Page 94 of Beyond Scandal and Desire
“At least tell me about my mother,” Mick demanded.
Coming to a halt, the duke glanced back over his shoulder. “She was the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen, the gentlest, kindest woman I’ve ever known. I fell in love with her on the spot. I’m ashamed to admit it, but I miss her terribly.”
“Was she as anxious to be rid of me as you were? Or did she beg to be allowed to keep me? Did you tear me from her arms or did she willingly hand me over?”
“Nothing is to be gained, Mr. Trewlove, by going into the past.”
Then he turned on his heel and walked out.
Mick Trewlove was his son. When he strode into that office, the realization had nearly dropped him to his knees. It had taken every ounce of strength and resolve within him to give nothing away, to show no recognition, no acknowledgment of the truth. Even now he fought desperately to maintain a cool facade. If he lost it, he feared he’d never regain it. For Bella’s sake, he ignored the crushing sensation in his chest and stared out the window as the coach rattled along.
“I can only guess at his age. I put him a few years older than I. Were you married to my mother when he was born?”
“Pardon?” He swung his gaze over to the son who had brought them to this moment with his recklessness. He’d never gotten over the guilt he’d felt at taking the babe to the Widow Trewlove, and so he’d indulged Kip when he should have taken a much firmer hand with him.
“Were you unfaithful to my mother?” Kip asked, disgust evident in his voice. How could he blame him? It seemed he was destined to betray his sons.
“I will not discuss this with you any more than I’ll discuss it with him. The past is the past. We must move beyond it.”
“Where is the harm in allowing him to call on Aslyn? She fancies him.”
“He is not for her.”
“But he will see me destroyed.”
“We have the weight of my title and the influence of our name. We will not fall easily.”
“But why risk falling at all?”
“I’ll not be extorted. Nor will I allow Aslyn to be used in so crass a manner, for another man’s purposes.”
He turned his attention back to the window, more determined than ever to protect Bella from the truth.
“Is that your doll?”
Aslyn looked up from where she sat on the grass in a secluded corner of the gardens, holding the rag doll Charles Beckwith had given her when he’d brought news to the house of her parents’ death. “Mind your own affairs.”
Kip sat beside her. “I always thought it the most hideous thing in your possession. Gave me nightmares.”
“Brings me comfort.” When she was in sore need of some. She’d spent the morning bouncing from raging anger to profound sadness. She’d thought she’d found something special with Mick. Someone who understood her. Someone who loved her for herself, not gain.
“I haven’t done that much of late, have I?”
“No.”
“I mucked things up.”
“Yes, you did.”
“I can always count on you to be forthright.” He sighed. “We’re not going to make a go of it, you and I, are we?”
“No.”
“Even without Trewlove in the picture?”
Plucking at some stray threads on the doll’s dress, she shook her head.
“We met with him, Father and I.”
