“Oh,” she said. “Do you mean . . . ?”
But of course he meant. She flushed. And remembered his reasons for marrying her. And thought of what he would hear from Rachel long before that month was over unless she could suddenly produce two thousand pounds within the next six days. And she wound up her resolution to tell him the truth even then.
Except that then was a quite inopportune time.
“Yes, I do,” he said, smiling. “There is a very cozy nursery at Severn Park, Abby, just crying out to be occupied.”
At Severn Park. Yes, of course.
“BORIS.” The Earl of Severn got up from the blanket on the grass and the remains of a banquet spread on it and patted his stomach. “Would you care for a stroll to work off some of this feast?”
Boris Gardiner looked up from his conversation with Laura and scrambled to his feet. “A good idea,” he said. “My horse may sag in the middle if I mount it as I am now. Your cook is to be commended, Abby.”
“I shall be sure to give her your message,” Abigail said. “She will be pleased.”
The earl clasped his hands behind his back and made remarks about the weather as he strolled away from the group with his brother-in-law.
“It would not be fair to the ladies if we were away for long,” he said as soon as they were firmly beyond earshot. “Do you mind if we dispense with small talk and get straight to the point?”
Boris looked at him in some surprise. “Not at all,” he said. “But the point of what, pray?”#p#分页标题#e#
“Are your debts heavy ones?” the earl asked, looking straight ahead across the wide lawn.
His brother-in-law stiffened. “They are my concern,”he said. “They were my father’s, my only inheritance, as it happens. They are not Abby’s and they are not yours, Severn.”
“Those are not the debts I referred to,” the earl said. “My question related to your gaming debts.”
Boris sounded annoyed. “I have none,” he said. “Do you think I would gamble beyond my means when I am already burdened with another man’s obligations? I don’t know what Abby has told you of our family, but we are not all totally without principle. As it is, I am well aware that I am head of the family yet quite incapable of supporting my sisters.”
“I did not mean to touch on a raw nerve,” the earl said. “I had better approach this matter from another angle, it seems. Why would Abby be visiting Mrs. Harper? And why would she have a sudden need of approximately seven thousand pounds? Do you have any idea? Does she have a weakness at the tables?”
“Abby?” Boris sounded incredulous. “Abby has an even greater abhorrence of gaming than I do. How could it be otherwise when she kept our family together almost single-handed while our father gambled everything away and even more than everything? And is it not obvious why she is visiting Rachel? Oh, Lord, she hasn’t told you, has she?”
“No, she has not,” Lord Severn said quietly. “For some reason, I think Abby is a little afraid of me. You had better tell me, Boris.”
“In awe more than afraid, I would guess,” Boris said.
“It always bothered Abby that we are not quite respectable, that our father frequently made an ass of himself in public and made us all suffer disapproval and even some ostracism as a result. She showed it by loving us all quite fiercely and managing us and caring for us all like a mother. And by raising her chin in public and saying frequently outrageous things so that people would think she did not care. But she did—does. More than any of us. I think she cared for our father more than the rest of us did.”
“Your father drank?” the earl asked.
“Like the proverbial fish,” the other said. “He drank himself to death. Abby had to feed it to him like medicine at the end. She was as gentle with him as if he were a baby, despite everything.”
“Despite everything?” the earl asked.
“He was not a pleasant man,” Boris said. “And that is a polite way of saying that he was selfish and brutal. Abby and I were fortunate that he was not quite so bad when we were young children. When he did fly into rages, it was our poor mother who bore the bruises. But in later years Abby had to work hard to protect the little ones. He was usually crafty enough to go for them when I was not around. And I am afraid I played irresponsible brother for many years and kept myself from home as often as I could. Abby did it all even before Rachel left. She held everything together afterward.”
“Rachel?” the earl said.