Page 39 of The Gentlewoman Companion

But his father had had no integrity.

“How was Alice’s death his fault?”

“He wouldn’t send for the doctor.” She looked past him. “I begged him, and he insisted I was overly fraught. I was. I’d already lost a daughter. But he was also correct. No doctor could have saved her.”

Before Halverton was born, his parents’ first baby had been declared dead at birth. His mother rarely spoke of it. Though they had kept regular correspondence during the years he had been away, he did not know her any better than he had known his father.

“I didn’t know—I should not have stayed so long.”

“I never wanted to hold you back.”

The sentiment cut. She thought of his education and travels as gifts, but if he had remained at home, would his father have stayed also? Would the letter in his pocket exist?

“I have matters I must see to before I return to London,” he said.

“Of course. I hope you haven’t changed your mind about Louisa and me joining you.”

The concern in his mother’s warm brown eyes sent the ache inside to throbbing.

He wanted to be alone but could not leave her as his father had. As he had. “I look forward to fulfilling my promise to show you the town.” He turned as if to search through his correspondence.

She stepped from the room, glancing at him before closing him in. The concern on her face lay deep in the line between her brows. He must try to appear more cheerful. If he could do that, Miss Thorpe would do the rest. Her pleasant nature was good for both his mother and for him. Not for the first time, a wave of gratitude surged for his mother’s unexpected companion, but it was soon replaced by dread at the thought of what revelations might await him in London.