“It did seem that way,” she said cautiously.
“Even now, Pitney is working hard to find proof of his wrongdoing.” He shook his head. “That’s not right if Yates isn’t actually in the wrong. What skeletons mighthehave in his closet that Pitney will unveil, perhaps skeletons that have naught to do with why he wants custody? What if all this time he’s simply been doing what my parents told him to do because they had no faith inme?”
“It is possible, I suppose.”
“I have to know the truth, Giselle. If hehasbeen looting the boys’ inheritance, then I’ll fight him tooth and nail. But if he hasn’t—”
“You would give up custody?”
“No! Yes. I don’t know. I’ll cross that bridge after I talk to him.” He leaned forward to rest his elbows on his thighs. “But I have to know why he’s fighting me. Because there’s one other dangerous possibility that could harm more people than just me. What if Pitney cornering Yates pushes my cousin into revealingthe truth about Zack to the court or the press? I can’t let that happen to the lad.”
“Or to Lily, for that matter,” Giselle pointed out.
He lifted an eyebrow. “I’m shocked you care what happens to Lily, given that the woman insulted you more than once.”
“I merely understand what it is like to feel trapped, to seek an escape from the plans your family made for you. In that respect, I sympathize with her.” She sighed. “Even if shewastoo stupid to see how lucky she was to have your love.”
“I don’t know how lucky she was,” Heathbrook said ruefully. “She ended up having a child she had to pass off as some other woman’s. I misjudged her completely. As you said, she was trapped and did the only thing a woman of her station could do who found herself with child and without a husband to claim the babe. She let my mother lead her.”
“True,” Giselle said, though she looked momentarily discomfited by his answer.
“Not that it changes anything,” he said hastily. “It doesn’t change my feelings for you in the least. But it does lessen my anger toward her. Given the circumstances, she did the only thing she could, I suppose. And perhaps Yates did as well. But I can’t know until I talk to him.”
“So, why are you telling me all this?”
He dug his fingers into his knees. “Because I need to ask you for a favor. A rather big one.”
“Oh?” she said warily.
“I’m going to London. And if I leave tonight, I can be there by midday tomorrow. Yates is still in the city, trying to gain custody through legal means, so it’s better if I catch him there. Otherwise, I’ll have to go all the way to Broadstairs.”
“Then what is the favor?”
“I’d like you to look after the boys while I’m gone.” When she blinked at him, he added hastily, “You needn’t worry about Jones—I’ll have men posted at every corner of the estate. That’s assuming he even knows where the estate is, which he doesn’t seem to, since he hasn’t tried to reach you out here.”
She marched up to him, her eyes ablaze. “I am not worried about Jones. I am worried about theboys. Zack needs you hereright now. What if he tells Evan and Kit the truth? What if … what if I am not good at looking after them?”
Uttering a self-deprecating laugh, he pulled her down onto his lap. “Thus far, you have been better at looking after them than I have been. Zack adores you, Kit fought Jones for you, and even Evan has softened toward you to an astonishing degree. I’m much more worried I’ll come home to find them ready to tossmeout rather than risk me harming a hair on your head.”
“That is very sweet of you to say.” She shook her head. “But what about Maman? Is she allowed to know about Zack? And I cannot let her go into Bath alone, so—”
“I’ll be back long before she needs her next trip into Bath. No more than two days.”
“You cannot be sure of that,” she murmured, clearly worried. “Anything might happen.”
“I’m asking only for what I know you can handle,” he said, cupping her cheek in his hand. “Because so far you’ve proven you can handle quite a lot.”
She pressed a kiss into his palm. “We could all go with you.”
“No,” he said firmly. “The boys have been uprooted too much as it is. Besides, I like the idea of coming home to you, knowing you will be here waiting.” If she was in London, she could choose not to come back, after all. “It gives me the strength to face whatever I must with Yates. So, will you do it? Take care of the boys while I’m gone?”
That enigmatic smile of hers crossed her lips. “Whatever you wish, Lord Heathbrook.”
“Don’t say that if you don’t mean it,” he growled, and looped his arm about her waist to hold her fast. “Because at the moment I wish only one thing—not to spend time discussing this when I can be making love to you instead. Now. Here.”
“In your study?” she protested.
“Right here on this marquise.”