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“Did he?” Sian’s heartbeat picked up. Why did Matthew want to see him? That didn’t bode well. Had he noticed them talking over the last few days? Did he disapprove of the connection? “Do you know what he wants? Did he say in his message?”

Christopher’s blinding smile took her breath away. He, at least, was not worried. “I have absolutely no idea. But if you’ll excuse me, I’d better not keep him waiting for longer than necessary.”

When he handed her the flowers he’d collected for her, their fingers touched. She held her breath and stared into his amazing eyes. Would their children’s eyes share their unusual coloring? Would they have a little girl or a little boy first? She cared not, as long as they were?—

Stop , Sian chided herself, knowing she was getting ahead of herself as usual.

Now was not the time to start thinking of the children they would have once they were married, as they would have to get married first. Which meant she had to make him see he wanted no other wife than her, something she still had no idea how to achieve.

Once all the flowers had been gathered, Christopher stood up with easy grace and held out his hand to her. “My lady. Please allow me.”

Arglwydd Mawr , indeed. Had Sian not been in love with Christopher Harrison already, she would have tumbled head over heels there and then.

“You’ll never guess who visited Sheridan Manor this afternoon.”

Sian focused her attention on the flowers she was preparing to replace the ones in the vase by the chapel altar. It was best to avoid looking at Jane because she already knew who that mysterious visitor had been.

“Who?” she asked, doing her best to sound natural.

“Lord Ashton.”

As she’d suspected. Except he’d not come for a visit as much as been summoned by Uncle Matthew for some unknown reason, of course. She cut a cornflower stem and waited, certain Jane was about to tell her what that reason was. It had worried her all afternoon.

“I knew he was an unprincipled rogue, so I guess I shouldn’t be surprised, but I can scarcely credit it …”

Sian selected an oxeye daisy from the pile and narrowly missed cutting her finger when she snipped the stem at the right length. Her patience was starting to wear thin, but she forced herself not to turn around. Jane was pacing the room, unaware of the turmoil agitating her.

“Listen to this, he got Elsie, the maid, with child, and he’s now refusing to acknowledge the paternity or offer her his support. Can you believe it?”

“ No .”

The word was not an answer to Jane’s question but a reaction to what she’d heard. Sian placed both hands on the table to stop herself from falling to the floor. It was a good thing she still had her back to Jane because she suspected all the blood had drained from her face.

“Fortunately, Uncle Matthew said he would force him to do the right thing by Elsie and the child, one way or another,” her sister carried on, not stopping her prowling for a moment.

“She is not due until the end of the year, from what I understand, so I hope he will prevail by then. Lord Ashton’s disregard for the woman’s predicament is really quite shocking. ”

The babe was due at the end of the year?

The fog in Sian’s mind dissipated in the blink of an eye.

It was only spring. If Elsie was no more than two or three months along, then Christopher could not be the babe’s father.

He had told her himself only the other day that he had not bedded the maid in the last year, which meant that even if she had fallen with child from their encounters, she would have given birth months ago.

The dates just didn’t correspond.

Hope surged through her. Perhaps what Jane had called disregard on Christopher’s part was nothing like it. Perhaps he didn’t want to have anything to do with the babe because he knew he was not the father, could not be.

She shoved the flowers in the vase haphazardly and rushed to the door.

“Where are you going?” Jane called out.

“I need to speak to Uncle Matthew.”

And warn him something was not right.

It took her a while to locate him, which only increased her agitation.

For a long moment, she erred around the castle, asking everyone she met whether they had seen their master.

At long last, James, the steward, told her he’d seen him go to the rose garden with his wife earlier.

Even better. Branwen was a woman, and being highly sensible, she might agree with her that something was off.

If not, she could at least soothe her husband when the discussion inevitably raised his ire.

If anyone could manage an angry Matthew, it was his beloved wife.

Sian walked through the arched gate and into the garden.

“Can I have a word?”

Matthew still looked tense from the confrontation with Christopher, or so she imagined, but he gave her a smile. “Of course.”

“Jane told me Lord Ashton came to Sheridan Manor.” No point in prevaricating. That was why she was here.

“Yes.” Matthew cleared his throat and exchanged a glance with his wife. He was obviously wondering whether to reveal the reason for his visit to her. Once again, she decided to be blunt.

“I know you asked him to come and why. But he cannot be the father of Elsie’s babe.”

A stunned silence followed the declaration. Then her uncle spoke, his voice gruff. “I’m sorry, but we know he can all too easily be.”

Sian bunched her fists because, yes, unfortunately, she knew Christopher had bedded Elsie, probably repeatedly. But not in the last year. Which made it impossible for the maid to be carrying his child now. She stood her ground. “Ask her for more details and how she can be sure it’s him.”

“Are you suggesting she has other lovers?” Branwen asked when Matthew stared at her in incredulity.

Sian shrugged. Was that so hard to believe? The maid wouldn’t be the first woman to indulge in such affairs, and why would she not? She was widowed, and her life was her own. “I just feel that something is not right.”

“How would you know that?”

There, she hesitated. As far as everyone was concerned, she barely knew Christopher.

How could she explain that she knew things about him no one else knew?

The other day, he’d told her he’d not “met,” to use his own word, Elsie in a year.

He would have had no reason to volunteer the information if it wasn’t the truth.

At the time, he had not known he would be accused of anything.

He had not used the declaration to preempt any accusations.

Though their acquaintance was brief, she felt as if she had a good understanding of his character.

She’d seen the pain in his eyes when he’d talked about his father and his hopes for a family of his own.

That was not something he could or would have wanted to feign.

Rather, she suspected he would be horrified to know she had seen the hurt and the yearning.

But she had seen it, and considering how alone he was and how unloved he’d been as a child, she was convinced he would never deny a baby he’d fathered.

Something was definitely amiss.

“I just know. We talked the day he came to bring Warrior.” And the time before that. And the day he’d come to see her at the bottom of the hill. And earlier today, by the chapel.

She knew him.

“I’m sorry to say that Lord Ashton would not be the first man to shirk his responsibility.

” Branwen sounded both disapproving and angry.

Matthew, who seemed all too relieved to let his wife take the lead in the discussion, had started to pace around the garden in agitation.

It was clear the conversation was painful to him, and she regretted having to stir bad memories. But it had to be done.

“I know. But if Elsie were really with child, why would she come to you instead of confronting him about it?”

“Because she did confront him and he refused to listen to her!” was the cutting answer Matthew gave her. “So it is now up to me to sort out this bloody mess.”

This sharpness was out of character, but Sian knew why her uncle would be more affected by that story than most people.

His mother had been a maid just like Elsie, and for years, he had believed himself abandoned by the unprincipled nobleman who had burdened her with his child.

That he had been reunited with his real father later on did not change the facts.

Matthew would want to see men forced to face their responsibilities and do the right thing by the women they had bedded and the children resulting from the encounters.

He wanted to right a wrong, and unfortunately, Christopher’s reputation made it too easy to believe the worst of him.

“Did he tell you he was not the father?”

“He did. But what else could we expect? Now that he’s taken his pleasure, he only means to wash his hands of the whole affair.”

“Did he tell you why he thought he could not be the father?” she insisted.

Matthew waved a hand in a dismissive gesture. “Predictably, he said the dates didn’t coincide.”

Yes. As she’d thought. “Then why don’t you believe him?”

“Because it’s too bloody convenient, that’s why!” Matthew roared, goaded beyond endurance. “And it’s his word against Elsie’s. Why should I believe him over her?”

Indeed. He was a rogue—everyone knew that—and he didn’t deserve the chance to prove his innocence, whereas Elsie had worked here for years.

Sian bunched her fists. It was getting dark already, but tomorrow, she would ride to Throckmorton Castle. She had to get to the bottom of the situation.