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She pressed her back against the wall as she tried to swallow the bile rising in her throat.

Miss Delaney had no more cause to lie—Ethan was already married, after all. She would have been far better off if she claimed that the father of her child was someone else.

Someone unattached.

But no. She had braved everything, risked it all just to seehimonce more.

Ethan, the man who had refused to marry her after Phoebe told him the truth about her pregnancy.

But what if they had been wrong all along?

What if it truly is Ethan’s child and I have deprived it of a father and a loving home?

So, Phoebe did what any sane person would do if the weight of the world came crashing down on them.

She ran from the scene.

CHAPTER 32

The world seemed to stop around her.

And then, it began to spin with dizzying speed until all Phoebe could do was flatten herself against the wall, her chest heaving as she sought to process everything that she had just heard.

Had she truly made the egregious decision to stop Ethan’s wedding to Miss Delaney on that day?

Was the child in Miss Delaney’s belly really her husband’s?

If what she heard was true, then that would mean she owed Miss Delaney and her entire family an apology that would take her entire lifetime—and even then, it would not be enough.

She had not only ruined a wedding, she had ruinedlives.

Worse, she had condemned both mother and child to life as pariahs,outcastsof Society—all while she enjoyed every accommodation as the Duchess of Sinclair, the title that should have belonged to Miss Delaney if she had not recklessly stopped her wedding on that fateful day.

Breathe, Phoebe, breathe! Get your head on straight before you do anything idiotic!

There was nothing to be gained from rushing headlong into a situation guided by heremotionsalone—that was a recipe for an absolute disaster.

Besides, this party was supposed to celebrate her sister’s first pregnancy. How could she cause such a ruckus and draw all the attention toherproblems?

“I need to get a drink,” she muttered to herself. “And then, I need to get to the bottom of this.”

She was quite sure she had not heard wrongly on that day—Miss Delaney was more than certain that the child she was carrying was not Ethan’s at all.

Or did she simply misinterpret what she heard?

And Ethan… well, he would never have married her if he knew there was the slightest chance that the child was his. He had his own suspicions, too, and in the end, he had ended his engagement with Miss Delaney and marriedher.

He had chosen to believeher.

But what if they were wrong?

What if he believed Miss Delaney?

Would he then resentherfor dooming his child to the life of a bastard on the fringes of Society?

Phoebe closed her eyes in abject misery. Then, she took a deep breath and tried to gather her thoughts—enough for her to make her way back to the ballroom andpolitelyask a passing footman for a glass of wine.

The footmen of Blackthorn Estate were well aware of her preferences, as she frequently visited Alice whenever she was in London long enough for Phoebe to sit down and talk with her.