Vyne sat up a little straighter. “No. My son is neglectful in his duties and failed to inform me.”
“I’m not surprised you’re the last to know.” He smiled coldly at Vyne. “Do you imagine Clement will allow you to spend any time with your grandchildren once he learns what you tried to do last night to his cousin’s child? Ruby came to you for help, and this is how you treat her. She foolishly trusted you, but will never make that mistake again.”
Vyne wet his lips. “Clement doesn’t need to know.”
“Really? Do you imagine I have any reason to keep your dirty secrets from Clement? He is my brother.”
Vyne swallowed. “I wasn’t sending the child back to Scotland.”
“Then where were you sending him?”
“My sister lives alone in Dorset. She’s an interest in children.”
“So you would break Ruby’s heart just to purify the family tree of an offspring of undesirable origins?” Hector nearly shouted.
Vyne held out one hand. “I knew she’d never willingly send the boy away. If the boy were to disappear one night, Ruby would have been able to plead ignorance honestly when her father brought her father-in-law to take him back. Without the child, there’d be no reason for Roper to linger long. He’d have no further connection to my family, or to her. It would be as if the marriage had never happened!”
Hector narrowed his eyes, unable to believe that tall tale. “And then what would have become of the child? Would he grow up imagining his mother had abandoned him?”
“No!” Vyne exclaimed. “I would send her to the child when I was sure Roper had given up hope. I sent a letter ahead to my sister, explaining the situation already. My sister would have taken good care of the boy until her mother came for him.”
“And this business with Blackwood? Why were you trying so hard to match Ruby to him?”
“Everyone believes Blackwood needs a wife. He is a wealthy man and has a connection to a title hardly anyone talks about. But I believe he will most likely become a marquis in the not-too-distant future. My daughters are too innocent to appeal to such a man, but with Ruby returned a widow, I saw an opportunity to make a good match for her, little knowing Blackwood’s so-called unencumbered life was a lie.”
Vyne told a fairly convincing tale. He had painted his motives in a brighter light than might actually be possible. Some of it might even be true if not for one glaring embellishment. He pointed a finger at the earl. “No carriage or horse has left The Vyne’s carrying any letter for anyone. I know because I’ve spent every day watching the front drive.”
Lord Vyne paled as Hector advanced on him.
“You will not attempt to make another match for Ruby. You will not concern yourself with her again, or with Pip. From this moment on, you will leave them alone.”
“Roper will come to take the boy, and there is nothing she can do to stop him.”
Hector would stop Roper. He would find a way to keep mother and son together, no matter what it cost him. “Lord Vyne, I encourage you to spend your solitude contemplating the difference between what is right and what is good for the sake of the family. Perhaps if you think very hard, you might one day see how you are responsible for the state of your empty life.” He turned away from Vyne, disgusted with the earl.
Vyne got to his feet. “Where are you going?”
“I’m going to do a good thing.”
Vyne was suddenly at Hector’s side, clutching his arm. “What are you going to tell Clement?”
Hector shook him off and Vyne staggered for the support of the wall. “I’ll have to think about that,” Hector warned, but he would probably tell Clement everything once he had Ruby and Pip safely away from The Vynes. But first… “Do you know what might help me decide?”
“What?”
“Give back the silver bell you took from Ruby when she was a girl. I know you took it from her and allowed me to be blamed.”
Vyne jerked back from him. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Would Vyne deny every accusation aimed his way? “Thanks to my friendship with your son, I recall the contents of your father’s will were hotly contested by you and your brother. Clement told me your father had left little tokens to each of his grandchildren. You argued against honoring the bequests, but your brother won, and you’ve hardly spoken to him since. You took back that silver bell from Ruby out of spite for your brother’s success. She misses it still.”
Lord Vyne’s eyes lowered, revealing his guilt.
“Your father gave it to her, not you.”
Vyne’s jaw worked then he yanked open a drawer nearby. Inside were a collection of small trinkets, and he removed Ruby’s long-lost silver bell.
When he thrust it toward Hector, he refused to take it. “Don’t be such a coward. Give it back to her yourself, and maybe she’ll forgive you for what you tried to do one day.”
“What about our bargain?”
“I made no bargain with you, but I have the truth of you now.”
Hector stalked upstairs and returned to his bedchamber immediately. He’d fetch Pip and take him to Ruby ahead of their departure from the estate.
But he found Ruby and Pip together already, surrounded by Hector’s packed trunks. Pip was playing with his horse behind one, and Ruby was seated before the fire.
He turned to Pip first to say good morning. Hector leaned down and ruffled the boy’s hair. “Come and sit with your mother and I.”
He turned away, sure the boy would follow eventually, and claimed a spot by Ruby’s side on a cozy settee. “Good morning.”
“I woke to find you gone.”
“Yes, I went to speak to your uncle about the abduction attempt.”
“Why?”
“Because during the night, I realized it couldn’t have been Roper behind it.”
Ruby’s eyes flickered around the room nervously. “Pip, come and sit with us.”
The boy got to his feet and dropped into the space between them. He looked up at Hector and smiled. “Will you take me to visit the horses?”
“Indeed, I will.” He ruffled the boy’s hair again. “How would you like to visit London for a few days?”
“London?” both Ruby and Pip cried out in surprise.
“Yes, but if we don’t run into Clement I’d like to divert to spend Christmas night in my home. I find I have a few extra presents to acquire this year, too, and I have a special license to arrange.”
At the word presents, Pip’s eyes lit up wide, and he inhaled, anticipating a surprise. Hector hoped his ultimate gift for the boy, a pony, would be enough to wait for.
Ruby touched his arm. “You were serious last night?”
“Every word. I will marry you, and I will deal with the Ropers, and we will make a home for all of us together wherever you’d like to live.”
The boy turned to him. “Will you be my new papa?”
“If you want me to be.” Hector smiled.
The boy chewed his lower lip.
“I’ll teach you to ride as well as your papa and me. I’ve a friend who keeps a pony in London. We could visit him after I marry your mother.”