Later, long after the last guest left and the final chair was packed away, Phoebe made her way to her classroom. Mrs. Richardson wouldn’t make the announcement about the closure until Monday but after that they would need to be out of the building within the week. The summer holiday would have to start a few weeks early, but God willing they would find another space before the autumn term. She couldn’t think what might happen if they didn’t.
Phoebe entered her silent classroom and collapsed in the chair behind her desk. The sun had just begun to set and golden light filtered into the room. She touched the cover of her well-worn copy ofThe Odysseyand felt a bit like screaming at the gods for seemingly thwarting her at every turn.
Now it appeared that she was to go on a journey of her own, but without an Ithaca to guide her. For the first time in years, she didn’t have a plan. Didn’t know what the future would hold. She could see nothing ahead but blankness. Phoebe waited while the golden light slowly faded from gold, to orange, to a deep dusky violet. Only when darkness threatened did she force herself to her feet and step into the unknown.
Twenty-Three
Six weeks later
A village in Surrey
Iread all about your defection in the paper,” Cal said as he poured the tea. “Hard to ignore it, really,” he added with a chuckle before turning apologetic. “Sorry. That isn’t funny.”
“No, it’s fine,” Will said on a sigh as he accepted the teacup. Though he was weary from traveling down from Derbyshire on such short notice, he knew he had made the right decision as soon as he stepped off the train. “It was long overdue.”
Ever since Will had declared his intention to switch parties on the floor of Parliament last month, the papers had been full of him, though few had bothered to mention his plan to cosponsor a new bill with Lord Tavistock aimed at funding more public housing for women and children, with preference given for those who left the flesh trade.
Will had plodded along in a fog for another few weeks, but left for the ducal estate in Derbyshire as soon as Parliament was in recess. With his marriage plans put on hold indefinitely, there was no good reason to stay in London for the summer and be harassed by journalists hunting for a story.
But he realized his mistake moments after he entered that dreary front hall. Will didn’t want to be alone in this empty mansion full of dusty relics to a family he felt no connection to. He wanted to gohome.
Now he sat with his brother in the cozy back room they jokingly called the library while a soft Surrey rain fell outside.
As Cal took a sip of tea, Will surreptitiously studied his younger brother and was relieved to see the hollows beneath his cheeks had plumped and the purple smudges under his eyes had nearly vanished. For the first time in years, Cal looked well rested. Happy, even.
“So then,” he said as he set his cup back on the saucer. “How did Lord Fairbanks take the news?”
Will arched a brow. “Suspiciously well.”
Fairbanks had never brought his bill to committee for reasons Will was still trying to uncover. The man had paled as soon as he caught sight of Will in the halls of Parliament but tried to keep up appearances. Until Will opened his mouth:I have spent far too long neglecting my own beliefs in order to appease sanctimonious little men like you. But that ends now.
Strangely, Fairbanks made no attempt to bully him into rescinding his defection even as a crowd of their peers began to gather. Will hadn’t meant to create a sideshow, but perhaps it was better this way. For there would be no doubt in anyone’s mind that he was no longer Fairbanks’s lapdog.
Then Will leaned in close, so the others could not hear:And if you so much asthinkabout slandering Miss Atkinson, I will make sure all of London knows about your connection to Fleur and what a raging hypocrite you are.
But this too was met with absolutely no resistance. Fairbanksimmediately held his hands up and swore he had no intention of defaming the young lady. He had been mistaken. Ofcourseshe wasn’t his mistress. A thoroughly preposterous idea.
The man’s immediate repentance was unexpectedly irritating, as Will had come ready to trade words backed by the proof Alex had given him. But even more irritating than Fairbanks’s spinelessness was seeing Phoebe proven right:
People will believe it was a mistake because they want to.
For one dangerous moment, Will felt the urge to declare the truth. That he was absolutely in love with an odd bluestocking schoolmistress, and damn anyone for suggesting that she wasn’t fit to be his duchess. Phoebe Atkinson was far, far better than he wouldeverdeserve.
Instead, he simply walked away.
“But that’s good, isn’t it?” Cal asked, pulling Will back into the present. “You should have stood up to him ages ago.”
Will grunted in reply, still half-lost in his thoughts. As much as he would like to take all the credit for the earl’s acquiescence, it seemed far more likely that someone convinced Fairbanks to retreat first. But Will hadn’t had the chance to uncover anything before he left London.
“In any case, I don’t think he’ll be much of a bother.” At least for now. And Will still had the damning documents from Fleur to use if needed.
“Well, I’m glad to hear it. Mother will be too.”
Will’s gaze snapped to his brother. “What do you mean?”
Cal shrugged. “She never liked those men: the old duke and his friends. She thought they had too much influence on you.”
Will let out a dark laugh. “Yes, well, she only has herself to blame for that seeing as how she was the one who happily sent meaway in the first place.” His chest was so tight with the memory of that old betrayal that he could barely get the words out.
