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“Please, Miss,” the young woman urged, “Imustsee him. I… am quite desperate.”

Lydia met the woman’s eyes, realizing that she did not know who she was speaking to. If she had known that she was speaking to the Duchess of Stonebridge, would she have so boldly declared who the father of her child was?

Swallowing her heartbreak and anger, Lydia put on a smile. “I can ask if he can be pulled from his engagement. Might I ask who wishes to speak with him?”

“Beatrice. Beatrice Hart,” the woman replied.

The name was vaguely familiar to Lydia, but she could not place it, not with her mind whirling with a maelstrom of painful thoughts. Still, she could understand what Will had seen in this young woman. She was tall as she stepped down from the curricle, with glossy raven-black hair and light brown eyes and a face so breathtakingly pretty that it was a challenge for Lydia not to feel immediately inferior. Although, she supposed the baby had done that anyway.

He can marry you if our marriage is annulled…

She looked at that sweet child again, her heart heavy as the baby girl gurgled and smiled, her wolfish eyes fixed on Lydia. Instinctively, she put out her finger, and the baby girl grabbed hold of it, gripping it so tightly.

To be an illegitimate child in this world was difficult for anyone and everyone, but it was hardest of all for girls. They had to watch society shun their mother, and when they grew up, they would have no prospects, no opportunities, and very little hope of carving out a comfortable life for themselves.

“Does the Duke know about this child?” Lydia asked, trying not to cry. Still, she heard her voice quaver as she spoke and concentrated even harder on that baby girl to keep her agony at bay.

Beatrice nodded. “He does. He instructed my father to send me away when it was discovered that I was with child. I have stayed away, Miss, but I cannot do so any longer. I will not do that to mysweet angel. I must have… assurances, at the very least, for her sake.”

How could he abandon a child like this?

Lydia had never understood how any gentleman could simply shrug off his responsibilities as a father, and there were enough unwed mothers in the world—and in the scandal sheets—to consider it an endemic problem. But from someone who had endured such a troublesome childhood of his own, it seemed twice as cruel.

“Why would he have you sent away?” Lydia smiled down at the baby, and the darling girl gurgled in response. A sight so wonderful yet so devastating.

Beatrice glanced around. “I suppose he was worried about what might happen if the scandal got out. I had hoped to be allowed to return here to give birth to my sweet angel, but I was soundly informed that His Grace’s wife would not like it. I imagine he was worried about what she might do.”

The child looked newborn. No more than a few weeks old. If that was the case, then Will had not only sent away the mother of his childknowingshe was with child, but he had also married someone else in the interim, adding insult to injury. No wonder the poor woman was desperate and, undoubtedly, furious.

“Do not worry, Miss Hart,” Lydia said. “His wife would never wish any harm to befall such a beautiful baby.”

Beatrice’s eyes widened. “Do you know her? Is she currently in residence? Perhaps I might speak with her if His Grace is not yet available to meet with me.”

“I will summon him for you,” Lydia replied as politely as she could. “In the meantime, please come inside and rest awhile in the drawing room.”

Beatrice’s face crumpled, and as she hugged her daughter to her, tears rolled down her cheeks. She lifted her gaze to Lydia’s and gave a small, hesitant nod before whispering, “Thank you, Miss. Thank you for this. You do not know what it means to me.”

And you do not know what this will mean for me…

Lydia steeled herself, wishing that last night had not happened. It had changed so much, bringing her closer to her husband, making her realize that, despite everything, she was beginning to fall hopelessly in love with him.

But now everything had changed again, and there was no way to ignore it. She had spent so long reading novels with happy endings that she had never considered that her own story might not end so joyfully. Then again, she had not realized that hers was a love story until last night.

“I would do anything to help an innocent. Please, follow me,” Lydia insisted as she turned and guided Beatrice and the baby inside, her heart cracking with every step she took into the house that could not, would not, be hers anymore.

For how could she live with herself if she stole a promising future away from a baby? A baby who had not asked to be born but would suffer if someone did not intervene. If that someone had to be Lydia, so be it.

CHAPTER 28

William had just reached the top of the driveway when he noticed a carriage coming in his direction. One of his own, which puzzled him somewhat, for Anthony was not at Stonebridge and neither was his mother, as far as he knew, so who would be leaving the estate?

He stood in the driveway as the carriage came closer, and the driver pulled the horses to a halt.

“Who is your passenger?” William asked.

The driver frowned as if he did not understand the question. “It’s the Duchess, Your Grace.”

“The Duchess?”