Page 18 of His Duchess of Scandal
Stepping back further, he eyed his servants narrowly.
“Dismissed,” he muttered.
Then, he strode out of the parlor and headed right to Phoebe’s room.
He knocked twice on the door and pushed it open to find her sitting on the window seat, looking out at the front courtyard.
She turned to him, staring for a moment before looking away.
Sometimes he saw so much of himself in Phoebe that it ached; she could be solemn at times, and mischievous just as often.
“Phoebe.” He made sure to keep his voice low and even.
“Papa,” she responded.
Finally, he saw that wicked smile on her face, the one he loved, even if he knew it spelled trouble.
“How are you today?”
So, this is how she will play it.
He knew from experience that Phoebe likely already knew about him questioning his staff. His daughter had a crafty way of overhearing things he thought were safe from her young ears.
“I am troubled,” he said carefully. “How are you?”
“I am fine.Bored. But what can I expect when I am locked in my tower?”
“Tower,” he mused, smiling. “Has Miss Ternan been reading fairytales to you again?”
Phoebe nodded.
“Is that how you feel? That you are locked in here, waiting to be saved?”
“I do not need to be saved,” she mumbled. “I just need to get out.”
“I know,” Charles murmured.
He took a step closer to her.
Sometimes, his daughter behaved like a spooked animal. The closer he got, the quicker she would bolt if he left a door open behind him.
He never closed her chamber door behind him. It seemed too much, too invasive of her space.
Yet he saw her eyes flick to the open door.
“You must be upset with me,” he added.
Hoping she would admit out of guilt what she had done, he dared to test his questioning.
With Phoebe, it was easier to keep his temper in check, for she regarded him with those big, dark blue eyes—the same as his—and he questioned…
Who was he to scold a little girl who had lost so much?
“No, Papa,” she said, her voice too sweet, too innocent, for the mischievous girl she was. “Not at all. I understand perfectly why I am in here.”
That gave him pause.
She never conceded like this. She was trying to sweeten his suspicions by agreeing that grounding her was the right decision.
