be taken from me and given away to an orphanage or a baby farm. I…I could not bear it, so I ran.”
To me.
“I ran to you,” she whispered as if she had read his thoughts.
Suddenly aware that every emotion of his might be revealed on his face, he schooled his expression into an indifferent mask.
“I know our union is improbable; I only ask that you keep my confidence and do not alert my family that I am here.”
She glanced longingly at the bed, and when she stepped away, she swayed. He lunged and grasped her elbows gently, causing her to lean against him slightly. Unexpected desire skittered across Hugh’s nerve endings, and he released her immediately but hovered close. She sucked in a sharp breath and glanced up at him. The beauty of her eyes stole his reasoning for precious moments. Hugh scowled, and with a soft gasp, she stepped further away.
“I’ll only need a few days to rest before I leave your home. Once again, I am dreadfully sorry to have importuned upon your household.”
He nodded once. A yawn seemed to catch her by surprise, and she flushed. Her lovely face was then suffused with exhaustion, and another wide yawn escaped from her. Hugh waved toward the bed. A pulse of tenderness swept through him, and he frowned at the oddity of it. He wanted to give her some words of reassurance, but he could not.
He sketched a bow and made his way from the room. Hugh could not dismiss Lady Phoebe’s fear and hurt from his mind. Somehow her desperation and pain clawed its way deep inside him and hooked itself.
What am I to do about you, Lady Phoebe, what am I to do?
Chapter Five
Late into the darkest hours of the night, Phoebe lay on the bed, unable to sleep. All she could hear was the rain beating against the windows, the howl of the wind, and the sharp crackle from the roaring fireplace. Surrounded by warmth and luxurious elegance, yet she felt so alone and out of place. She was exhausted from trying to find another solution to save her baby. Now that she was in Scotland, it would take a few weeks of traveling to reach her aunt in Cornwall. She was also certain her mother would expect Phoebe to attempt to travel there.
When she’d overheard her mother planning to transport her away from society to a remote area in Lincolnshire, the duchess’s tone had been icy and emotionless. Phoebe suspected her mother had not informed Papa of his daughter’s circumstances, for surely, she would have endured his wrath if so. No, the duchess had planned to deal with Phoebe on her own. The memory of how cruel her mother sounded as she informed whomever she had met with in the study still had the power to make Phoebe nauseated.
“Take her to the countryside and ensure she is guarded stringently. She is not to be allowed any letters, nor should any be posted for her. There must be no visitors, and under no circumstances must the neighbors know with which family she is connected. I will trust her in your care, and when the child is born, you must take it away immediately, and only then I am to be notified this sorry mess is over with.”
It was very fortunate that Sarah and the young coachman had a tendre for each other. It was her maidservant who had arranged for her beau to take one of the family’s carriages in the dead of night so they could make their escape. The duke and duchess had been at a ball, and she had left letters for them, hoping they could accept her determination to protect the life of her child. She had implied in her letters that she would assume widowhood in France. It was only to Richard she had hinted that she would reside in Scotland without imparting any specifics.
The dread she had felt then settled over her now like a smothering blanket. Her throat clogged, and with a scowl, she pushed aside the feelings. Grasping the heavy sheets, she flung them aside in one swift movement and took her time in rising from the bed. She rested a hand on her rounded stomach. “What am I to do now?”
Phoebe hadn’t even dared think to inform George of the consequences of her recklessness. It had been four months since he accepted his twenty thousand pounds from her father and departed her life. During those months, any