Page 35 of A Love to Remember
No one won in a gambling hell—except the house. “How much do you owe him?”
Maxwell lifted his head and distress joined with shame. “Th-three thousand pounds.”
Philip breathed deep. Three thousand was a lot of money but, thanks to Maitland’s tutoring and investment advice, not enough to cause the family any harm. “I’ll take care of it. But in return you will promise never to return to Foster’s, and also to cut Farquhar loose. The man is using you. Foster pays him to lure young fools to his den and then fleece them of their coin.”
“Thank you. And I promise. But—” Maxwell hesitated. Flushed.
“There’s something else?” Philip asked, holding his breath.
His brother nodded. “A woman.”
Philip cursed. There was always a woman.Please do not say she is with child.
“She works at the den.” Maxwell spoke quickly. “Her name’s Faith. He hurts her, Philip, and she doesn’t want to be there.”
The child with the bruises? “Are you in love with her?”
Maxwell shook his head. “No, no, it’s not like that. I—I feel sorry for her. I promised I’d get her enough money to leave. You see? That’s why Ihadto win. I also went to ensure she was not hurt—or hurt more than usual.”
Philip sat forward and leaned his elbows on his knees. The boy had a soft heart and a softer head. “She could be fleecing you, too.”
“I don’t think so. She wants to leave so badly that one night when I had ventured upstairs with one of the ladies, I caught her trying to jump from the top floor of the house. I have to help her, Philip. I promised.”
“Then you shall.” Philip’s mouth firmed. “We’ll go first thing in the morning, pay your debt, and remove Faith from the premises. If she truly wants to leave such a life there are jobs in Flagstaff Castle.”
“Thank you.” Maxwell let his head rest back on the chair and closed his eyes. “I am sorry, Philip. I should have confided in you sooner. I would not have lost so much money.”
Money they could replace. Life they could not. “Remember that next time you’re in the suds, and don’t wait so long. Come to me before your problems get so big you can’t see a way out. The cost of trying to do everything on your own is high.” He got to his feet, walked over to his brother, and placed a friendly hand on his shoulder. “Now get some sleep. We have an early start, and a long day tomorrow.”
He was almost at the door when Maxwell spoke. “Robert would be proud of you, Philip. You’ve become a wise and honorable earl.”
His body tensed as guilt rose up to choke him. “I’d rather Robert were in my place, as he should have been.”
“But he’s not,” Maxwell said. “And the family’s lucky to have you to fill his shoes. Thank you.”
Philip closed his eyes against the pain. “I don’t deserve your praise.” Or his thanks. “Robert’s shoes are hard to fill, and duty is not something to take lightly.”
“I know. I will come to you in the future if I get out of my depth. I promise I shall swallow my pride.”
Philip believed him. “Yes, I’m sure you will.” He wished he had sought out help.
With that he left the room and went to get some sleep.
Your Grace,
I thought you might wish to know that Lord Cumberland has indeed moved on. He was seen this morning paying for a young prostitute named Faith. He took her into his carriage and then he departed London for his estates. Faith is with him.
As stated, a man never goes back for leftovers.
Lord Tremain.
Rose screwed up the note, wishing it were Tremain’s neck instead of paper. He would have taken great pleasure in imagining her hurt at such news—and his newsdidhurt. The words stabbed like knives and made her heart bleed. Yet she refused to believe them. Philip would not have moved on so quickly and surely he would never take a woman like this home to Flagstaff Castle.
Even if he had, she refused to cry. She had to accept that what Philip did was now his business alone. He’d made that quite clear by simply walking out on her. However, he would not take a prostitute to his estate in Devon with the family in residence, although he might put her in a cottage on the estate.
She squared her shoulders, walked to the fire, and tossed the note into the flames. Then she returned to her writing desk and finished writing her Christmas cards.
In the morning they would leave for Cornwall. She would spend the two weeks before the New Year thinking about what she could do to bring Philip to his senses.
