Chapter 14
Fourteen
“And how is my darling niece?” Tobias asked as he scooped the little girl into his arms.
He had invited Martha Carver and her daughter, Erica Carver, to the estate. Martha had been his brother’s lover, and Erica was their illegitimate daughter. The girl was a ball of sunshine, and looked like both her mother and her father.
It had been nearly a week since his disastrous lesson with Alistair and his fight with Rowen. An uneasy civility seemed to have settled between them, and he had decided to take his meals in his study. It made it easier to keep his distance.
“You are not my father.”
The words still echoed in his mind.
“Full of trouble.” Martha’s amused voice brought him back to the present. “She has discovered that she enjoys climbing.”
“Has she?” Tobias grinned at Erica, who was tugging on the lapels of his jacket as though to pull herself up onto his shoulders. “She probably gets that from our side of the family. Eric was always climbing things.”
Before Martha could say anything, a knock sounded at his study door. He looked up to see Rowen standing in the doorway. His heart leapt, but he kept his expression neutral.
“Oh, I did not realize you had company.” Her gaze darted from him to Martha, and her back stiffened. “Miss Carver.”
“Your Grace.” Martha curtseyed.
Tobias’s brow creased as he noted a subtle but distinct frostiness in Rowen’s voice. “Was there something you needed, Rowen?”
“I wanted to discuss some of the children’s lessons with you, but that can wait. I would not want to keep you from your family.” Rowen gestured to the toddler who was tugging on his hair.
Tobias thought he saw a flash of sadness in her eyes, but perhaps he was imagining it. “You are welcome to join us.”
“I think not.” Rowen inclined her head towards Martha. “Though I shall have Cook send up some refreshments. Will you want anything for your daughter, Miss Carver?”
“A little bread if you have any.” Martha smiled.
Rowen’s answering smile was polite, but Tobias saw her fingers twitch. “I shall see what we can arrange.”
Tobias did not realize that he had stepped towards Rowen until he felt Martha’s hand on his arm. He looked at her, and she shook her head. When he looked up, Rowen was no longer in the doorway.
“That was…” He frowned, trying to understand what had just happened.
“To be expected.” Martha took Erica from him. “She was perfectly polite, Your Grace.”
“Martha, we’ve been over this. Please call me Tobias. You are the mother of my brother’s child.” Tobias stared at the open door and massaged the back of his neck. “And I know she was polite, but…”
“She is wary of me.” Martha shrugged. “Her friend was nearly hanged, and it was my fault.”
“It was my father’s fault, you mean. You were not the one who accused her of the crime.” Tobias clenched his fists. “He did that, and he threatened you into silence.”
His father had tried to frame Adele for the crime he had committed. Tobias remembered being dragged to the audience chamber, remembered the numbness as he realized what kind of man the late Duke had been.
He killed my brother simply for falling in love with a servant.
His stomach churned.
“Be that as it may, I was not kind to the Duchess of Scarfield. I was not kind at all.” Martha shook her head sadly. “And your wife is one of her closest friends. It is natural that she is wary of a woman who caused someone she loves so much pain.”
“But that was years ago.” Tobias waved a dismissive hand.
“She does not know me, and I do not know her.” Martha gave him a flat look.
“Besides, she has been a mother without a husband for rather a long time, and that… I know how hard that can be, even if our circumstances are different.” She took a step towards him, her frown deepening.
“And on that note, there is something I need to tell you.”
Tobias stiffened, and a prickle of unease raised the hairs on his body. “You make it sound serious.”
“It is not, but… Well, I will be leaving London soon. I have been offered a job as a governess in the Baron Arlington’s estate.
He knows of my history, but he is willing to overlook it.
He has two young boys and a daughter about Erica’s age.
” Martha swallowed. “It would mean that you need not look after me anymore.”
“I will always support you and little Erica,” Tobias insisted.
“That is kind of you to say, Your Gr—”
“Please, it’s Tobias.”
Martha opened her mouth and closed it several times before shaking her head and sighing. “I do not wish to be a burden on you, and you are married now with your own family. You must tend to their needs.”
Tobias knew he should say that his arrangement with Rowen was not what Martha thought, that it was a matter of obligation, but the words stuck in his throat.
Instead, he shook his head and said, “You are family as well. I know how Eric felt about you, and I would not see my niece struggle. I can easily support you and tend to the needs of my famil—familial obligations.”
If Martha noticed the way he had stumbled over the words, she showed no sign of it.
I cannot tell her the truth, nor can I call them my family. What is wrong with me?
The thought sat uneasily with him, and he ran a hand across his chest absently.
Martha gave him a frank look while she rocked Erica in her arms. “And how does your wife feel about your financial support?”
“She understands that it is necessary. She would not begrudge my looking after a single mother and her child.” Tobias thought of how hard Rowen had worked to look after her own children, the way she had done so much to protect them, and felt something fierce well up within him.
“She would not wish that struggle on anyone.”
Martha did not look convinced. Though she tried to disguise it, Tobias could tell from the way she pursed her lips. He spoke before she could say another word, doing his best to keep his voice pleasant and calm, even as he felt a stab of annoyance.
“You do not know her, Martha. She is many things, but mean-spirited is not one of them. She is generous with her time and money, often at her own expense. I have seen what she sacrifices for the children; I cannot believe she would want that for anyone else.”
He gave Martha a wry smile, thinking of how often he had seen Rowen mend things instead of replacing them.
“More to the point, if she did begrudge my support of you, I would have heard about it long before now. My wife is not the kind of woman to keep her opinions to herself.”
He gestured to the new furniture around them, the plush armchairs and the chaise longue.
“Even when it comes to the furniture in my study, she does not shy away from letting me know what she thinks. Even if she does not agree with me—especially if she does not agree with me.”
His gaze lingered on the chaise, remembering the way he had teased Rowen as they had picked it out. He forced himself back to the present, in time to catch an unreadable look flit across Martha’s face.
Curiosity, perhaps?
That look was eventually replaced by a soft, sad smile. “Be that as it may, and as kind and as helpful as your support has been, you and I both know that it cannot continue forever.”
“Why not? Everyone knows of your connection to my family, the way you were wronged by my father. It is perfectly reasonable for me to support you.” Tobias furrowed his brow.
“But it comes at a cost.” Martha let out a frustrated breath as a now-sleeping Erica nuzzled against her.
Tobias watched as she carefully set the sleeping toddler on the chaise and pulled a blanket over her.
Another one of Rowen’s additions.
Tobias had no doubt his wife would have been more smug than a cat with cream to see the blanket used.
Martha’s words forced his attention back to her.
“Your assistance reminds the ton that my child was born out of wedlock. She will carry that shame for as long as we are in London, and no money will fix that. As far as they are concerned, she may be the daughter of a a marquess and the heir to a duchy, but she is a bast—well, you know what they will say.”
“Anyone foolish enough to say such a thing will face the full might of my wrath.” Tobias clenched his fists as he took a step towards her. “You are both under my protection, and I will not tolerate any disparaging remarks.”
Martha shook her head, her smile vanishing. “And now you are married, and that has made the ton wonder if perhaps you are not as loyal to your wife as you should be. I have no wish for my scandal to become her scandal, nor for it to affect her children.”
“I will not let it come to that.” Tobias felt his chest tighten.
“Your Gr—Tobias, you may be a duke, but even you cannot stop people’s tongues from wagging.
Rumors, while baseless, can be just as damaging, if not more, than facts.
The longer you support me, the more convinced people will be that you have taken your brother’s place in my life in more ways than one.
” Martha ran a hand through her hair and shook her head. “Do you really want to risk that?”
Tobias swallowed. He had sworn to protect Rowen and her children, and he knew that Martha was right. The ton was far too eager to think the worst of people, and before he had joined the army, he had been a known rake.
And of course, there is my father’s legacy to consider.
An emptiness filled him, mingling with a prickle of fear. It reminded him of when he was a young boy, watching his brother suffer their father’s punishment for both of them.
“There must be a way to help you.”
“You have already helped me. It was your connection to the Baron that made all of this possible.” Martha squeezed his hand. “You made that business deal with him last year, and it saved his barony. He thought that this would be a way to repay your kindness.”
Tobias waved a hand dismissively. “That venture was a sound investment. It has already paid dividends. It was not charity that drove my hand.”
“And yet you both have equal control.”