Thea lowered her voice to a whisper and leaned closer to Ewan. “The rightful Duke of Harlowe? The old duke’s second son? But I thought he was dead.”
Ewan nodded slowly.“Everyone thinks he’s dead. But he didn’t die at war. He was put on a ship back to England and my friend, the Marquess of Bellingham found him. Phillip was nothing like his former self.”
Thea took a shuddering breath, trying to assimilate the news. “So that means …”
“Alabaster was his horse. They were at war together.”
Thea nodded as tears stung the backs of her eyes. In a hundred years, she would never have guessed that Ewan had wanted to win Alabaster to give him back to a man who had nearly lost his life.
Thea listened silently and carefully, tears stinging the backs of her eyes, as Ewan spent the next several minutes telling her the story of how Phillip had savedhislife.
“And so, when Bell wrote to me from Dover telling me a ship had just arrived with injured soldiers from the Continent and one of them was Phillip, I made haste to the shore to gather him. I brought him here and he’s been here since. His brother had already died by then and it wasn’t clear whether he was aware of it.”
Ewan was still within an arm’s length of her when Thea leaned even closer and whispered. “So, you owed your friend your life and in return you’ve taken him in at his darkest hour?”
“Precisely,” Ewan replied, his gaze locked with hers.
“That’s why you had to buy Alabaster,” she breathed.
“Yes.” Ewan nodded.
“And that’s why it’s a secret that Phillip is here,” she continued.
Ewan nodded again. “Yes, and I must ask you to keep it a secret.”
She nodded sagely. “Of course I will keep it a secret. But the entiretonthinks he’s dead,” she whispered. “Why wouldn’t he want to declare himself right away?”
“There are a few reasons,” Ewan replied, “but the most important at the moment is that he’s not yet ready to take his place in Society. He isn’t strong enough.”
Suddenly, it all made sense. The secrecy. Ewan’s need to buy the horse at any price. Mr. Forrester being here, all of it. Thea tried to remember. Had she ever met Phillip before? The second son of the Duke of Harlowe? She couldn’t recall such a meeting, but perhaps it had taken place when she was younger.
“It must be difficult for Phillip,” she finally said, turning her head toward Ewan. “He’s been so ill,andhis brother died.”
“Precisely.” Ewan rubbed the back of his neck. “He needs a bit more time.”
“It’s completely understandable,” Thea replied, nodding. She felt nothing but compassion for the poor soldier who no doubt had the weight of the world on his back now.
Ewan’s gaze met hers. “I must have your word that you will tell no one that Phillip is here. Or that he’s alive for that matter. It’s quite important.”
“You have it, of course,” she replied, pleased that he trusted her enough to share such a secret.
He leaned toward her and for a dizzying moment, Thea thought he was going to kiss her. First, he’d trusted her with his largest secret, now he was going to kiss her. And she wanted him too. She closed her eyes, ready, so ready.
His lips barely brushed her cheek. A shudder raced down her spine as he whispered in her ear, “Thank you, Thea.” Then, he pulled away.
Thea wanted to sob.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
The next morning, Thea prepared herself to meet Phillip. Ewan had asked her to meet him today and she had readily agreed. Maggie had already helped her dress and Thea was sitting in her wheelchair staring out the windows of her bedchamber, thinking about last night, and Ewan.
Her mind raced whenever she thought about their conversation last night. They’d been close enough to kiss. In fact, she’d had the thought more than once that he was going to kiss her and worse, she’d thought more than twice that she’dlikeit if he did. She’d beenhopingthat he would kiss her. Only he hadn’t. And Thea was left to wonder if she were going mad. Why was she having thoughts about Lord Clayton … Ewan kissing her? It was madness, was it not?
She’d spent the night tossing and turning in bed—as much as her broken leg allowed—thinking on it. Ewan was a gentleman. He wasn’t about to kiss her. It would be completely improper. Oh, did he even want to kiss her? She thought she’d read it in his eyes, but perhaps she was being ridiculous. Perhaps it hadn’t been a spark of longing that had leaped between them as they’d whispered together after dinner. Perhaps he had merely been doing his best to keep his friend’s identity a secret.
And he’d told her the secret. That said something. Oh, she may have heard about it and asked, but she could tell he’d been telling the truth when he’d told her that he’d already been planning on asking for her help. The look in his eyes had been sincere.
Her heart hurt when she thought about Phillip, the injured soldier, the would-be duke, who hadn’t spoken a word in months. Just like Mama. Phillip had basically been trapped in his rooms here. She’d never seen him leave. In fact, she probably never would have seen him at all unless she’d gone knocking on his door.
