“Then you’ll have to stop him.”
“Och, Meggie. Easier said than done.”
She moved to his bed and sat beside him, taking his hand. “She’s wonderful, Ewan. Do whatever you must to protect her. I’ll help in any way I can, even return to despicable grandfather’s residence to fulfill our promise. Not that I want to be there, but it seems wiser to remain close, the better to see what he’s scheming.”
Ewan nodded thoughtfully. “Aye, Meg. I’m on the mend and should be up and about in another day or two. I’ll take care of it.”
“I hoped you would.” She kissed him lightly on the cheek. “Ugh, scruffy beard. I know you kept it to irk Grandfather, but you’re much better looking without it. When are you going to shave it off?”
“I don’t know. Maybe today.”
***
“Lily, how could you do such a thing?” Ashton said, shaking his head and tsking as Lily joined him in the Farthingale parlor the following Thursday afternoon.
“What thing?” Lily motioned for him to take a seat across from her, which he did, though he remained on the edge of his chair and his lips were pursed in a tight, thin line. “I didn’t expect you today, Ashton. Didn’t you get my note? It’s only been five days since the Tattersalls incident and my parents haven’t allowed me to return to my research.”
Nor had they allowed her to visit Ewan, though practically her entire family had found their way into his bedchamber over these past few days— even her youngest cousins, Harry and Charles, who’d spent hours yesterday playing marbles with Ewan. What must he think of the Farthingales and their shocking lack of boundaries? Ladies in his bedchamber. He and the boys rolling about on their knees, playing with their cat’s-eyes, daws, and agates. The thought of Ewan indulging four-year-old Harry and the adorably earnest seven-year-old Charles turned her insides soft as pudding. “I’m nowhere near finished with the report.”
“I don’t care about that.” Ashton ran a hand through his thinning hair. “I heard about the incident. Are you all right?”
She nodded.
“Good. I was worried about you.”
She smiled at him. “So thoughtful of you. Why are you fidgeting? You seem distressed. I’m truly sorry about the delay in finishing your research paper. I’ve extrapolated a wealth of information on the lemur colonies of Madagascar and how they’ve developed distinct mutations, even among themselves, on this isolated island. Did you know—”
“Lily, hear me out.” His gaze shot to the door, as though worried someone would interrupt their conversation. There was a commotion by the front entry hall, but Lily dismissed it as more Farthingales coming in and out. Pruitt would have announced other callers. She returned her attention to Ashton when he cleared his throat. “The duke sent me to see you.”
Her heart beat a little faster. “Does he wish to apologize to me?”
“To you?” Ashton arched an eyebrow and let out a grim laugh. “You called him Despicable Grandfather and now the name has stuck. Simply everyone who’s anyone in London is calling him DG. Behind his back, of course. No one would ever dare say it to his face. Gad, Lily! What were you thinking? He’s angry and humiliated, and not at all the forgiving sort. He is now insisting that your name be stricken from this research paper that you’ve been helping me on.”
She shot to her feet, her hands trembling and heart lurching into her throat. “But I’ve worked so hard on it.”
“I know. You deserve all the credit, but he won’t allow it. He’s a mean old blighter, but he controls the board of directors of the Royal Society. They’ll do whatever he demands. If he says no further publications are to bear your name, then that’s the way it shall be.”
“But it isn’t just my work that’s affected. You’re involved, too.”
“He doesn’t care. He’ll let my work sink into oblivion if he thinks you’re still working on it.”
“He would do that to you? Delay the advancement of science merely to vent his spleen?”
“Obviously.”
“But he’d be hurting you most of all. Ashton, this is your life, your career and reputation at stake. If your monograph on the lemurs of Madagascar isn’t published, what will happen to you?”
He rose and put his hands on her shoulders, no doubt to quell her agitation. “He knows that we’re friends and that my downfall will be a far worse punishment for you than anything he could possibly do to you. He’s that sort of man. Cruel and manipulative. You called him on it, and now he’s showing you just how cruel and manipulative he can be.”