Page 23 of The Duke's Wicked Widow
“Again, woman, we might share blood but he is no’ my—”
“Apologies.” She finally met his gaze. “My brother-in-law Jasper, as the heir presumptive, will take my husband’s courtesy title of Viscount Cumnock.”
Fawkes sneered. “And ye are unwilling to allow that to happen. Hence the attempt to cheat the puir bastard with a bastard of yer own.”
Ellie’s jaw worked, as if she was trying to find something to say. Finally, something like tears sparkling in the depths of her dark eyes, she admitted, “I do not want Merida—or myself—to be tossed to the street. If my father was still alive I might have someplace to go, but my uncle has not yet returned to take the Bonkinbone title, and as I do not think I could live with him…”
Her words had turned to a dull roar after that one, direct slash to his chest.
If my father was still alive.
But he wasn’t, was he?
Because of Fawkes.
Her father.
For months, under the guise of providing medicines, he’d fulfilled his contract by providing Bonkinbone not with life-saving medicine the man had thought he was getting but a slow-acting poison. The arsehole finally succumbed, ensuring Fawkes’s mother’s safety, andnot oncehad Fawkes given thought to how Bonkinbone’s family would react.
Christ,was ithisfault Ellie was so desperate?
“I know you might think me selfish, Fawkes—Mr. MacMillan—but I thought this would be our best hope.”
We. She’d saidwe.Who…? Och, aye. “Who’s Merida?” he asked hoarsely, still staring unseeing into his glass.
“My husband’s daughter. Natural daughter.” Ellie moved her hands as if at a loss, then settled them against the hollow at the base of her throat. “Rufus cared for her, as do I. But his family has made it clear they intend to turn her out. She…” When she took a deep breath, her small breasts pressed against the blouse she wore, far too thin for the harsh weather outside. “She is in the carriage even now. I cannot afford to leave her alone in the house, not until my place is secure.”
Well, hell. There was a child involved?
Fawkes shook his head, feeling more and more like a cad for calling her selfish. Her husband was dead, her father dead at Fawkes’s own hands, and an innocent child… “Ye have a sister.” His head snapped up. “An older sister, married to a duke.”
One he knew well.
“Yes, but she is nearing her confinement. I expect to hear from her daily. I would turn to her if I havenoother choice, but I want to secure a home—aplace—for Merida.” She shrugged, somewhat awkwardly. “And my sister’s husband, the duke, is well-known to not enjoy the company of others.”
A bloody recluse, is what she meant.
Demon Hayle, now unexpectedly the Duke of Lickwick, had been one of Blackrose’s agents as well, until the firebomb which had scarred him so badly had taken him out of commission. Fawkes had worked with him on several occasions and knew the man had recognized him over the summer, at Effinghell House.
Damnation, it wasn’t as if Fawkes had hidden from his past, but he didn’t expect to have it constantly tossed in his face, did he?
His best friend from school, Effinghell, was married to a woman whose brother was one of Blackrose’s agents.
She—Olivia—was working with Demon and Thorne—whom Fawkes had met through Effinghell to bring down Blackrose. They’d concocted a scheme to poison Bonkinbone and lure Blackrose back to England, little realizing Fawkes was doing the same thing.
And now Ellie—Bonkinbone’s daughter and Demon’s sister-in-law—had shown up on Fawkes’s doorstep.
If he’d had a doorstep.
Christ, this was fooking confusing.
If he had to explain it to someone, their eyes would likely glaze over, or askWho in the hell is who?or wish they’d read the Letter to the Reader published before this whole thing had started…
Briefly, he remembered a line from one of Shakespeare’s plays:If this were played upon a stage, I would condemn it as improbable fiction.
Aye, that sounded about right.
“So ye cannae go to yer sister,” he admitted with a sigh. “Demon would scare even the stoutest of men, and moreso when Georgia’s about to birth his bairn. Nae other siblings. So this is yer only option?”
