Keepsake (The Distinguished Rogues Book 5) (34 page)

Christopher squirmed in his seat, drawing Kit’s attention immediately.

“Go and find Landry now,” Kit told him softly. The boy should be spared the rest of this conversation. He’d been frightened enough and Kit had learned all he needed to know. Emily was not on Kit’s side at all, she was selfishly on her own. When his son was safely out of the way, Kit glared at Emily. “He is my son.”

Acton sat forward, his posture hostile and unconvinced. “So she says.”

Acton did not even deign to look Miranda’s way when he spoke and Kit’s temper soared to new levels. He cast a glance at Emily’s face and saw her nodding to her brother in complete agreement. When she glared daggers at Miranda, Kit placed Miranda’s hand in his. “For the last time, Christopher is our son, conceived before we married.”

Emily looked down at her hands. “You know what they say about her. She’s utterly wanton. She’s misleading you all over again.”

He hadn’t counted on their stubbornness. He’d thought they would take his word. “But I suspected Miranda was with child when we married.”

Emily fidgeted. “We should have known she’d seduced you. Of course you would have married her because of that.”

“I offered for Miranda because it was what I wanted. It was me climbing into her bed before we married, not the other way round. I wanted her so badly. I wanted our child very badly. Christopher will inherit Twilit Hill from me one day, and I will never let him out of my sight again. Believe me, if anyone tries to hurt him again, they will live to regret it. I will bring the full weight of my influence to bear to punish the culprit and anyone else that conspires against us.”

Emily’s face turned a furious shade of red. “You’re throwing away your life’s work.”

“My life’s work was for him. Enough of this. I cannot believe we are even having this discussion. Will you also doubt the words of Applebee, Sorenson, and Watts? They’ve all written to support the boy’s claim. Even my mother has accepted her grandson with less fuss than you pair have managed today.”

At that, Emily glanced away and seemed to shrink in place.

Acton sat forward. “Then it’s all true.”

“You owe my wife an apology,” he told Acton without any hesitation.

Emily stiffened and said nothing, and Kit accepted that she might never offer one or accept that his heart had been committed to Miranda long ago.

Acton frowned. “I’ll not. She should not have left you as she did and made you look a fool. You could have married for love, and all you got was this mess.”

Kit leaned forward. “I did marry for love, Acton. I chose Miranda for the feelings she stirred in me. Her dowry was important, but there were other women with similar fortunes that I didn’t look at again once I met her.”

Acton’s eyes widened and then he glanced at his sister. “But I thought…” He swallowed. “I thought you loved Emily but couldn’t marry her because her dowry was insufficient for your needs. She cried for weeks and only grudgingly agreed with me that she had no choice but to wed Brighthurst since you could not offer for her.”

Kit shook his head sadly. “You’ve been misled and saw what you were told to see. As misled as Miranda was when a certain person’s words and another’s behavior convinced her that was the case too. That was why Miranda left me. She thought I loved another when I never did. I love her so much that I couldn’t forget her. I couldn’t move past the hope that she’d come back to me one day. You know that.”

Acton’s jaw clenched as he stared hard at his sister. “It seems I was misinformed on quite a few occasions then.”

He was tense and silent for a long time and then he faced Miranda, his brow furrowed with deep lines. “You have my deepest regret, my lady, for the discomfort and suffering I must have caused with my words today and in the past. There is no excuse I can offer that will ever make up for my mistake. Congratulations on the birth of your son. I wish you and Taverham all the happiness that’s been denied you these years.”

When Miranda nodded, Acton glanced at his sister, eyes hard and unforgiving. “Lady Brighthurst, since you have nothing to say against the accusations leveled at you, I can only believe you guilty. We should take our leave as I’m sure the family has much to do together without us getting in the way. Unless, of course, Lord Taverham wishes to call for the magistrate to investigate the threats against his son.”

Kit looked to Miranda for her decision.

She shook her head quickly. “Please, just keep her away from us.”

Emily was slow to stand and Acton jerked her to her feet. “Little fool,” he hissed and hurried her for the door. “You don’t know how fortunate you are.”

Emily cried out to Kit, but he wasn’t going to pretend everything could be all right again. She had kept the truth from him and, even worse, might have tried to kill his son. He could not forgive that and bowed his head so he didn’t have to see her again.

“Lord Acton,” Miranda called before the siblings crossed the threshold. “My husband will still expect to see
you
. Hyde Park is where you usually meet while in London, yes?”

Acton stopped, his eyes widening in surprise at her question. “Yes, most days.”

She nodded. “I’m sure you don’t need me to organize your amusements. I’m not one for riding these days, so I’ll leave you two gentlemen to your own devices there.”

“Thank you.” Acton swayed, appearing amazed by Miranda’s olive branch, but then shook his head and dragged his sister from the house so fast she scrambled to remain upright.

When the door was closed, Kit turned to Miranda. “It was not necessary to be so kind to him.”

“I think Acton was deceived by his sister, too, as to who loved whom.” She folded her hands in her lap. “Besides, I don’t ride and I am sure when Christopher wakes you as the sun rises each day, you will be wanting to escape the house from time to time.”

“Emily always could convince him she told the truth even when as a girl she was fibbing. But that doesn’t excuse him for hurting you.” Kit swept Miranda onto his lap. He curled his arms about her hips tightly. “Now, where were we this morning?”

She leaned into him, head settling against his. “You were going to make love to me.”

He kissed her cheek and sighed as Miranda’s warm arms wrapped around his shoulders tightly. “For all the days that remain of our lives. I promise you’ll never get away from me again.”

EPILOGUE

Sunshine after weeks of rain at Twilit Hill made the perfect accompaniment for a family outing. Across the field, Chris was chasing butterflies with Lord Carrington’s children following along like devoted puppies at his heels. Around them their guests chatted gaily, lapping up the sunshine and each other’s company. There had been so much merriment during their first house party that even his mother was pleased by the new event.

More than one couple had strolled away from the group with sly looks for each other, which Kit knew to be anticipation. There were more married couples visiting Twilit Hill this year than at any other time in his memory and he was pleased. So many of his friends had married for love, and it seemed to him to be a sensible decision for all involved.

He kept a close watch over his son as he always did, noting how happy he appeared with his rough-and-tumble friends. Kit glanced across the blanket to where his wife sat, jiggling someone’s baby on her lap and crooning to the squirming infant. Her health had improved considerably since leaving London, and he no longer worried for her quite so much. “Is he going too far away do you think?”

Miranda squinted across the field at their son. “You worry too much. He will go far enough to tire them so they sleep well tonight during the ball.”

Kit grunted. They’d planned the ball together to celebrate Chris’s birthday most of all, and also for their own enjoyment. They’d spent weeks planning it together, and he was pleased that despite the occasional silly argument, Miranda seemed at last happy to be his wife and partner in all things. He checked Chris’s location again.

So far, their son seemed to be enjoying himself with his friends, though Kit was never certain he did enough to make up for their lost years. “Should he stay up with us tonight beyond eight do you think?”

Miranda cooed at the child she held once more and then passed him back to his doting mother. “Eight will be late enough. He’s not too interested in dancing yet. The children will have their own amusements for the final hours before bed.”

Kit frowned as Miranda picked up a piece of cheese, popped it in her mouth, and then licked her fingers clean. He’d never seen her so hungry. “Should one of us stay with him?”

Miranda shook her head and smiled at him as if she was in danger of laughing outright. She patted his hand. “He will be fine without you for a little while, my love. Children don’t always want us around. They like to have their own time too. It gives them a chance to have their own secrets as we have ours.”

She reached out for a slice of cucumber and took a bite, savoring the taste.

“I suppose you are correct.” Kit turned back to watch his son. Truly he couldn’t get enough of watching him run about their home and was considering making yet another adjustment to his education schedule. The boy didn’t really need to be gone all but a few weeks a year in order to learn Latin properly. Maybe he could stay away from school another year altogether. He turned to Miranda to suggest it but found her eating again.

He glanced down without speaking but kept a close eye on her behavior. She really was hungry today, and when he considered it, she had seemed to be that way all week. The three closest plates to where she sat were empty, so she had to stretch for a piece of cake. Her second helping if he was not mistaken.

Suddenly he recalled that there
had
been a time when Miranda had seemed to have a larger appetite than normal. His mother had actually pulled him aside and complained of it before they’d married. It was that discussion that had made him so hopeful that Miranda could be pregnant.

His face ached with the urge to shout out his suspicions to all around him.

Since he’d missed the pregnancy and Chris’s birth, Kit had begun to listen discreetly whenever a woman discussed the rigors of motherhood to find out what he might have missed. Some claimed their appetites increased, some went away entirely, and others were dreadfully sick morning, noon, and night. There seemed no pattern to a pregnancy that he could see, other than steady behaviors changed.

As Miranda’s seemed to have done. She followed up the cake with a slice of pork and he gasped. If she could eat a food she’d thoroughly detested not one month ago, then something had definitely changed with her.

Yet when it came to Miranda, he’d learned never to assume anything without at least talking about his theories first. He shifted closer to his wife. “Miranda, darling, how are you feeling today?”

She smiled at him fondly, the little creases around her eyes crinkling with warmth and love and desire. “I am well, as you see.”

Her gaze returned to the picnic spread before them and he caught her hand gently before she could snag another bite. He brought her to her feet with a laugh. “Walk with me for a moment?”

She nodded and they strolled away from the guests. Kit slipped his arm around her back and she leaned against him with a sigh. “The party is going well. Your mother is even behaving herself and seems happy to leave me to manage things at last.”

“That’s good to know. I spoke to Acton this morning as Chris and I rode the boundary. He’s sent his sister to live in a house he owns in Bath so we don’t have to worry about seeing her even by chance. I did as you asked too and made sure he knew he was invited for dinner tomorrow night as well as tonight’s ball. He’s graciously accepted both. I wasn’t sure he’d want to come.”

“I am glad. He seems keen to make amends if the birthday gift he sent Christopher is any indication.” She shook her head. “I cannot believe he sent a horse.”

“Acton never does anything halfway. The animal is well trained for an inexperienced rider to manage. I think he wanted to prove to you that he remains our friend despite his sister’s lies. I didn’t have the heart not to accept. Chris seemed so very keen on the animal.” He stopped beneath a shady tree and caught both her hands in his. As he looked down into her face, all the love he’d known in his life built and built. “Do you remember before we married that I suspected you were carrying our child?”

Her gaze narrowed but then she smiled at the memory. “I remember you were so certain about everything. You were proved right in the end, weren’t you?”

“I’m not worried about who was right or not, now.” He tightened his grip on her hands. “We have been intimate more times than I can count, and you have not turned me away from your bed since your return.”

She blinked slowly, then her eyes widened a touch. “I haven’t needed to, have I?”

“No. Miranda, I wonder if we are having another babe.”

She took a step backward and Kit followed, irrational panic filling him that she might run away at the very idea. Yet the only sound she made was soft and unformed. She shook her head. “I’m sure there’s an explanation.”

He’d discreetly queried her doctor about the risks of a pregnancy some months ago and had been assured that there was no way to tell how her heart would bear the strain. He’d been advised to keep her calm and rested and content. He would always do his best to make that happen, but a second child would be a blessing and he couldn’t help but be hopeful. He grinned. “You just ate pork and licked your fingers afterward.”