Adrian wanted to laugh in her face and tell her that he did not care. It was not his problem! What did the fate of some random child matter to him?
Only…can I do that to a child? It is not the baby’s fault…
It might have been easier if Adrian was who people thought. Sadly, such things were rarely that simple.
“How do I know this is not some trick?” Adrian accused Miss Ophelia, desperation taking over now. “How do I know that you are not some… some farmer’s wife or daughter trying to hand off a child that you want nothing to do with?”
“I would never do that!” she cried.
“And I am just to take you at your word?”
Her expression hardened on him, no doubt in anger at his accusation. But then he saw something pass behind her eyes, a decision being made.
“I am not lying,” she said carefully. “And I can prove it.”
“And how would you do that?”
“There is something else you should know,” Miss Ophelia said with a grimace. She looked away again, and her breathing turned heavy. “I was not lying when I said that I have spent the last three years working as a maid to Lady Delacourt. That was the truth.”
“So you claim.”
“Before that…” She took a deep breath. “My full name is Ophelia Turner, daughter to Lord Warwick…”
Adrian started in surprise and he did not try and hide it.
He looked at Miss Ophelia again and the pieces started to fall into place. She had seemed a little too well-spoken for a maid. Intelligent also. And how she had stood up to him constantly where most would shy away had seemed strange… until now.
“Earl Delacourt…” the Duke said.
“The very same. You can send for him, if you must. You can learn for yourself who I am. But I am not lying to you. Not about me. And not about Harriet.”
Adrian started to pace as his world continued to crumble. Being caught in a scandal was one thing, but dragging a lady of the ton into with him was another entirely.
How had this happened? And why to him? After all he had done… how careful he had been… he might complain about it not being fair, but when had life ever been fair?
“The rumors did not mention her name, Your Grace,” Mr. Watley said. “Perhaps such a thing can be kept a secret.”
“No.” He shook his head. “It will be found out eventually. And then, not only will it be said that I had a child out of wedlock, but that I seduced the daughter of a baron. This will ruin me…”
His mind turned as he searched for answers, anything that might save him from the scandal that threatened to crash into his world and leave it in tatters. As it did, he looked at Miss Ophelia, the child in her arms, and the answer came to him as if it was the rising sun.
It was not an answer that brought Adrian any joy. Was there any other way… anything else that he could do, he would not have hesitated. But he looked at Miss Ophelia further, and he saw thefuture of what might happen if he rejected this idea and took his chances with the rumor mill of the ton.
If only my father had it so easy…
“There is only one thing that we can do.” He stopped his pacing and fixed his gaze on Miss Ophelia so that she would know that he spoke seriously. “And I ask that you not fight me on this because you are a part of this problem now, Miss Ophelia, as you are going to help fix it.”
“What…” She leaned back as if she could read his mind. “What are you saying?”
“I will find the child’s father in the hope that might quell the gossiping that is sure to come. But until that happens, we must do all we can to convince the ton that this is not the scandal they wish it to be.” He held her gaze and let the silence build. “You and I will marry at once.”
CHAPTER 4
“You are worried about something,” the Duke said from across the carriage. “What is wrong?”
Ophelia had been gazing out the window in a state of nervous anticipation. For an hour now, she and the Duke had ridden together, not a word spoken between them, which she felt was for the best. After all, he was not exactly prone to small talk, and she sensed that any efforts to try might see his temper grow hostile.
The silence had given her a chance to think.
