Page 45 of An Accidental Bride for the Duke
Iris could not help but smile at that.I am… a part of this family. My family, as it is.
“You know that I am Philip’s half-brother?” he started.
She considered. “I… I assumed as much, yes.”
He nodded. “It is a touchy subject for Philip, and for good reason. My mother met my father when she was still married to Philip’s, just as she fell pregnant with me at the same time. Naturally, this caused a rift between Philip and our mother, and I don’t think he ever really forgave her.”
“Oh…”
“Which he hates himself for,” Percy noted. “She died two years after having me, by which point Philip’s father had passed away. And though he thought it was the right thing to spurn her for what she had done, as is the way with Philip, he also knew he should forgive her. And I like to think he wanted to, hating himself that he never got the chance.”
“That’s terrible,” she said with a gasp, her heart breaking at the thought. How strong Philip was, how confident and self-assured, to think that he had such sadness in his heart…it is no wonder he acts the way he does.
“It is,” Percy agreed. “And I like to think that is why he cared for me the way he did. I was two when our mother died, and where most would see it as a chance to spurn me, to turn their back and perhaps even send me away, Philip would not hear of it.” A smile touched his eyes. “He was good to me. Better than he ever had to be, and for that I will always be grateful.”
“I can see how much he loves you.”
He laughed softly. “No easy thing, either. You can imagine the outrage that my birth caused, and how it threatened to undo allthe work Philip’s father had done to secure the prestige of their name. Most in Philip’s position would have erred on the side of caution and denounced me. But that was never Philip.”
Iris considered that a moment.
Mostly, she thought about the way Philip had grown angry when she’d visited the village, and what he had said of them. He seemed to think they were nowhere near as kind as she thought, and now she wondered how they had acted when they’d learned of Philip’s birth.
It was no wonder he felt that way. And it was no wonder he had been so furious with her.
Iris grimaced at the thought, feeling like an utter fool. Perhaps not her fault entirely, but it wasn’t Philip’s either.
“And that’s about all of it,” Percy sighed and clapped his hands together. “My wretched past and my brother, the white knight.” He laughed. “All that is to say that he isn’t nearly as bad as most seem to think.”
“No,” Iris agreed. “Not at all.”
By that point night had come, and with it so had darkness.
It started slowly, the sun setting so the sky changed from blue to light purple and then black. Iris and Percy found themselvesin the forest when it was so dark that Iris could hardly see more than a foot in front of her.
“This is not good,” she winced as she tripped on a fallen branch, stumbled, and scraped her face against a stick.
“Nonsense,” Percy laughed. He kept one arm linked through her own as he guided her. “I grew up here. I could walk this forest with my eyes closed.”
“We practically are.”
He laughed further. “My point proven exactly!”
They were forced to work slowly. One step at a time. And more than once, a stray branch caught on Iris’ dress and scratched her exposed skin. She was certain she looked a fright, and was it not for Percy she might have gotten lost in the forest, doomed to stay there until the next morning.
But Percy was cheerful. He joked often. And in less than thirty minutes they were breeching the forest so the moon above shone down on them and they could see the manor in the distance.
“And just in time for supper,” he cheered. “Shall we race?”
“You better not!” she warned him.
He just laughed and continued to lead her home. And it was home too. For a week now, Iris felt out of place, a stranger in the manor that she worried would never feel as if she belonged. But today had changed everything and for the first time she was looking forward to what tomorrow would bring.
Just as she was looking forward to seeing Philip. As he was surely looking forward to seeing her.
Chapter Fifteen
“There you are!” Philip cried from the top of the staircase. “Iris! Percy—where have you been!” His voice thundered as he hurried down the stairs and toward them.
