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She lifted a shoulder. “He has not confided in me that there is a problem. But I know it to be true.” She looked away, but even in the low candlelight Freddie could see her face pinked. “I snuck into his study and looked at his ledgers—it’s not like my father to be careless—and saw the truth of it. My brother, Lias, has spent a vast sum while living on the continent. Mostly gambling, but also…other things.” Her face reddened even more.
Freddie could guess at what the other things might be.
“The financial problem is bad enough. I’m certain we’ll not be able to stay in London much longer. But even worse is the ton already knows of our ruin. I overheard ladies speaking of it when I was in the retiring room.” She put her hands over her face. “They said terrible things—true things.”
A white-hot burning sensation tightened in Freddie’s chest. Just who had she heard?
“It makes me so angry.” Her hands fisted in her lap, and her face contorted. “Lias will feel nothing of this disgrace, while my father and I will feel the whole of it. I can only assume Papa plans to quit London when I leave for Scotland. And we shall not be returning for the Season.”
Freddie nodded, but then paused. “Scotland? Why are you going to Scotland?”
Her brow furrowed. “My aunt has asked for my help with her children while their governess is away.”
Freddie didn’t know why that information troubled him. “When are you leaving?”
She twitched her lips to the side. “Day after next.”
“That leaves you little time. Does your father not need your help to shut up the house?”
She shrugged. “He just wants me away. I’m only a burden at present.”
Freddie looked at his hands. He had thought his plight was difficult. But perhaps it was not as hard as he’d thought.
“You know why I’ve come to the library. Now, why have you?”
He looked up at her. Should he tell her? It would be ungentlemanly not to after she’d kept her end of the bargain. But it felt trivial in comparison. “I’m to attend a Yuletide house party at my aunt’s estate in Yorkshire.”
“Yorkshire at Christmastide? Yes, I can see why that might trouble you.” There was sarcasm in her tone.
Freddie gave her a half smile. “You obviously don’t know my aunt—” He pushed out his lips. “But the worst of it is my father has declared that if I do not leave the party with an arrangement, he will make one for me.”
Her lips parted, and Freddie found himself momentarily distracted. “Oh, yes. That is troubling.”
He nodded. “My aunt is a notorious matchmaker. There will be no avoiding the parson’s mousetrap.”
Lady Phoebe shook her head, her gaze trained on the flames. “At least you may marry someone acceptable. No respectable gentleman will have anything to do with me. It’s only those who need my dowry. Mr. Rochester tried to secure a third dance from me this evening.” She released a deep sigh. “Mr. Rochester, of all people!”
He could understand her disgust. Rochester was a louse…and a renowned fortune hunter. “Yes, your situation is regrettable. It seems both our futures are at stake.” Freddie mused. “My father acts as if he’s giving me a choice. But can you consider a handful of ladies a choice?”
They fell silent, each absorbed in their own troubles.
Lady Phoebe’s snorted laugh broke the quiet. “We should marry before either you reach the party or Mr. Rochester forms another plan for me. What would everyone say to that?” She smiled lightly, but it soon dissolved into defeat.
What would they say? Freddie wondered.
One side of his mouth ticked up. Yes, what would they say? He glanced at Pippy. She was not in earnest. It was a bacon-brained notion.
And yet, he could not push it aside.
He’d never planned to marry for love—even after seeing what Miles and Grace had. Theirs was an anomaly. Freddie envied it, but it didn’t mean he saw the same future for himself.
His father said he had to marry. There was no way around it. If that was the case, why not Lady Phoebe? They knew each other—or had known each other. And from all he’d seen, she’d quite improved in the years they’d been apart. Until recently, it would have been considered a grand match.
And Freddie could not think of any other lady in the whole kingdom whom he could be enticed to yoke himself to.
“What if we did?” he said quietly.
Marrying him would save her.
