Ethan's fingers balled into a fist as his mind wandered briefly to Juliet and her schemes. He clenched his teeth, and shook his head, choosing instead to focus his attention on the path and the task ahead. When they reached the underground part of the house reserved for his servants, he kept his gaze straight ahead, ignoring the greetings of his servants as he passed by, until Jacob was pausing before a closed door and pounding on it.

Frowning slightly, Ethan watched as the door opened up before them and a young maid appeared with a bundle in her arms.

“My lord,” she bowed her head, her gaze falling immediately to the floor.

He turned from her and to the bundle in her arms, a slight frown creasing his face as he stared at the little finger that stuck out of the gray blanket.

The desire to see more than just a finger urged him forward until he was pushing the blanket aside.

A sharp breath immediately escaped his lips at the sight before him —a red cheeked baby who painfully resembled his dead mother.

He shook his head, trying and failing to push the thought away. The more he stood staring at the child, the more it seemed like the painting he had of his mother as an infant had suddenly taken on flesh.

"Adeline, Lord Williams demands to see the letter that came with the child." Jacob said, dragging Ethan back to the present.

"Of course," Adeline said, holding the sleeping child forward.

Without stopping to consider his actions, Ethan received the child into his arms.

"I didn't mean..." The maid appeared surprised, her face paling slightly.

Shaking his head to her unspoken apology, Ethan understood that she had meant to hand the child over to Jacob.

Turning to the sleeping child who snuggled close against him, he ignored the slight tug on his heartstrings as he watched her suck on her thumb, and for a brief second, he found himself truly believing that she belonged in his arms. There was a desire to protect her, one that saw him cursing himself for agreeing to come here in the first place. He thought that perhaps he should have sent Jacob to bring the note to him, or perhaps he should have gotten rid of the child and the note without bothering to take a look at it?

Ethan didn’t think he needed the complication of raising a stray child added to his already messed up life. He was so unstable that he was starting to see a resemblance between an abandoned child and his own mother!

The maid returned in what appeared to be a second, relieving him of the child as she handed him the note. He ignored the pang in his chest and the emptiness of his arms once the child was taken away, focusing instead on unfolding the note and reading its content.

Ethan,

Congratulations on being a father. I tried motherhood for six months and failed. Good luck.