“This thing that is upsetting you—you don’t have to handle it alone. Who is Jessop? What burdens does that letter lay on you? How can I help?”
The strong woman he knew and admired sagged in front of him. “Where is the blasted tea?” He glared at Eli, who rushed off.
She didn’t object when he took her free hand in his. “Maddy, talk to me. Don’t keep whatever it is to yourself.” Her personal name had slipped out, and he feared she would take offense. She didn’t. She straightened her shoulders, stared past his shoulder for a moment, and appeared to come to a decision before meeting his eyes.
“You may be more objective than my brothers, at least. Can you promise that what I tell you will stay in strictest confidence between the two of us?” She held his eyes, binding him in knots with her profound grief and her trust. “No matter what I tell you, I’ll have your word that you will tell no one until I decide what to do.”
What in God’s name is in that letter?His breathing slipped into a rhythm that matched hers, as if her pulse flowed through the hand he still held. “You have my word.”
She glanced down at the missive in her hand. It didn’t matter what it was. He trusted her completely. She would never ask him to do anything dishonorable. He was certain of it.
He was wrong.
Chapter Fifteen
Maddy hesitated still.You have to trust someone, Maddy, and Brynn Morgan is a man of unshakable honor.
With palpable relief, she handed him the letter Jessop had sent to Randolph years ago, the one she suspected arrived at Woodglen with Gideon. She was no longer carrying her secret alone, and Morgan had given her his word to keep it in confidence. She would have to trust him.
Moments later his horrified expression gave her cause to doubt herself.
“Gideon Jessop was Glenmoor’s son.” He repeated the obvious in flat tones. “Hislegitimateson.”
“It appears so.”
“Did this Gideon know?”
That question had never occurred to her, absorbed as she had been in protecting herself and the boys from Randolph’s cruelties. “I—I don’t know. He was gone before I found the letter.”
Morgan stared at the paper in his hand without speaking for several moments. The maid arrived with a tea cart, Eli Benson on her heels.
“The children got wind of your arrival, Your Grace,” the young solicitor announced with good cheer. “They are bouncing with eagerness to see you.”
Morgan folded the paper over, and Maddy dredged up a smile.
“Please tell my niece and nephew that I’ll join them in the nursery shortly. Could Colonel Morgan and I have a few more moments of privacy, Mr. Benson?”
Eli’s eyes darted from one to the other, but he acquiesced graciously. “Of course, Your Grace.” He glanced at the maid, who stared at the duchess, waiting for instruction.
“Go with Mr. Benson, Sally. I will be safe with the colonel, truly.”
Benson and the girl left them without question. Maddy resigned herself to the open door, left pointedly ajar by Rob’s solicitous little brother. She suspected Eli stayed in earshot as well, at least close enough to answer a shout.
She pitched her voice very low, addressing Morgan. “What do you think?”
“You don’t wish to involve Eli Benson in what is obviously a legal matter?”
She felt as if she’d been slapped. The legal aspect was the least of it to Maddy, who was grateful that he kept his voice down. “The fewer people who know about this, the better.”
He flipped the letter open and scanned it again. “This Gideon is the late duke’s heir.”
“Was.”
“Are you certain about that?” Morgan’s direct gaze made her squirm.
“He’s dead. I always believed it. I had no reason to disbelieve Randolph.” She refused to break eye contact, but it took all her willpower to maintain his steady regard.
“I suspect you had no particular reason to believe things he said, either.”
