“You’ve had so much put upon you,” she began. “First your father died and you had to make sure we were all right. Then all the nonsense with the dukedom.”
Will raised an eyebrow. She had never once uttered a cross word about it before.
“And you’ve borne it all without complaint,” she continued, meeting his gaze. “But I think… I think it must have been very hard.”
Her voice grew thicker on those last words and Will had to clear his throat before he could speak. “Why did you come here?”
“Because Cal asked me to. He thought it would be good for you. For us,” she amended.
Will stiffened automatically. “I see.”
Her dark eyes searched his face. “I know you’re punishing me for something. I just wish you wouldtellme.”
Will stared past her out the window. What he would give to be with Phoebe right now. He was his better self with her. He let out a heavy sigh. “I don’t mean to punish you, Mother. Truly. But I’ve never been able to understand why you sent me away that summer. After I inherited.”
She looked genuinely surprised. “I didn’tsend you away. His Grace summoned you, and it seemed like the best thing.”
“But you didn’t even ask me. Just shipped me off to Derbyshire.”
“Well, of course I did. What didIknow about becoming a duke? There was so much for you to learn. And by then you had already been at Oxford a year,” she pointed out. “You weren’t a boy anymore, Will.”
He sat back in his chair and crossed his arms, feeling like a petulant sixteen-year-old again. “I hadn’t been since the day Father died.”
She bowed her head. “I know I relied on you too much back then, and I’m sorry for that. It wasn’t fair to you, all that responsibility. I suppose I thought it meant the inheritance was easier for you to navigate. But maybe that was just convenient thinking on my part,” she added. “And then Cal had his accident and he was so ill for so long…”
She looked up and her face was etched in such pain that Will felt it in his chest. That had been a terrible time for all of them.
“I know,” Will said, reaching for her hand. “I’m sorry. I—I hadn’t thought of it like that.”
Her fingers tightened around his palm. “Don’t be. That’s a mother’s job. And you’re right. I should have protected you more.”
With her words, the heaviness over his heart began to lessen. Will had grown so used to carrying that weight he hadn’t noticed its presence until now. Though it would take more than one morning for that old wound to fully heal, this was a promising start. “I appreciate that. Very much.”
She gave his hand another squeeze before letting go to take a sip of tea. “So then,” she began without preamble. “Cal said you made Phoebe Atkinson run out of here yesterday.”
Will nearly choked on a bite of creamed egg. “Did he now,” he rasped. Given that he and Phoebe had reached an understanding only hours ago, Will hadn’t told Cal the truth about their relationship. That hadn’t stopped his brother from peppering him with increasingly pointed questions last night. At the time Will thought he had successfully deflected Cal’s suspicions, but the smirk on his mother’s face told a different story.
“He also said that you spent the rest of the evening in a foul mood, though that doesn’t appear to be the case this morning.”
Will blew out a breath. Best get this over with as quickly as possible. “Phoebe and I are going to marry.”
But the amusement on his mother’s face immediately turned to shock. She pressed her hands against the table. “What?”
Will shook his head in confusion. “Well, what did you think I was going to say?”
“Not that!” She rocked back in her chair and squinted past him as if trying to understand a difficult math problem.
“You don’t approve.” Will was surprised by how devastated he felt.
But his mother finally looked at him and her eyes softened. “No, no. It isn’t that at all. Only I… I would haveswornit was Alex you were after.”
Will leaned his head back in relief even as he rolled his eyes. “Mother, we’ve been over this—”
“I know—”
“Again and again. Andagain—”
She laughed and held up her hands in supplication. “Iknow. I know.” Then she tilted her head, considering something. “Phoebe, eh?”
