Page 92 of The Duke's Only Desire

From the way Chase nodded and looked away, yet not before a glistening appeared in his eyes, he knew it, too.

“I’ll be leaving London, then,” Chase told him as he grabbed up one last slice of ham and retreated toward the door. “Now that things are finished here, I need to return to my own home.”

And to my own ghosts waiting there.Chase didn’t utter the words, but they hung in the air as clearly as if he had, along with the unspoken grief, pain, and frustration that plagued him.

Shay knew not to press about that unexpected announcement. Of all four of the old friends, it was Chase who had suffered the most since returning from the wars. The fires of hell Shay had walked through were nothing compared to whatChase had been forced to endure. Although Shay would never dare utter it aloud, he still doubted that his friend would make it out the other side. How on earth did a man ever come to terms with the death of his son and his wife? John’s death and their mother’s absence had driven his own father into an early grave. Shay feared the same for Chase.

Yet he nodded and shook Chase’s hand. “Safe travels, my friend.”

Chase gave him a parting slap on the shoulder, then strode out of the room with a determination that belied the tumult of emotions that roiled inside him. And perhaps always would.

Saunders returned with a note card on a silver salver. He extended it toward Shay. “Your Grace. This just arrived from Malvern House.”

“Thank you.” He picked it up and cracked the wax seal. “Stay a moment in case I need to send a reply, will you?”

Saunders gave a curt nod and remained by the door.

Shay scanned his gaze over it. Last night, after returning to Granville House, he’d spent the evening writing out orders for Saunders to have Malvern House fully staffed and reopened. After all, he and Sophie would need a place of their own in London whenever they came to visit her father.A home.He wanted the property to become a refuge for them and the family they planned on having, its rooms filled with laughter, energy, and love, in a way they hadn’t been for decades. It would take time, but he and Sophie would have the rest of their lives to realize that dream.

Yet the message wasn’t at all what he’d expected. It wasn’t about Malvern House but from Pearson at Ravenscroft, and his chest sank bitterly at the news. Pearson had discovered who had been spying for Malcolm—Crenshaw, the assistant gardener whom MacHeath had assigned to work with Sophie, and Darla,the young housemaid who had assisted Sophie before Smithson arrived at the estate.

The news would devastate Sophie, even though both servants had given information to Malcolm only because they needed the money…Crenshaw, the gardener, for a child in Bakewell who had been born on the wrong side of the blanket but whom he had not abandoned responsibility for, and Darla, for her sick mother and sister who were unable to support themselves.

Shay crossed to the little writing desk and took a piece of paper from the drawer. He dabbed the quill in the ink pot and scratched out a reply instructing Pearson to release both from their positions. Immediately. But Pearson was also to provide letters of recommendation and to allow them to keep the remainder of their annual pay, which would help them and their families until they found new employment elsewhere.

He blotted the ink, carefully folded the letter, and sealed it. The two had been disloyal and could not be kept in employment at Ravenscroft, yet their reasons were justified. He wouldn’t punish them unduly for attempting to help the ones they loved. But until they found new positions, they could serve the dukedom by helping Malcolm vacate Halston House. Quickly.

“Have this sent to Ravenscroft Manor by special messenger,” Shay ordered as he gave the note to Saunders.

“Yes, Your Grace.” The butler nodded and scurried from the room.

In his haste, he nearly collided with Sophie, who was also hurrying down the hall. Distracted, she mumbled her apologies to the butler, but her distraught gaze fixed on Shay.

“What’s wrong?” It couldn’t be Malcolm. Not now. The man had been tossed from their lives forever. His mind took a dark turn. “Is it Granville?”

“Papa’s fine.” She struggled to find her voice. In her hand, she held a note and shoved it toward him. “It’s Cora.” Her bottom lip quivered. “She’s gone!”

He took her shoulders and placed a kiss to her forehead to calm her. “Isn’t she upstairs with Ruby?”

Sophie shook her head. “After I dressed, I went up to the nursery. The maid who watched Ruby last night said Cora had been in the nursery early, just after dawn, to play with Ruby and that she’d returned to her room for a nap. But when I went to wake her, she wasn’t there. She’s fled the house.” She pressed the note into his chest. “I found this on her pillow.”

Dread swelled inside him. He didn’t have to read it to know what it said. The stricken look on Sophie’s pale face told him everything.

“She doesn’t think she can provide the right kind of life for her daughter,” Sophie choked out, “and she’s left Ruby behind for us to raise.” Her watery eyes fixed on his. “She’s asked us not to look for her, to just let her go. She isn’t coming back.”

Shay nodded slowly and slipped his arms around her to draw her against him. “Then we’ll honor her wishes,” he said, resting his mouth against the top of her head, “and give her—and John’s—child a proper home. We’ll raise Ruby as if she’s our own.”

“And if Cora comes back?” she whispered.

“Then we welcome her into the family with open arms, for as long as she wants to stay.”

Sophie nodded, her cheek brushing against his shoulder. “There’s more.” She stepped back just far enough to reach into the pocket of her long pelisse and withdraw a folded piece of paper. “She also left this.”

Shay frowned as he unfolded the paper and read it. Cora’s handwriting filled the page with her testimony of what happened the night of the fire, how John died, how Shay had risked his own life to rush back into the barn to save his brother…and howMalcolm had kidnapped her daughter and Sophie in an attempt to force her into falsely testifying on his behalf. Her signature marked the bottom of the page.

What Cora had given them was more than just her witness statement. What she had given them was a weapon to use to stop Malcolm in the future if he ever dared breathe a word against them again. And a way to keep her child safe forever.

“It’s over now, all of it,” Sophie murmured softly as she stepped back into the protective circle of his arms, where she belonged and always would. “We’re finally free from the past.”

She rose up on tiptoe to meet his mouth as he lowered his head to kiss her.