Where to begin… “As you know,” said Rhys, “I lost the ring in a card game.”
“Loo, as I recall.”
“Well, it took a year, but I managed to get into another game with the rotter who took it off me.”
Head cocked, Papa was listening.
“Except,” continued Rhys, “I didn’t count on Tilly.”
Papa’s brow furrowed. “Who is Tilly?”
“She’s the one who won the ring in that card game.”
“So, you, in fact, lost the ring in a card game a second time.”
“Aye.”
Papa heaved a slightly exasperated sigh. “Then how did you get it from this Tilly person?”
This Tilly person.
A surge of defensiveness rose inside Rhys. “You can refer to her as Miss Birdwell.”
Papa nodded, slowly, but held his silence.
“She would only let me earn the ring back with three noble deeds.”
An incredulous laugh escaped Papa. “The cheek.” None of his incredulity having faded, he shook his head. “Son, it’s quite a life you live.”
Rhys snorted. “For better and worse. Mostly worse, though.” On second thought… “But Tilly is on the better side of the scale.”
“So, she made you earn the ring.”
“She did.”
“Good woman.”
“The best I’ve ever known.”
How wretched Rhys sounded, even to his own ears.
From the way Papa’s eyes narrowed, he’d caught that wretchedness. “And now?”
“Now what?”
“Now that you’ve returned the ring to me, what are your plans for the future?”
Future?
Rhys could barely get through one minute into the next. “I’ve never been all that skilled in thinking in those terms.”
“And Miss Birdwell?” asked Papa. “Is she?”
Rhys blinked. “She is.”
Papa considered Rhys for another long moment and seemed to make up his mind about something. “With the birth of my first son,” he said, “I’d done my duty by the earldom and produced an heir. And when my second son came along, I knew the line to be completely secure. Then came my third son—you—and you were such a happy baby, then a charming child, and all anyone wanted to do was love and coddle you. Your mother and I gave you everything—and were happy to do so—except for one crucial thing. We didn’t give you direction.” Papa inhaled deeply and exhaled. “As the happy, charming, coddled person you were, you took all the easiest paths. And as most easy paths tend to flow downhill, there you went. By the time I noticed, your mother had passed, and it felt too late to intervene.”
Rhys swallowed against the hard knot that had formed in his throat.
