Grey held out his hand to Joshua. “Just give me a chance to argue for your innocence.Andgive me your permission to make Beatrice my duchess.”
The word “duchess” seemed to sink in with her brother. He blew out a breath, then shook Grey’s hand. “If you’re lying to me, I swear it will be pistols at dawn.”
Grey nodded. “I would think less of you if it were otherwise.” He looked back at the bridge. “But please make it quick. And take a route where you won’t run into Sheridan and the constable.”
With a quick bob of his head, Joshua gathered his coat and hat. He waited while Beatrice went to send the maid home through the servants’ entrance, then fetched her bonnet and gloves. Once she was standing outside with Grey, Joshua locked the door. But he insisted on watching until she and Grey had crossed the bridge.
Turning to wave to him, she saw him head to where the horse and gig were kept. Only then did she let Grey take her past the road to Armitage Hall and onto the path through the woods.
She and Grey walked a few moments in silence. She was the first to speak. “Do you think this plan of yours will work?”
“For a while. And speaking of that, we should take our time returning to the hall, give him a chance to get away so he can reach Leicester before they do. But eventually he will have to talk to them. I’m just hoping I can convince them to accept your word concerning his alibi before that time comes.”
That made sense. They walked a little farther in silence.
“What did you whisper to my brother?” she finally ventured.
“I’ll get to that later,” he said mysteriously.
“Well, whatever it was, you convinced him to go. So thank you for that. And thank you for what you’re doing for him.”
“No need to thank me. I’m doing what’s right.”
She lifted an eyebrow at him. “You didn’t feel that way earlier today.”
“Actually, I did. I just didn’t want to admit it to myself.”
“Why not?”
He cast her a rueful smile. “Because, as my mother pointed out, deep down I wanted you all to myself. I guess I wanted you to choose me over him.”
“It wasn’t a contest, Grey,” she said irritably. “He was fighting for his life. I wanted you to help him, not hinder him. That’s all.”
“I realized that eventually.”
She stared at the ground. “I also wanted you to trust me.”
“I know. And I do. That’s why I came back to try and save him.”
He took her hand as they walked. It felt as much a declaration of his intentions as the one he’d made to Joshua, because anyone could come along and see them together. Apparently, he didn’t care.
But that didn’t resolve everything. Not by half. “I suppose you wanted me to choose you over Joshua because you felt your mother chose the rest of your family and your stepfather over you.”
“Something like that.” When she frowned at that obtuse reply, he added, “You said my mother did her best and yet I blame her. You were right. I did blame her. But I shouldn’t have.”
She lifted his gloved hand to her lips to kiss. “What do you blame your motherfor? What happened between you and your aunt and uncle, anyway?” Would he finally answer her on that score, too?
He frowned, as if trying to figure out how and where to begin.
Then he drew in a heavy breath. “First, I should explain a few things about my return to England. When Uncle Eustace came to fetch me in Prussia, I was rather excited to go with him. I knew I was heir to a great estate, and my real father was an important man. But my mother and stepfather treated me the way all decent parents treat their children—as simply one of the lot, no better or worse than the others. The five of us fought for their attention, as children will do. Yet when someone on the outside tried to hurt any one of us, we all stood together against them.”
“So, a typical family.”
“And a happy one, although I was too much a child to realize how lucky I was until my family was lost to me.” A shuddering sigh escaped him. “Anyway, at first, my aunt and uncle were kind. They indulged me, though I always sensed a sort of falseness in it.” His voice hardened. “I found out why on the day Uncle Eustace brought some papers and asked me to sign and seal them.”
She caught her breath. She could easily imagine the drastic consequences that might have resulted from that.
“He fully expected me just to follow his bidding. And when I told him I needed a few days to read them over, he probably thought I was merely pretending to know what I was doing.” He shook his head. “But my stepfather hadn’t raised a fool. While I was unfamiliar with most of the financial terms in them, my uncle had a fine library, so I availed myself of it until I could make out what the documents said.”
