Bow Street? Phaedra almost snorted.
“I didn’t steal the book.”
“But someone did. Who gave you those copies?”
Phaedra held her own. “As I said, we happened upon them.”
“Phaedra,” her father said, his face red with fury and frustration. “This is bloody serious.”
“Phaedra, dear, your father is right.”
Phaedra furrowed her brows. This was not the time for her mother to side with her father. “I am aware of that, but as I have said, the pages happened upon us.”
“How did they happen upon you?” her father asked. “InBond Street? By pigeon carrier?”
“Should we not leave the cross examination for Bow Street?”
Her father gave her an exasperated look. If Phaedra hadn’t been so exhausted, she’d have laughed.
“Shall I call Bow Street over myself to get to the bottom of this?”
“That’s enough, Robert.” Her mother’s voice turned whip sharp. “Leave our daughter be. You men have done enough.”
Finally.
Phaedra watched her father sputter for an answer, then settle for, “You men?”
“Our daughter has been the subject of ill-conceived wagers and I’m horrified you allowed that to happen. When you told me about the wagers you said nothing about a list of heiresses being the subject of mockery.”
“I had nothing to do with the list or wagers,” her father protested.
“Neither did you do anything about them,” her mother countered and lifted a copy of a page in the air. “Neither did you inform me Phaedra’s name had been part of this horrid list. Why, I’m shockedyoudidn’t steal that book and burn it to ash.”
Phaedra rather agreed.
“And before you say it’s club affairs,” her mother went on. “Let me remind you that there is nothing I won’t do for my daughter, and if you continue to badger her, I will walk out of this house with her if that is what it takes to make you see reason.”
The earl paled. “You will do no such thing!”
Phaedra paled too. The last thing she wanted was for her parents to separate because of her.
“Then do not test me, Robert.”
“What did you want me to do, Eleanor?” Her father said. “Rip the book to shreds? They would have produced another. By the time I learned our daughter’s name was plastered over the betting book, it was too late. The damage had been done.”
The countess squared her shoulders.
“Your daughter is standing right here.” Phaedra decided to intervene. She hated to admit it, but her father had a point as well. Those rogues would just have opened another book. They probably already had. While she was glad her mother stood by her, witnessing her mother and father argue did not bring Phaedra any satisfaction.
“While I would have handled matters differently, I do not fault Phaedra’s actions tonight,” the countess said.
The earl’s face turned solemn.
“You have raked our daughter over the coals long enough, Robert.” She turned to Phaedra. “Why don’t you go rest, dear? We shall speak in the morning.”
Phaedra didn’t want to leave, but neither did she want to fight anymore, so she reluctantly nodded, and with one last parting look at her family, she hurried off, but came to an abrupt halt when her aunt stepped out from the receiving room.
That wasn’t what caught Phaedra’s attention. Her aunt was not alone. Following in her wake was the man Phaedra had seen once before—quite naked. And there was no mistaking this was the man she had seen that night, nor what these two had been doing before they arrived.
