Page 77 of Sincerely, the Duke
Edwina thought she might pound his chest. Instead, she whispered, “I don’t care what she wants.”
Rick shook his head. “You don’t mean that, Edwina.”
“I do,” she said earnestly. Her heartbeat thrummed loudly in her chest and ears. Her shoulders were shaking. “I do mean it. I’m asking you to go with me to bring her back.”
A muscle twitched at the side of his mouth. He swayed again on his feet. A light film of sweat had developed on his forehead. She’d never seen him in such a condition before. Rick looked positively ill. Her father had told her that too much drink could cause a good man to do bad things, and now she knew what he meant.
“I can’t do that, Edwina,” he said softly.
“You will help my sister but not me.” She swallowed hard. “Very well. I will do it by myself,” she whispered on a winded gasp of despair that hurt all the way to her soul. Her shoulders straightened. “You don’t understand. Keeping my promise to my father means everything to me.”
“Oh, no, Edwina,” he answered on a broken, gusty chuckle. “I have always known how much that means to you. But you must recognize this: If she is old enough to marry, she is old enough to decide who she marries and when. I won’t force your or your father’s will on either of your sisters. It’s unfair you want to keep a vow that affects someone else’s life and happiness.”
Edwina held back a sob and glared at him hurtfully, with more anger than she thought possible for her to feel.
He was making too much sense for her condition. She didn’t want to hear it. Defying his claim, she argued, “She doesn’t know what she wants, and doesn’t know what’s best for her. I do. Since you won’t go after her, I will. If she can travel to Slough by herself, then so can I.”
Edwina turned to walk away, but Rick caught her upper arm, stopping her as she entered her room. She whirled. “You will stop me but not her?”
“You are my wife.” His voice flared. “She isn’t. You will remain here.”
“But she is your responsibility as much as I am. I trusted you to take care of her.”
“Which is why I sent her with the things she needed to keep her safe.”
Without thinking, she jerked her arm free from his grasp and blurted, “That does not fulfill your requirement to our arranged marriage.”
“Yours has not been met yet either, Edwina,” he answered sharply.
Edwina stiffened and so did Rick.
“I made no vow to your father,” he continued in a raised voice. “From what I understand, neither did Eileen. I did what I thought was best.”
“But it wasn’t best forme. You don’t understand. I must get them married for Papa because he gave me life.”
“All fathers give their children life,” he argued firmly.
“No, it was more than that. I was left to die.” Her words were barely a whisper as she managed to swallow another sob.
Rick’s eyes narrowed. “What?”
“Papa told me I was the smallest, youngest, and the one who kept gasping for each labored breath. The midwife and nurse urged him to lay me aside and leave me to die. They had to give their attention to Eileen and Eleonora. They had a good chance at life. But insisted I didn’t.” She felt that warning at the back of her eyes that preceded tears and blinked rapidly to forestall the onslaught that wanted to rush forward. “He told them I was as precious to him as the other two babes. By his strong will and exceptional knowledge, and by trying many different things, he kept me alive.”
With compassion filling his expression, Rick moved closer to her. “How?”
“Papa hired extra servants to take care of us, paid them well, and swore them to secrecy.” Edwina’s throat tightened. “I couldn’t suckle for days so they keptspooning drops of milk into my mouth every hour of every day until I started to thrive.”
“Edwina,” he whispered earnestly. “I’m glad he did. He worked a miracle.” Rick’s hand reached out as if he wanted to take her in his arms, but she stepped back. She didn’t want his pity or comfort.
“Now do you understand why I must see that they are married? Papa saved my life and the only thing he ever asked of me was that I do what he had failed to do because of fear and see that all his daughters were accepted into Society and married to respectable gentlemen.”
“You fulfilled much of it.” Rick’s voice and eyes softened. “All of you are accepted in Society. You are married. Possibly Elle one day.”
“I always felt if I couldn’t get them married the first Season they never would and it looks as if I will be right.”
Weariness seemed to be dripping from Rick, and she thought he might have shivered again. She didn’t know what kind of powder he had taken with the brandy but the two hadn’t mixed well together. For an instant, the feelings of love she had for him surged inside her, and she wanted to brush her fingers across his brow and offer to comfort him. She wanted to bury her face in his chest, feel the strength of his arms so he could console her. If she were at the point she could listen. But she couldn’t get past his betrayal of assisting Eileen, so she whispered, “I can’t give up Papa’s dream and my promise to him.”
He slowly shook his head and peered deeply into her eyes. “And I can’t help you, Edwina,” he said as if finding it difficult to catch his breath. “You’ll have to excuse me.”
