Page 60 of Wedded to the Beastly Duke
Emmeline frowned, struggling to comprehend that. Rickard, who had been so jovial and charming, so utterly meek compared to her fierce husband, was Adam’s brother? That seemed so incongruous with what she knew about them.
And yet, now that she considered Rickard’s face in this new light, she could see how perhaps it might have come about. There was a certain similarity in their faces, in the lines of their jaws, and the particular way they held themselves, as though preparing for the worst.
“How?” she asked softly.
“My father married his mother, by all accounts.” Adam’s shoulders slumped as though a weight bore down on them. “He said nothing about the family he had in England, and Rickard only found out recently when his mother died.”
“That must have been dreadful.”
“And so he made the journey down here but was unsure how to broach the subject.” Adam lay flat on his back, one arm curling around her waist, and ran his hand through his hair. “So now I must come to terms with the fact that not only was my father?—”
He pressed his lips together, but Emmeline remembered the sight of his bare back in the sunlight, and the marks on it. She had assumed those scars were from the Navy, but perhaps she was wrong and they had been from his father. That would explain Adam’s clear disdain for the man, and the discomfort he occasionally showed when he was in this house.
“Is this not a good thing?” she asked, reaching up and cupping his cheek, turning his face to hers. “You have gained a brother.”
“A half-brother.”
“Even so, that is one more than you had before. This is a chance for a new start, Adam. A chance for you to get to know him.” She smiled down at him, and he attempted to return the expression. “You have another member of your family.”
A brother lost and another brother found,she wanted to say, but that wound was too fresh for her to dare touch it.
Adam tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. “Your propensity to find the best in every situation never ceases to astonish me—even when there is nothing good to be found.”
“On the contrary,” she said brightly. “There is always good to be found.”
“Except for in me?”
“Adam.” She laughed, partly in shock at the wry note in his voice. “Do you truly think I see no good in you? When I am lying here in your arms instead of retreating to my room? You would have left me if I had insisted, would you not?”
His eyes searched hers. “I would have.”
“Is that not in itself proof that you are a better man than you are making yourself out to be?” She shook her head, a little impatient. “Enough of this nonsense, Adam. At least promise me you will consider getting to know Rickard. Learn who he is. Perhaps you may even learn to love him.”
“Do you believe that’s possible?” he asked, his gaze intent on hers. “That one may learn to love?”
She closed her eyes as she snuggled against him, listening to the sound of his heartbeat. “I think that is part of human nature,” she said softly, feeling the way his arm curled more securely around her. “We always find things to love, even if they are not what we thought they would be when we set out on this journey.”
Already sleepy, she did not hear his reply before drifting off to sleep.
* * *
Mindful of what Emmeline had told him, Adam did his best to connect with Rickard. His first step was to invite the man back to the house. Now that he was confident Rickard was not interested in seducing Emmeline—and their intimate exploits had caused a certain restlessness in him to sleep, too—he felt far more comfortable at the idea that Rickard had been under his roof.
He’d only ever had one brother, and despite being in the Navy, he had not had any close friendships there, either. Nicholas was the closest thing he had to a best friend, and even Nick had been closer to William.
As a result, when Rickard returned to the house, Adam was regrettably at a standstill. In his mind, all he could see was his father and his betrayal—a betrayal of such magnitude that he could hardly countenance it.
In the end, Emmeline was the one to smooth things over. Naturally, she was always the one to take steps to make him a better person.
“Rickard,” she said when the man entered the dining room.
It was like the way Adam had returned home all those weeks ago to find Rickard dining with his wife, although this time Rickard was the one returning.
They were both equally discomfited, it seemed.
“Adam has told me everything,” Emmeline said, extending a hand to Rickard, which he accepted with a look of muted relief.
Now that Adam knew the truth, he was beginning to interpret Rickard’s looks as stemming less from admiration but gratitude. Emmeline had made his life at the castle so much easier, and for that, he was grateful. This made sense, even if Adam had the ridiculous urge to tuck Emmeline away so no one else would be tempted to look at her with such warmth.
