Page 86 of Enemies with an Earl
“My apologies,” he rushed out, chuckling awkwardly. He glanced between the two men, Felix looking at him with concern, Mr. Campbell shifting with clear discomfort. “This will sound inane, but I couldn’t help noticing how similar you both look. You could be taken for brothers. It took me aback.”
Mr. Campbell’s blue eyes widened, alarm glinting in their depths, and he abruptly shot to his feet. Sam’s jaw went slack for a second time. Holy shite. The man was as tall as Sam.As Sam. Sam was six foot bloody four. He supposed that was the Scottish lineage making an appearance. That was where Sam had gotten his height as well.
The lad laughed nervously, clasping his hands together awkwardly. “That is—” He glanced quickly at Felix. “Well, quite the compliment. I should be going.”
“Good morning, boys!” Lady Bentley’s sing-song greeting floated through the study. She swept into the room, blue eyes glowing as she smiled at them each in turn.
Which only had Sam frowning. High cheekbones. Slim, straight nose. Soft jawline. Sam had always thought it remarkable how Felix, Lady Bentley, and Felicity all looked like replicas of one another, albeit Felix and Felicity were fiery in color as opposed to their mother’s rose-gold. But glancing between Lady Bentley, Fee, and Mr. Campbell… There appeared to be a fourth replica.
“Is something amiss?” Lady Bentley’s soft-rose brows pinched together, her gaze raking over Mr. Campbell, who was twitching as though he wanted to flee from the room.
Felix smiled warmly at his mother, stepping around his desk to buss her on the cheek. “It’s nothing. Mr. Thorne had just made an amusing assessment—that Mr. Campbell and I look so alike we could pass as brothers.” Felix chuckled. “Not sure what he’s seeing, as I’m all amber and freckles, in contrast to Mr. Campbell’s jet-black hair and blue eyes.”
And now Lady Bentley’s eyes were owl wide. Her mouth opened, but all that came out was a soft “oh.”
Felix’s brows drew together, and he glanced between his mother’s and Mr. Campbell’s alarmed expressions. Felix laughed again, but this time it was uneasy. “Why has it become so awkward in here all of a sudden?” He glanced back at Sam. “It was just an inane comment, as you had said…”
Sam rolled his lips in and arched a brow.But was it?The stable master was Lady Bentley’s lover, a lover she’d had for a very long time… Sam wasn’t exactly sure how a woman could hide carrying a child, but the similarities were impossible to ignore.
“This is ridiculous,” Felix said, his smile wavering. “Mr. Campbell had a son when you met him, didn’t he, Mother?”
His mother pursed her lips, her gaze drifting away as she contemplated the question with furrowed brows…as though it wasn’t the simple question it was.
Felix’s mouth popped open at her silence, and he spun to face Mr. Campbell. “How old are you, Weston?”
Mr. Campbell’s eyes went even wider. He swallowed audibly. “E-eighteen.”
Felix spun back to his mother. “You had said—” He cut off, gaze going to the ceiling as he clearly racked his brain for something. “No, Father had told me.You can have a similar arrangement in your marriage as your mother and me. I came into the marriage with my Hannah, and your mother came to be with Mr. Campbell when you were eleven.”
He paused, doing the same math Sam was doing. Felix was two-and thirty, which meant…
“That’s one-and-twenty years,” Felix said weakly. “And Weston is only eighteen.”
Lady Bentley clapped her hands nervously—nearly identical to Mr. Campbell’s movement only a moment ago. Her gaze darted between the two boys—hertwo boys. “Oh dear.”
Felix’s mouth worked, no words forming. It was the first time Sam had seen the Earl of Bentley completely taken aback, the rug ripped right out from beneath his always steady feet. “How? I don’t understand.”
Felix glanced at Mr. Campbell, eyes scanning over the man like Felix was seeing him for the first time. He laughed—a bit hysterically—and Sam winced. “I mean, I would have known if you had a child. Even at… What? Thirteen? I would remember you being with…” His eyes flashed with realization, and he shook his head. “Oh my God. Oh. My. God.”
His mother winced. “Felix, darling. Perhaps you should sit down.”
“Oh my God.”
Sam didn’t know what was happening, but Felix’s breath was coming too fast, too shallow for Sam’s comfort. Sam wanted to reach for him, but there was a desk, a new brother, and a panicked mother in Sam’s way.
“You didn’t lose the child, did you?” Felix covered his mouth with his hand, shaking his head. “Father told us something had gone wrong. There were complications during the birth, and the child didn’t make it. And you were sent away to recover.” His gaze was glued to the floor, eyes searching, the memories seeming to unfold in his amber irises. Then his chin lifted, his gaze latching onto his mother. “We visited you,” he accused. “There was no child. You both said we’d lost our sibling.”
Lady Bentley’s welling blue eyes fluttered shut.
“You were gone for over a year. Father had said you’d fallen into a deep melancholy and needed some time at a special place in Bath.”
“We had to do it that way, Felix,” his mother said quietly.
He dropped his head in his hands and let out a pained growl.
“Felix, darling. Breathe. Please, sit. This is a shock. But I can explain. This was the only way for Weston to be raised by his own father. Otherwise, the world would recognize Weston as…”
Felix lifted his head. “As Father’s. And as soon as his jet-black hair was seen, everyone would know you’d cuckolded Father. The great Earl of Bentley, Frederick Jennings, couldneverbe cuckolded,” he said bitterly.
