Page 86 of The Phantom Duke

“How?” Damien demanded, “I heard it plain as day.”

“I… he…” Maria rubbed at her face as though to dislodge sleep’s grip on her. “He promised he would let me speak to you first,” she finished.

Damien stared at her. He reached for the mask, which he had forgotten, now lay on the ground twenty feet below.

Wait. His head snapped to Maria, as the significance of her words sank in. She had never said anything about the rumors. How had she learned about his brother?

“He? You mean to say that he is real? I have a brother, and you knew?”

Maria shook her head.

“He wrote to me. He did not think you would countenance anyone contacting you directly claiming to be your kith and kin. He approached me, thinking that he would get a fairer hearing.”

Damien stood, then remembered where they were and clutched at the tree to overcome a momentary bout of vertigo. He clenched his teeth together, trying to make sense of the sudden revelation. But it was difficult, for he felt as if the entire world had just fallen away beneath his feet.

“And did he?”

“He seemed honest,” Maria said. “I had some doubts, but I promised I would speak to you and sound you out before introducing you.”

She stood also, considerably more unsteady than Damien. He felt the old anger rise in him; the man he had glimpsed in the mirror was laughing. How could she have not told him?

This is what comes of trusting. This is what comes of being vulnerable. The knife in the dark.

“How long have the two of you been discussing me?” he whispered.

“A matter of a week from the first letter to our meeting and…”

“You have been in his company,” Damien grated. “Alone.”

“Of course not! In the company of my friend Evelina and in a public place. A tea room.”

Damien scoffed. “Evelina? A reliable chaperone, I am sure.”

“What do you accuse me of? Having a dalliance with this man?” Maria demanded. “Of conspiring with him? For what?”

“An excellent question. You admit to concealing his letter from me—a letter announcing his existence. You did not think this fact was pertinent to me?”

Before Maria could answer, Damien went on, his words burning.

“You admit to meeting with him behind my back.”

“I wanted you to get a chance to have a brother!” Maria yelled and stepped towards him, wavering a little.

Despite his best efforts to be angry at her, a flicker of concern shot through him.

“You have conspired with a man claiming to be my brother. Did he tell you his purpose?” he growled. “I assume not, or at least that you would not want to admit to whatever purpose he has.”

In the darkness high above the ground, he could see only shadows where her face was. He could scent her, feel her physical presence, the softness of her that had so recently been molded to him.

She whirled away from him with a sob, taking a step that she should not have taken. Damien moved quickly, seizing her about the waist and pulling her back from the edge she did not even know was there.

“Be careful!” he barked. “Remember where we are!”

“You sound as though you would not care if I fell,” Maria said.

“If I did not, I would not have stopped you,” Damien replied, continuing to hold her close against him.

“I hear voices! Do I address the duke and duchess? Your servants said you might be found out here!”