He would divulge all. “Harold faked his death. The jump was planned and executed in a way that it would appear he could not survive.” He went on to explain about the cave, the getaway, the planning they’d all put into it.
As the duchess gradually comprehended what he was saying, tears began to fall unheeded. “He is not returning, though?” she asked, waving the paper in the air. “What about Sophia and the baby? He loved Sophia! Penny told me!”
What he had to confess now was even more difficult. But Sophia spoke up first. “Penny was wrong.”
“But that cannot be so! Sophia, dear, you are with child! Dev is mistaken on this. Oh, Harold must return to you, Sophia. He must take up his rightful position!”
