The door to the parlor opens.
Mr. Carew comes inside. “Ladies … Oh.”
He stands at the entry, gawking. “This will not do …”
“Surely the sight of weeping women is not alien to you, sir.” I swipe at my eyes. “Not in your profession.”
“Lady Hampton, Lady Mark Sebastian, I’m glad that you’re both here.” He comes toward us, his stride bold and confident. “That is, if you’re here to make peace?”
“Sir, we’re not here to make trouble.” I want to fold my arms, but the kitten is settled against my sleeve, sleeping. “We brought a peace offering, a kitten … Lada.”
“You are sure? You’re weeping,” he says.
“Where’s my daughter?” My voice echoes in the parlor. I touch my lips. “It feels so good to say this truth out loud. Is my daughter well?”
The man never truly smiled much, but he just did. “Lady Lydia is not sick. But she’s angry and confused. She’s upstairs with her father and grandmother.” He bites his lip for a moment. “My niece is good. Very bright.”
That’s right. He and Scarlett are newly married.
“Congratulations, brother.” Georgina goes to Mr. Carew and hugs him. “You and Scarlett. I’m so pleased. You two. I’m in shock, good shock.”
“I love her, and she loves me. And please, call me Stephen.” He offers us another rare giddy smile; then the happiness drains from his face. “I must say, my wife’s very, very angry at the lies we’ve perpetrated about Lady Lydia.”
I wince. “Scarlett can be unforgiving, cold as snow when she’s angry. I’m sorry if keeping Wilcox secrets has caused problems in your new marriage.”
“We are at peace. She understands my commitment to my patients and why I keep secrets. It’s one of the things she had to accept to love me.”
Georgina looks at me. “Yes, love is a compromise.”
“That’s true, sister,” he says. “And I can’t get her to leave the duke for more than a few minutes. She hasn’t slept. She’s monitoring his fever.”
Georgie and I groan and simultaneously utter our brother’s name. “Scotland.”
“All these years, she’s still frightened of the toll fevers can take.” I hurt for her.
“Scarlett is terrified of letting the duke down. She’s very close to him.” Stephen fingers his coat and offers us a look of pride. “I’d be jealous if I didn’t know her affections lie elsewhere.”
It’s good to see joy in the physician’s countenance. I’ve seen his serious face too often—every time Mama was sick. I’ll never forget the grief on his face when he handed me my son, Lydia’s twin.
“Katherine? Katherine, you’re staring at our new brother.”
Georgina’s voice brings me back to the present. “I’m sorry … Stephen. I held this lie so long and held the bad things that happened when I birthed my children against you. I seem to hold on to anger. Scarlett and I are indeed sisters.”
He releases a long breath. “Now you aremysister. That pleases me. I’m proud to belong to this family.”
Once I ease the kitten to the settee, I step closer to Carew, and he braces like I’m going to slap him. But I put my arms about his shoulders. “Yes. And it’s Katherine.”
Georgina holds out her arms. “Brother.”
He accepts our embraces, then steps back. “I’m sorry that circumstances aren’t better, ladies, but when you know you want to spend the rest of your life with someone, you don’t care when it starts as long as it starts.”
Georgina looks teary-eyed and very pleased. My kitten snores on the settee, and it sounds as if Lada makes a critique that love is bad. I’m becoming fonder of this little thing.
“Stephen,” I say, “I’ve come to reconcile with the duke. He’s won. I’ll do what he wants. Can I see him?”
“Not yet. It’s a delicate time. When I return—”
Georgina’s eyes grow wide. “Why must you leave? You said things are delicate.”
