The Defiant Wife (The Three Mrs #2) - Jess Michaels Page 0,65
said with a small smile. “It allows me to practice for the future, for when Owen and I have our own children.”
Pippa smiled. Celeste deserved this happiness, this future. “That settles it then. Abigail and I will do the work on the ground to find Rosie. And Celeste will help us plan and be there for Kenley while we search.”
Celeste still seemed uncertain, but she nodded.
“Very good,” Abigail said. “And how do you suggest we find Rosie?”
“Well, we know where she stayed before,” Pippa said. “And where she worked. We could start there.”
Abigail nodded. “I’ll get some paper and we can work out some of the details while we finish our dessert.”
She left the room, and Pippa and Celeste retook their seats. Celeste was staring at her.
“What do you want to say?” Pippa asked.
Celeste shrugged. “If you manage to connect with Rosie, if you get her to talk to you rather than want to fight what she fears you’ll do…what do you want her to say?”
“I just want to know her…her motivations in staying in London rather than doing what is best for her and leaving. I want to know what she’ll do next in regard to Kenley.”
“Would you let her see him if that was her desire?”
Pippa swallowed hard. “She’s his mother. Does she not have a right to see him? Does he not have a right to know her?”
Celeste pondered that. “It’s hard for me to answer, given our history with the woman. I can see how she was used by Erasmus, as everyone in his life was used by him. But I also know she went along with a great many of his crimes.”
“Perhaps when I see her, it will be easier to know the answer,” Pippa said. “I hope it will be.”
Abigail returned to the room, paper and charcoal pencils in hand. She handed out the items, and as they ate their dessert, they did exactly as she’d suggested. They created a plan to find and speak to the woman who had betrayed Phillipa beneath her very nose. The woman who had given her the child she loved more than anything.
Pippa only hoped that by the time she found her, she would know what to do.
Chapter 19
Rhys was glad he could depend on one thing in his topsy-turvy life: when he called for the Duke of Gilmore, his friend always came. Even when it was directly from the road after his return from Cornwall, where he’d been visiting his sister the last week.
But Gilmore was here now, and as Rhys entered the parlor, the duke got to his feet and smiled. “Good morning.”
“Good morning,” Rhys said, extending a hand. “Sorry to call you here just as you were arriving home.”
Gilmore shrugged. “What’s sleep when there are such friends to be had? Though I admit I was surprised to have your missive waiting for me when I arrived this morning. Is everything well?”
“Not at all,” Rhys said with a laugh. “I’ve been banned from my club, invitations to long-planned parties have been rescinded. I would say I have been shunned by about half our social circle.”
Gilmore let out his breath in a low whistle. “Christ. That’s terrible, Leighton. Is there something I can do? I could speak to Samson and Williams at the club.”
Rhys shook his head. “And sully your own good name? The fact you’re remaining at my side will do that enough. No, I’ve had an invitation from Fitzhugh’s to join their ranks, so I suppose I’ll make the switch.”
“Fitzhugh’s is a good club,” Gilmore said. “Sounds a good deal more interesting than the old one, at any rate.”
“Indeed.” Rhys laughed. “Should I try to get you an invitation, as well?”
Gilmore snorted. “That would be very kind. But I doubt you called me here to discuss clubs and social issues. We both knew this would likely happen.”
“Sadly, yes. My social demise was sealed the moment my brother took his second wife.” Rhys dropped his gaze to the floor beneath his feet. “And I suppose that is why I asked you here.”
“Ah.” Gilmore motioned him over to the chairs before the fire and retook the one he had abandoned upon Rhys’s entry to the room. “Then it is about the lovely Pippa. I wondered when we’d talk about that subject.”
“You knew we would?” Rhys asked, and his surprise was genuine.
Gilmore laughed. “From the first time I saw you with the woman, it was evident you were attracted to her and she to you.”