“The bleeding wasn’t just her menses?”
The man chuckled again. “She hasn’t had menses in several months, my lord.”
She’d gotten with child the one time they’d been together, before she’d left to go back to the land of the fae. And she’d known all this time and hadn’t told him. Not a word. She’d been pregnant, his child growing inside her, and she hadn’t told him.
“Thank you, sir,” Finn bit out. He pulled some banknotes from his pocket and pushed them into the man’s hand. “I’d appreciate your discretion in this matter.”
The physician saw himself out, and Finn felt like he couldn’t catch his breath. He couldn’t look at her without knowing he’d done this to her, and without remembering that she’d kept it from him all this time.
“I’m going to ask you once, Claire. And then I’ll never bring this matter up again.” He waited and then said very quietly, so only she could hear. “It’s mine, isn’t it?”
She nodded, biting her lip so hard he feared she would rend it in two. “That night, I got with child.” Her voice broke. “I had planned to tell you.”
“When?”
“As soon as I got up the nerve.”
“You have enough nerve to walk into danger, but you can’t tell me something like this?”
“I’m sorry,” she said, her voice a broken whisper.
Finn got up to leave the room. At the door he turned back to see Claire’s mother sit down on the side of the bed and pull Claire into her arms. Claire let her, and her mother was soothing her as he left the room, closing the door tightly behind himself.
A baby. Claire was increasing. She carried his child. A smile he couldn’t bite back tugged at his lips. A child. God, the idea of Claire growing big with his child… it was everything he’d ever dreamed of.
He was hurt that she hadn’t told him. But he knew now. And now he knew he couldn’t wait for the reading of the banns. He would get a special license and marry her tomorrow. Her father had wanted three weeks. But this would be a six-month pregnancy, if his addition was correct. She would deliver their child no more than six months after their marriage, if it took that long. Tongues would wag.
He grinned. Let them. Let them have their fun. He would have Claire. And they would have their child. And more on the way someday.
Finn poured a whiskey and tossed it back. The door to his study opened without a knock. “Are you angry?” Lady Ramsdale asked.
“Angry?” Finn said as he set his glass down. He was giddy with excitement. He strode quickly across the room and spun Lady Ramsdale around in a quick circle. “Are you bound for Bedlam? I’m going to be a father. I couldn’t be happier.”
Lady Ramsdale smiled as soon as she got over the shock of being spun around. “She’s afraid you’re angry at her.”
Anger was the last thing he felt. “I’ll go talk to her. I just needed a moment.”
She arched a brow at him. “And whiskey.”
“Where is your husband?”
“At Ramsdale House. Asleep.”
She knew. “You knew all along, didn’t you?”
“I had a feeling.” She went on to clarify, “Claire missed her menses for several months. Why do you think we stayed in the land of the fae so long?”
“Does your husband know?”
She shook her head. “No.”
“Do we have to tell him?”
She grinned. “I would suggest after the wedding.”
“Great idea.” He looked at her closely. She really was a lovely woman. And Claire did favor her. “Thank you for coming. You’re the only one she wanted.”
Her eyes welled with tears. “Thank you for telling me that.” Emotion choked her. “I’ll see myself out.”
Finn walked slowly back up the stairs. He opened the door to his bedchamber to find Claire had dozed off. Her face was blotchy and streaked with tears. He took off his clothes and slid beneath the counterpane with her. She stirred as he rolled her toward him. “Finn?” she asked, her voice groggy with sleep. And tears.
He pulled the counterpane lower and unbelted his dressing gown, which she still wore. In the low light of the room, he could see her looking down at him, as he looked at her no-longer-flat stomach. It was ever so slightly rounded. He ran his fingers over her flesh, which teemed with the life they’d created.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered.
He bent and placed his lips to her belly. Then moved up and kissed her lips just as softly. “I’m not,” he said.
Claire began to cry, softly this time, not the great wrenching sobs of the moments before. Finn rolled her to the side and pulled her back against him, until she fit him like two spoons in a drawer. He placed a hand on her belly, his son or daughter, and said, “Sleep, Claire.”
“You’re not angry at me?” she asked, her voice raw with emotion.
“Sleep, Claire.” He buried his face in her hair and breathed her in.
Twenty-Eight
Finn paced back and forth in front of his brother’s home, unsure of how to proceed. He’d never felt so out of sorts in all his life, and he’d been in some precarious situations before. In his head, he had three problems.
One—It was obvious that Mayden had set his sights on Claire. Mayden had known Claire played the part of Mrs. Abercrombie. Finn’s guess was that Colette herself had told him. They were acquaintances from way back, which was one of the many reasons Finn had stopped sleeping with her when he did. Then Colette had decided to impersonate Claire impersonating Mrs. Abercrombie, much to her misfortune. He’d used Colette as a warning to Finn. But the threat was still real.
Two—He needed to marry Claire sooner rather than later. Her father wouldn’t appreciate that. He would probably be spitting mad. But Finn didn’t want to wait two more weeks for the reading of the banns.
Three—He needed to confess that Claire was increasing and that it was his child. He wouldn’t have anyone assume anything else. He just couldn’t. He had to let everyone know that the baby was his, even if it would be a six-month pregnancy.
A voice rang out from the shrubbery. “Are you going to pace outside all day or knock on the door?” Ronald, the garden gnome, was in the bushes.
“Sod off, Ronald,” Finn grumbled.
Ronald stepped out of the foliage and grinned. “You’re all out of sorts. Anything the matter?”
“None of your concern,” Finn murmured.
“She’s my concern,” the gnome said.
“Who?” Finn asked as he paced by the small man and back.
“Claire. She’s like family to me. Don’t tell me she’s not my concern.” He straightened his back and puffed out his chest.
“Yes, yes, family,” Finn murmured.
The little man smiled an almost feral smile. “Wonder what has you out of sorts. Could it be that Claire is increasing?”
Finn stumbled to a halt. Ronald stood there scratching his chin, a challenge in his eyes if Finn had ever seen one. “If you were a bigger man, I’d call you out for that.”
“If you were a bigger man, she wouldn’t be pregnant.”
He couldn’t hit the gnome. It wouldn’t be a fair fight. But Finn could trip him when he wasn’t looking. Or stuff him in a barrel and roll him down a hill. Those ideas wouldn’t be very fair either. But the little devil would appreciate Finn’s trickery after the fact.
“Shut it, Ronald,” Finn said coldly. He went back to his pacing.
The little man sat down on the bottom step of the manor and rested his chin in his hands. He stopped talking and just regarded Finn with a cold eye. Finally, after a pause long enough to make Finn uncomfortable, he said, “When’s the wedding?”
“Not certain yet.”
“I hope it’s soon.”
“As do I.”
Ronald slapped his knee. “That’s
it. That’s why you’re so out of sorts.”
“I don’t know what you’re referring to.”
The gnome laughed loudly. “You’re afraid to tell her father. Not to mention your brother.”
“That’s not the case.” It was the case, but he’d be sent to hell and back rather than confess it to Ronald.
“You were asked to take care of her. And not for very long. And she came out of it pregnant.”
All right. So that was the problem. His honor was at stake. No matter that he was making it right. He would always be the man who’d taken advantage like an idiot and gotten her pregnant. Then didn’t make right on it when he should have. But she’d left, for goodness sake. She’d taken off in the dead of night and stayed gone for more than three months. He couldn’t change that fact, any more than he could change the fact that she’d be shamed in the eyes of society, all because of him.
Good God, what a muddle.
The front door opened and Wilkins stepped out. “My lord, His Grace insists that you come inside now.”
Robin knew he was there?
“Can I give you some advice, my lord?” Ronald asked quietly.
“If you must.”
“The damage is done. Stop acting like you’ll do more good by finding a likely story to explain it all.”
The gnome had a point. He was wearing himself out, not just with the pacing, but also with coming up with a good enough lie. He could tell them all the truth. And see how they thought it might be best to handle it. “Rightly so.”
Finn turned to walk into Robin’s house and went straight to Robin’s study. The duchess was there, and she sat on the edge of Robin’s desk facing him. Finn coughed into his hand, and she jumped from the edge of the desk and skirted around it, her cheeks pink and her eyes avoiding his. “Lord Phineas,” she said. “Good morning.”
“Yes, it is,” Finn said.
“Is everything all right?”
He heaved a sigh. “It will be.”
Sophia looked toward Robin, and he nodded his head at her. “I’ll leave you two alone,” she said.
“Thank you.” Finn tugged at his cravat.
“What’s the matter, Finn?” Robin asked as he sat down in the chair behind his desk.
“Claire is expecting my child,” Finn blurted. God, he was an idiot. He could have done that so much more smoothly.
Robin jumped to his feet. “What?” he yelled.
“Claire is increasing and it’s mine.”
Robin jerked Finn from the chair he was sitting in by the lapels of his coat. “Tell me you’re jesting.”
“Would I make light of such a thing?” Finn asked. He pried Robin’s hands from his clothing and set him back. It had been a long time since he’d tussled with his older brother, but he wasn’t above it. And he might even win.
Robin looked at him and growled. He sank back into the chair he’d vacated and dropped his face in his hands. “At least you’re already marrying her. In nine months, you’ll have an heir to your fortune.”
“It won’t actually be nine months,” Finn murmured.
Robin looked confused.
Finn rushed on. “Do you remember when you asked me to take care of her for you when you went to the land of the fae?”
“Yes,” Robin replied slowly, stretching the word out like a hiss through his teeth.
“We both had a little too much to drink that night, and… well… we were intimate.”
“You were.” Robin’s voice was monotone. And quiet. Much too quiet.
“Then when I woke up, she was gone.” He held up a hand to thwart Robin’s next complaint. “I scoured the roads between here and Bedfordshire. As she explained to me, she took the wind back to the land of the fae that night because her grandfather died.” He still didn’t understand that part. “Some kind of special transportation they have. They sent the wind to pick her up while I was sleeping.”
“Go on.”
“I looked everywhere for her, and then in one of your notes, you said that she was back in the land of the fae with her family. I couldn’t tell you about her, because, well, she’s your sister-in-law.”
“Yes, she is.”
“Then suddenly, she was here one night. She tumbled directly into my bedchamber.”
“Tumbled.”
“Tumbled. Right into my bedchamber.”
“And?”
A grin tugged at the corners of Finn’s lips. “And I was damned happy to see her.”
“Happy.”
Finn jumped to his feet. “Damn it, Robin, can you say something else and just stop repeating after me?”
“You don’t want to hear what I have to say.”
“Oh, I do.”
“You took advantage of an innocent lady.” Robin growled and withheld the rest of his speech.
“Those Thorne women,” Finn said, “they’re quite irresistible.”
“Apparently.”
“Don’t pretend you were a saint where Sophia was concerned.”
“Sophia wasn’t entrusted into my care, Finn,” he said. “And I was in love with her.”
Finn grinned. “So am I.”
Robin looked confused. “You’re in love with my wife?”
“I’m not in love with Sophia, you idiot. I’m in love with Claire.”
“Oh, yes, I remember you confessed that the other day.”
“So, my problem is that this is most assuredly going to be a six-month birth.” He did some math in his head. “And there’s no doubt the child is mine. I need to protect Claire from the tongues that will wag.”
“You’d have to take her out of the country to do that.”
That wasn’t a bad idea, actually. He could protect her from Mayden that way too.
“Her father is going to kill you. You might want to be out of the country so he won’t skin you alive. Her mother might boil you in oil.”
“I think that’s witches who do that. Not faeries.”
“Oh.”
“What do faeries do?”
“No idea. But I’d wager it’s hideous. And painful.”
Finn shrugged. “Her mother likes me. I saw her last night. She already knew about the pregnancy. Though she suggested that we not tell Ramsdale until after the wedding.”
“She already knew?”
“Yes, that’s why she stayed in the land of the fae so long. To help Claire sort things out.”
“I see.”
“We have another problem.”
“Don’t tell me Marcus is pregnant too. Because that will be three Thornes expecting.” Robin chuckled. It was good to hear his brother chuckle. He hadn’t done it for a very long time.
“No, it’s Mayden. He tried to kill Claire last night.”
“What?”
Finn went on to tell Robin what had happened the night before. By the time he was done, Robin was the one pacing the floor.
“So, what do we do?”
“How many of Mayden’s debts do you own? Enough to break him?” Robin asked.
Finn had started to buy up Mayden’s debts years ago, and the ones that Finn hadn’t bought, Robin had. The man owed more money than he would ever earn in ten lifetimes.
“I think it’s time to call in the debts,” Robin said grimly.
“Shall we pay him a visit?”
“I think it would be prudent.”
“Debtor’s prison would be a nice place for him to rot. I want to marry Claire. Do you think you could get a special license for me?”
“I think we should handle this with Mayden as the first priority,” Robin said. “Let’s get this settled, and by the time we’re done, two more weeks will have passed and you can be married by banns.”
Claire had to stay in bed and rest for a week anyway, per the doctor’s or
ders.
“Her father is probably going to hit you when he finds out, even if you’re married to her by then.”
“I don’t doubt it.”
“I would do the same for Anne.”
“Hell, I would do the same for Anne.” Finn repeated. He would. He loved his family, and he would love this child Claire was going to have.
***
Claire stretched wide beneath the counterpane as the sun filtered through the curtains and woke her. The sun was high in the sky, so she’d slept much longer than usual. The linens felt cool against her skin and she knew she’d been warm through the night with Finn wrapped around her. But now he was gone.
He hadn’t forgiven her when he’d come to bed. He’d just pulled her into his arms and murmured softly in her hair as she’d cried into the crook of his arm. But he’d held her and soothed her, and she’d finally exhausted herself and slept.
Did his being gone mean he was still angry at her? What if he didn’t want a fae child? She’d been so worried with the fear of having a human child that she hadn’t even considered that he might now fear having a fae child, one that could be taken from them if the circumstances weren’t just right.
He was in an impossible situation, and he had been in it since the day he’d met her. Guilt niggled at her conscience a bit as she reasoned with herself that this was all right. They would marry and they would have a child. Then they could move between the two worlds at will. She could continue to go on her missions, and he could continue to take care of his holdings, his investments, and manage his detective business.
She actually wanted to find out more about his business. As they’d lain there on the settee in the painting, he’d told her a little about his cases, but she’d fallen asleep in his lap before she’d heard much. Maybe over dinner tonight, she could ask him more questions.
Claire tossed the counterpane off and moved to get up. The physician had told her to stay in bed for at least a sennight. But certainly she could get up to use the chamber pot, couldn’t she? She took care of her personal needs and washed herself using his wash basin and a pitcher of cold water someone had left.