Page 93 of As the Earl Likes
Epilogue
Jo walked nervously into Henlow House when they arrived from Weston. Though she’d been here once before—for the betrothal ball—it felt quite different now that she knew she would live here, at least temporarily.
Percy, the butler, greeted them. He bowed to Jo, so that she could see the top of his head was quite shiny. “We are delighted to welcome you to Henlow House, my lady.”
Jo was still growing used to hearing that. She glanced over at Sheff beside her, who gave her an encouraging smile.
Retainers began filing into the hall, and the next half hour was spent meeting each one, including the maid who’d been assigned to assist Jo. The idea of a ladies’ maid was completely foreign, but Jo understood that she would have better success if she assumed all the trappings of being a countess. If she eschewed a maid, people would find out, and it would not help her standing.
When they’d finished, the butler informed them that the duke was awaiting their arrival in the study. Sheff indicated which way to go.
“I’ve been to the study,” Jo said. “Remember the betrothal ball when I found you there?”
“I do indeed. This will be the first time I share that space with my father since I had his valet and a footman practically carry him upstairs. I do wonder if my days of rescuing him are over. I hope so.”
She smiled at him as she took his arm. “I hope so too.”
He sent her a mischievous look. “That was a very arousing interlude we had in the study. I was desperate to kiss you that night. Every night since I proposed to you, really. No, before that. I think I wanted to kiss you the night I had to drag my father from the Siren’s Call. That was the first time I realized I was attracted to you.”
She snapped her gaze to his. “Really? That was when I first felt attracted to you.”
Sheff laughed. “There must have been some magic in the air.” He sobered, but his eyes still held a glow of mirth. “Do not tell my father, or he will try to take credit.”
“Never,” Jo whispered as they arrived at the study.
“Come in!” The duke beckoned, grinning. “Welcome, Lady Shefford. You have already brightened the room, and I can see you have completely transformed my son.”
“For the better, I hope,” she said.
There was an awkward beat as the duke moved toward her. He hesitated. “Is it permissible to hug you?”
“Yes.” Jo found she could not discount the irony of embracing this man who’d been a one-time lover of her mother’s. She would put that from her mind going forward.
The duke stepped back and clapped Sheff on the shoulder.
“We’ve something to tell you,” Sheff said. “Let us sit.” He guided Jo to a settee, and the duke took a chair opposite them.
“I think I know,” he said shrewdly. “You’re expecting a child.”
Jo exchanged a look with Sheff and held back a laugh. “Well, yes,” Sheff said with a charming lopsided smile. “But that is not what we wanted to discuss.”
The duke slapped his thigh. “I was joking!” He laughed, then shook his head. “Well done, my boy. I knew you’d provide an heir. You just needed to do so in your own time.” He did not seem to care that the child had obviously been conceived prior to their marriage.
Jo hoped he wouldn’t say anything, but doubted he would. The same could not be said of her father, and for that reason, they had not yet told him she was carrying.
“The conversation we need to have does concern a child, though she is now a grown woman,” Sheff said. He turned to Jo. “You tell him, my love. She’s your relation.”
Deep lines were etched into the duke’s brow, but he didn’t say anything. He watched Jo expectantly.
“My mother told me of the duchess’s affair,” Jo said gently. “She knew of it because the liaison was with my father.”
The duke’s eyes rounded. “Damn me. I’d no idea. That makes Ellis your sister. Half sister, anyway.”
“Yes,” Jo said, smoothing her hands over her lap. “We did not tell her or my father when we were together in Weston. We wanted to talk with you first.”
“About how best to proceed,” Sheff added. “Mother is going to be furious to have all this brought up. But Jo and I feel strongly that Ellis needs to hear the truth.”
“I agree.” The duke’s expression grew sad for a moment. “I have been thinking a great deal about how I’ve allowed your mother to treat Ellis. I should not have permitted it. The duchess now knows she is no longer welcome here at Henlow House, and she’s to use the dower house at Beacon Park when she is in residence there.”
