Her godfather tipped his head to the side. “Will he continue in trade, I wonder?”
“Does it matter?” Jane asked, saying what Anne was thinking.
“I suppose not.” He pursed his lips and stared at Anne a moment. “I care so very deeply for you, my dear. Are you certain you wish to wed yourself to this unknown man? There will be some who will never accept him, even if he is declared the earl.”
“Then those people will be the lesser for it,” she said coolly, irritated that this man who’d been a second father to her wasn’t being more supportive.
“I beg your pardon, my lord,” the butler interrupted from the doorway. “Lady Burnhope is here.”
Deborah swept into the drawing room, the hem of her gown brushing the butler’s legs as she moved by him. She blinked in surprise at Anne and Jane. “You’re Papa’s guests?”
“Yes, dear,” the earl answered. “But I am just leaving. I must be off to Westminster.” He rose.
Deborah clucked her tongue. “Because of this business with Bowles.”
“His name is Mallory, and you know it.” Anne exchanged a look with Jane. “We know you’re behind the newspaper article about Rafe’s identity.”
Eyes rounding, Deborah lifted a shoulder. “I don’t know how you can claim that. I certainly didn’t inform the newspaper.”
“Not directly.” Anne glowered at her. Harry had learned that someone from Deborah’s household had supplied the rumor. “Can’t you just mind your own business?”
Deborah blinked in affront. “This is my business. My father’s business anyway, and that makes it mine. My goodness, we don’t know a thing about Bowles. Should he even be the earl?”
Anne began to see how her godfather might have been encouraged in his doubts about Rafe. Had Deborah urged him to contest the claim?
“I just learned he is from Cheapside,” the earl put in.
Deborah’s fair brows arched as she glanced toward her father. “How mundane.”
Anne rose, her legs quivering with anger, and Jane stood beside her. “You should know that I became betrothed to him yesterday.”
“Did you?” Deborah sniffed. “Well, he is incredibly attractive, so I’ll congratulate you for that.” She looked to her father. “Meeting in the Lords?”
“Your cousin has submitted his claim for the title to the Prince Regent.”
Deborah’s brow puckered. “When will the committee meet to decide?”
“Not until the attorney general refers the matter. That could happen quickly. Or not. It depends on Prinny.” He brushed his hands over his front. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I must be on my way.” He went to Anne and took her hand, giving her a half smile. “I just want you to be happy and secure, my dear. I feel it is my duty, especially in your father’s absence, to ensure your well-being. Please pardon me if I’m being overbearing or dubious. You are very dear to me, and while your betrothed is my blood, I feel as though I have a primary commitment to you given our shared past.” He squeezed her hand before nodding at Jane and leaving.
Anne didn’t doubt his sincerity or his concern for her. Still, she wished he could get past his own feelings of loss and disappointment with regard to the earldom. Or at least try to understand how this was for Rafe.
“This is very hard for him,” Deborah said softly, surprising Anne with the caring tenor of her voice.
Jane rounded her eyes briefly at Anne while Deborah stared after her father. “I imagine it is,” Jane said a bit sourly. “Anne was merely hoping he might be a bit more enthused about her happy news.”
Deborah turned her attention back to them, her blue eyes sharp. “Can you really expect that, though? My cousin has come out of nowhere and completely upended Papa’s life. He will lose everything—his name, his standing, his assets…everything.”
“He won’t lose you,” Anne said. “Or me. Or Lorcan.”
Deborah pursed her lips. “That is not the same, and if you can’t see that, you are incredibly naïve.”
Jane rose to Anne’s defense. “No, she isn’t. Anne is trying to focus on what’s truly important—people and family.”
“I suppose that is important to the both of you, what with your parents all but turning their backs on you.”
Anne blew out an exasperated breath. “Good Lord, Deborah, sometimes you can be so thoughtless.”
“I prefer to think I’m realistic.” She smiled benignly, seeming untroubled by Anne’s assessment. “I’m only asking you to think of Papa. You must do as you must. Marry my cousin or don’t marry him. Just don’t be surprised if Papa can’t be happy about it.”
Jane touched Anne’s arm. “We should go. We’ve arrangements to make.”
“When is the wedding?” Deborah asked before they could make their way from the drawing room.
“The twenty-sixth.” Anne pulled the date out of her head simply because it was after the twenty-fifth. She hoped that day would be amenable to Rafe. If not, they could move it, but she preferred not to now that she’d told Deborah.
“Lovely. I’ll look forward to it.”
Anne and Jane left, remaining quiet until they were seated in the coach.
“I suppose you must invite her,” Jane said, gritting her teeth. “But how I wish you didn’t have to. I never liked her, and I admit I couldn’t see how you could.”
“She didn’t always show her less appealing side to me. I think she knew how much her father cared for me and sought to ensure we were close.” Or somewhat close anyway. “She was a good chaperone at least.”
“She was not.” Jane laughed. “I suppose it depends on how you define good. She was helpful to you but a complete failure in her duties.”
“Yes. But without her failure, I would not have met Rafe, so for that I must be grateful.”
“Speaking of Rafe,” Jane said. “What you said about him is true?”
“Yes.”
“He and his sister both support orphans, which makes sense given their own history.” But it was more than that. He specifically helped children who had no one and were at the mercy of their environment. “He built everything he has on the kindness of one man, the owner of the bookshop Rafe now owns. It’s astonishing, really.”
“Mmm, yes,” Jane said softly.
Anne wondered if Rafe truly would come to walk in the park today. Since he hadn’t confirmed, she wasn’t sure if she ought to expect him or not. It might be that he was busy. With her godfather rushing to Westminster, things might be happening quickly regarding the earldom.
“Was I too quick to judge my godfather?” Anne mused aloud. “Deborah, for all her faults, did make a valid point about how he must be feeling.”
Jane patted her hand briefly. “You are too kind. But yes, I thought the same thing. It’s scary how often we do that.” She flashed a smile. “He is likely in a turmoil and now one of the people closest to him—you—is aligning herself with the man he perceives as the architect of his destruction.”
“That’s not at all hyperbolic,” Anne said drily.