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He was the important one in all this, after all. And he had just called her Mama. "I am not setting foot inside that house," Mrs. Pe
Margaret climbed the steps to the house, Vanessa beside her, and she carried Toby up to the nursery, where she sat in a deep chair, cradling him on her lap.
Vanessa disappeared for a few moments and returned with a large woolly blanket, which she tucked about Toby even though it was a warm day and his body was still radiating heat.
In no time at all he was fast asleep.
Duncan strode off in the direction of the bridge and the grassy avenue beyond it. Merton and Moreland were just behind him. He did not look back to see if the others were following. He did not stop until he was far enough down the avenue that they were quite out of earshot from the house or stables.
Norman spoke first. "You deserve to be horsewhipped, Sheringford," he said. "And it would give me the greatest pleasure to be the one doing the whipping.
Unfortunately, you may escape with nothing worse than transportation or a hanging. I did not believe even you capable of such villainy. Caroline has been inconsolable since she learned the truth, and Randolph has been – " "Norm." Duncan held up one hand. "Before you launch further into your speech, may I ask if Turner has lost his tongue since I last saw him at my aunt's soiree? I would have thought this was /his/ speech to deliver." Turner had not uttered a word since his arrival. But everyone looked at him expectantly now.
He cleared his throat. "You aided and abetted my wife in keeping my son from me, Sheringford," he said. "And then you continued to keep him from me after her death. I am not as hot-headed as Norman. I am of a more forgiving nature. I have come for my son, and I will take him with me when I leave. I am prepared to leave you to your conscience." "Randolph!" Norman exclaimed, puffed up with outrage. "You ca
So are my grandfather and my mother and stepfather. All are people whose word is trusted. And all are people who can keep their own counsel when it is asked of them. It is up to you now to decide how many other people outside my family circle will know the story surrounding Toby's conception – no one or everyone. It must be one or the other." Turner attempted to bluster. "I do not know what you think you know, Sheringford," he said. "I do not know what lies my wife told you – she was not much given to truth-telling, God knows. The child is /mine/." "He even /looks/ like you, Randolph," Caroline said. "When he came ru
You would not like that, would you? Let us be rational and sensible instead. I have a proposal to make to you." "Now, see here, Sheringford," Norman said. "You are not in any position – " "Oh, /do/ be quiet," Caroline said.
Norman shut his mouth with a clacking of teeth. "This is it," Duncan said. "You return to London, be quite open and frank with anyone who will listen – and everyone will – about where you have been and why you came here, and then declare that you were quite mistaken, that you are convinced beyond a shadow of a doubt that Toby is /not/ yours, that he was conceived in sin while Laura and I were lovers before we ran away together. You will publicly repudiate him and refuse to accept him as your son or to take any responsibility for him. Then you may carry on with your life in any ma
Norman gaped.
Turner blanched again. "There will be some snickering behind your back, I do not doubt," Duncan said, "over the fact that I was cuckolding you even before I ran off with Laura. But it will be no more than most people already believe. And you will get off lightly, Turner. The ladies will weep over you. You may even put it about, if you wish, that you blackened both my eyes while you were here. I will not contradict you, and I daresay my brothers-in-law will not either." Turner continued to stare at him. "Take it or leave it," Duncan said. "If you leave it, Turner, the entire /ton/ will know the whole truth. Doubtless most of them will believe the story even if it comes only from my mouth – people like to believe the worst of others, as you may have noticed. But when other, well-respected voices are joined to mine – the Duke of Moreland's, the Earl of Merton's, Baron Montford's, the Marquess of Claverbrook's, Sir Graham Carling's, not to mention their wives, I doubt you will be able to find a corner of England in which to hide from the scorn and scandal that will be the inevitable result. The law and the church may give you Toby, but your life will be worthless. The choice is yours." "I /wish/ someone would tell me," Norman said, "what this is all about.
You do not have a leg to stand on, Sheringford. You are a child kidnapper and a rogue. You have hidden the very existence of a child from his lawful and loving father for almost five years." Everyone ignored him.
Turner licked his lips again. "He is my /son/," he said, his voice almost a whisper. "But he is not, is he?" Duncan said. "Not in any way at all. In all ways that matter he is mine. He even has my name. He was christened Tobias Duncan Pe