Page 11 of My Lord, My Rogue
“Wiggy missed you, Mummy!” Oliver said, cackling between licks.
“Did you have a pleasant ride?” Aunt Violet asked.
“It was an interesting ride,” she responded, feeling a renewed sense of shame for her conduct toward her family and friends. It was as if they were all waiting for her. Her parents were surely not far . . .
“Daughter, would you join us?” her mother emerged from the dining room, as if reading her thoughts. “We are having luncheon. Oliver heard the door before we did and jumped from his seat to join you. He barely finished his meal.”
Honora smiled and leaned over to kiss her little man. “I try to take a ride at least twice a week, hoping to keep Biscuit exercised. That has been an agreeable thing about this self-imposed isolation. Biscuit has seen much of me. Usually, I stay close to the interior of the property, certain that I will avoid anyone seeing me. However, I unwittingly threw caution to the wind today . . .”
“What is it, Honora? Were there problems?” her father met them in the hall.
“Let me follow you back into the dining room. I have much to tell,” she said, unsure of how she would start this. She was dreading it, she realized.
“Perhaps we should go into the parlor and close the door,” Honora offered.
“What in the world? Who did you meet?” her aunt pressed.
“I will tell you, Aunt Violet. However, let me see to Oliver first.” She pulled the cord in the room’s corner and Bridget appeared.
“Yes, m’lady?”
“Bridget, would you mind taking Oliver and Riggs to the playroom for a few minutes? I will follow presently,” Honora asked.
Bridget smiled. “I never mind helping ye with this little man.” She turned to Oliver and Riggs. “Come along with me, Master Oliver.”
Honora watched them go upstairs before closing the doors to the parlor and then turning to face her family. She took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. “The Duke of Lancaster found me on my ride today.”
Ripples of shock crossed all three faces.
“What did he say?” Her aunt was the first to speak.
“He was with Lord Willington. They spotted me along the edge of the grove. I thought I lost them. However, they took another route and cut me off.”
“Tell us everything, daughter,” her Papa said, walking her to a chair. “Sit. This is likely to take more than a few minutes. I want to hear everything.”
Obeying her father, she took the yellow and white chintz-covered chair facing the white settee, where her aunt and mother took seats.
“He was angry, at first,” she heard herself say. “I explained I felt it had been a choice between the life of my child and staying with Lord Aster.”
“So, you told him of the abuse?” her aunt spoke up.
“Yes,” she said in a shaky voice. Reflexively, she reached up and hugged herself. “I had not expected such a meeting. It was probably better that way, for I would have never had the nerve to seek him out to apologize.”
“You told him of Oliver?” her mother questioned.
“I did. He wants to meet my son.” She had suppressed her emotions so long where Adam had been concerned, she had to fight against sudden giddiness. No one would have understood.
“So, he has forgiven you?” her father pressed.
“How did you know?” She nodded. “He said as much. He told me he was happily married to Evie . . . as it always should have been. Had it not been for my betrayal of my friend, this atrocity may never have occurred,” Honora added.
“Honora, no one grows up without making mistakes to learn by. If there was nothing to learn, I feel life would be very boring,” her father said. “You must forgive yourself. Your mother and I have always supported you in this.”
“At first, Papa, I was angry with you for not turning over the dowry. But I realize now, the money was only a temporary solution for my marriage. He gambled and had a mistress. It would not have lasted long enough to keep him from hurting me. I am sorry.”
“Do not be silly.” Her mother stood and put her arms around her. “You have every right to feel that way. I understand. Your father has always behaved honorably and put those he cared for first.”
“Indeed. We have never discussed this, but your mother and I quarreled over my decision. However, a man’s word is his bond. I did what I felt was right,” her father put in.
