“No,” I laughed.
Miles tilted his head. “You’re single?” He swallowed.
“Is that a problem?”
He drummed his fingers against the table. “I admit I was hoping you weren’t.”
“Why?” I was absolutely perplexed.
He stopped tapping his fingers and cleared his throat. “We are now getting to those scandalous details I promised.”
I was all ears.
“You asked before how you keep a baby a secret. In my mum’s case, you never tell anyone you’re pregnant and you leave town.”
“She told no one at all?”
“Not a soul. Not even her own parents.”
“Was she afraid?” I remember how scared I was to tell my parents I was pregnant. I knew how disappointed they would be, especially given who the father was. They hated Leland, for good reason.
He looked up as if he was consulting someone before he met my gaze. “She was ashamed,” he admitted heavily. “You see, she was my brother’s nanny.”
Oh.My eyes popped.
“Yes,” he responded to my reaction. “Quite scandalous, don’t you think?”
I remained still. Not sure how to respond to the rhetorical question.
He pressed on regardless. “TheesteemedBaron Greaves,” Miles hissed, “was having a torrid love affair with his very young and beautiful nanny.” Miles began flexing his fingers again. “Mum, God rest her soul, loved him and didn’t want to cause him any complications,” he scoffed. “She took on the burden of raising me alone.”
That pricked my heart. “I’m sorry about your mother.”
He waved away my condolences, not wanting to dwell on it.
I didn’t press the issue further. “How did he find out about you then?” I hesitated to ask given his agitated state. It was apparent he didn’t think too highly of his father.
“Mum,” he sighed. “She always wanted what was best for me. We always managed to scrape by, but she said that wasn’t the life I was intended to lead. It was her wish that I attend Oxford and live my dream of becoming a writer. She made that happen,” he lowered his voice, “by telling myfatherthe truth.”
“How did that go over?”
He laughed sardonically. “Not well, as you can imagine.”
I lowered my head. I could imagine all too well. Leland blamed the pregnancy on me. I broke up with him that night. If only I’d had the good sense to keep it that way. But no,he came crawling back with a tiny diamond ring begging me to marry him. I was so foolish and afraid. I wondered who would ever love me once I had a baby. Then, not even my own husband did. I promised myself after Leland left for the last time I would never think so little of myself again.
“Did he blame her?” I asked quietly.
“For keeping me from him, yes.”
My head tilted up, surprised by his response. “He wanted you?”
Miles shrugged, looking off into the distance. “Perhaps, but he disliked the inconvenience of a,” he lowered his voice, “bastard son. His wife, Imogen, was none too pleased.”
“Did they divorce?”
He barked out a laugh. “No darling, my father’s title and wealth were worth staying in a bloody loveless marriage. She was more put out that he hadn’t done a better job of keeping his philandering ways a secret.”
“So she knew the entire time he was unfaithful?”
