"She didn't at first. She tried to see him. Lady Upworth would have my brother to visit and then Mama would come over, but Father discovered what they were doing and put a stop to it. Mama's journal says that he came by one day unexpectedly to harangue her for seeing her son. He almost found me in Mama's arms. That's when she decided that to keep me, she would have to leave England. It was a hard decision and she regretted it many times. But according to Lady Upworth, Father never softened toward Mama and would not have allowed her to see her son."
He took time digesting what she had told him. Thea had a brother, a twin brother. According to her account, she had never even met him. That must be very difficult for someone with her open heart.
"I understand you not wanting to see your father, but what of your brother? Now that you are of age, there is no risk in making yourself known and meeting him."
He had learned to live with the fact that he had half brothers and sisters who knew nothing about him. But he was a man, not a tenderhearted female like Thea.
"I'm not ready."
A memory tugged at his consciousness. "You said your mother made you promise two things. What was the other one?"
She sighed and wiped her cheeks with her gloved fingers. "To give my brother her journals. She wanted him to know that she never stopped loving him or thinking about him."
He was beginning to understand Thea's certainty that her father was beyond redemption. Not only had he torn their family apart, but he had withheld her brother from Thea and hurt her in the process.
"In effect, your mother made you promise to meet your brother."
She must have worried that Thea would never have made the trip to England otherwise. She must have wanted her daughter to return to their homeland.
"I plan to keep my promise, truly. Just not immediately. Everything has been happening so fast, and the most important thing right now is to find the thief and protect Uncle Ashby. But it's true—eventually I will have no choice but to meet my brother."
"You have no choice about becoming engaged, either." Didn't she understand?
The same honor that required her to keep her promise to her mother required him to marry her.
She scowled, her expression no longer one of pain, but of anger. "Of course I have a choice."
"Not if you wish to take your place in Society."
"How many times do I have to tell you that it doesn't matter to me?" Her exasperation with his reasoning was clear in her voice.
"Does your aunt's acceptance among the ton matter to you?"
She took a deep breath and let it out again slowly before asking, "What do you mean?"
He glanced at her. "If she continues to acknowledge you, as you know she will insist on doing, the damage to your reputation will also affect hers."
"That is ridiculous. Our friendship aboard your ship cannot affect my aunt's standing in the ton."
"I realize that you know little of the ways of the ton, but you must accept my greater experience in this matter. I am intimately acquainted with scandal. Your aunt's life will be made very difficult by our association if we are not engaged."
"That's so unfair. I don't even want to be introduced to the ton, and yet if I don't, my aunt will be hurt. If I do and I refuse to become engaged with you, she will suffer. It isn't right." She pulled her lower lip between her teeth and his tolerance snapped.
"Stop that. Every time you take your lip between your teeth, I am reminded how good those lips taste and how much I want to kiss you." And he was bloody tired of driving in an uncomfortable state of arousal.
She immediately let go of her lip. "I … it's an old habit. I'm sorry it disturbs you."
He sighed. "Everything about you disturbs me, Thea."
She cast him a sidelong glance. "I suppose we could pretend to be engaged as long as I am in England. If it will make things better for Lady Upworth, that is."
Drake felt a slow burn of satisfaction. It would not be a pretend engagement, but he wouldn't argue that point now. "Good."
"Still, you should have told me before you said something to Mr. Merewether. I could have ruined our story by denying it in my surprise."
"You are too intelligent to be so easily tripped up. Besides, I had to think on my feet. If I hadn't said that, he would have written a very upsetting letter to his uncle."
She started to bite her lip and then stopped, giving him another sideways glance. "I guess so. I'm surprised he accepted your story, regardless."