Page 32 of The Moonstone Marquess
“I see.”
“No, it is not what you are thinking. It has nothing to do with my debauched or depraved ways. I’ve told you, I have done none of that since I met you.”
She cast him a dubious look. “All right. Let’s go back to the girls, and then we can take a walk while you tell me the situation.”
They returned to his nieces, and he took several minutes with each, listening to their thoughts about this day they had spent together and assuring them they would see him tomorrow as well. “You ducklings are more important to me than anything in the world.”
They hugged him in turn, then closed their eyes and fell asleep with smiles on their innocent faces.
“They love you so much,” Phoebe remarked as they returned downstairs and stepped outside to walk down to the beach. The sun set quite late at this time of year, so they had another hour or more before twilight was upon them.
Plenty of time for the two of them to talk.
They made their way down the sturdy wood steps and were soon on the beach. He offered his arm as they walked along the sand and was pleased when she did not hesitate to take it. “I think it is time I explained to you who those people are and why I need to ask another favor of you.”
She looked up at him. “Go on.”
“The one guestIinvited is Lord Richard Crawford, the new Earl of Crawford. His elder brother, James, was earl and one of my closest friends. When Napoleon began taking over Europe, James joined my regiment and fought alongside me for years. He was a good man, and at that time a viscount, since his father was frail but still alive. Of course, as eldest son and heir, he was not expected to serve in the army.”
“But neither were you. And yet you did.”
He nodded. “James and I were alike in this regard. We each had younger brothers who were gentle souls and scholars. This was my dread, that my brother, John, should go off to war and never return. He’s the father of my nieces. Quite intelligent and capable, but not a fighter. Some men simply are not meant to be on a battlefield. He would not have survived a month were he sent over to the Continent. James felt the same about his brother, Richard.”
Phoebe listened intently. “You said Richard is the only one you invited. Yet I saw others…a little too much of those others.”
He groaned, recalling the state of undress of the ladies Richard had brought along with him. “Yes, I am getting to that. When the old Earl of Crawford died, James returned home to assume the title. But he returned plagued with injuries that never healed properly. He struggled for years, but did a good job of managing the Crawford holdings until he died last month.”
She lightly placed her hand on his. “I’m so sorry.”
He nodded, liking her brief, soft touch. “Before he died, he sent for me. I hurried to his bedside because I knew at that point there was little time left. It was then he made me promise to look after his brother, help him settle in as the new earl. He also asked me to… Those women you saw…” He shook his head and sighed. “I don’t know any delicate way to put it. The new earl had no experience with women, so James begged me to invite a few along for the week.”
“I see.”
“They were for him, not for me. In truth, I do not know them very well. Richard and his companion, Lord Harding, are the ones who invited them.”
Although he had participated. This was what he had been doing the several nights before he and Phoebe met, encouraging the young lord to explore the opposite sex. He had been satisfying his own needs with those ladies as well.
Meaningless.
Not all that satisfying.
But he had been drinking and debauching along with everyone else.
He wasn’t proud of it now, wished he had behaved differently. But until Phoebe had come along, he was on a path of self-destruction and hellbent on crashing fast.
Phoebe was now frowning at him. “Those women might have been brought here for him, but will you deny your own participation in…whatever took place?”
“I do not deny it, nor will I apologize for what took place before meeting you. But I haven’t been near them since I set eyes on you.”
She laughed. “That was only yesterday.”
“I know.” He ran a hand roughly through his hair. “It feels as though I have known you far longer. You have been on my mind ever since Cain and Hen mentioned you to me shortly after I lost my arm.”
“But that was three years ago.”
He nodded. “Why do you think I purchased Squire Westgate’s manor? And here is a hint…I did not purchase it to be closer to Cain or to take in the healthier air in Moonstone Landing.”
She eyed him dubiously. “Are you suggesting you acquired it to be closer to me?”
