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All there was to do noas

Go ho here in New York, thatto Edward, either Nor he to her There was only one thing that ether

She went still, and her hand went to the flat plane of her belly, just over her womb

She could be with child It was unlikely, but it was possible

And suddenly it felt real She knew she probably wasn’t pregnant, but her heart seenize this new person--a miraculous ination the baby was all hi of dark hair, and eyes so blue they rivaled the sky

"Miss?"

Cecilia looked up and blinked, only then realizing that she had come to a stop in the middle of the street An older wo at her with a kind, concerned expression

"Are you all right,your pardon," she said, ish, and she couldn’t quite focus properly on the Good Samaritan in front of her "I justI had some bad news"

The woman looked down to where Cecilia’s hand rested on her abdoain, her oere filled with a hideous blend of coo," Cecilia blurted out, and she practically ran the rest of the way back to the Devil’s Head and up the stairs to her room She threw herself onto the bed, and this time when she cried, her tears were equal parts frustration and grief

That wonant She’d looked at Cecilia’s bare finger and ment, and oh God, there had to be so A ring for a ht there in the hed

It was an awful sound

If she was pregnant, at least the baby’s father thought they were married Everyone did

Except for that woone fro lady in need of kindness to a fallen harlot ould soon be relegated to the fringes of society

She supposed that was an awful lot to read into a stranger’s expression, but she kne the world worked If she was pregnant, her life would be ruined She would never be accepted in polite society If her friends back home wished to remain in contact, they would have to do so clandestinely, lest their own good nairl in Matlock a few years earlier who had found herself with child Her name was Verity Markham, and Cecilia had only known her a little Not much more than her name, really No one kneho the father was, but it ot out, Cecilia’s father had forbidden her to make contact Cecilia had been startled by his veheossip But this, apparently, was an exception

She had not defied his order It had never occurred to her even to question it But now she had to wonder--if Verity had been a friend, or even sohtly h to disobey her father? She’d like to think she would, but she knew in her heart Verity would have had to have been a very close friend indeed for her to have done so It wasn’t that Cecilia was unkind; she just wouldn’t have thought to behave differently

Society had its dictates for a reason, or at least she’d always thought so Perhaps it was ht about the dictates of society She’d si that fallen girl

She wished she had been kinder She wished she had gone to Verity Markham’s house and held her hand in friendship She wished she hadsince left the village; her parents told everyone she was living with her great-aunt in Cornwall, but there wasn’t a soul in Matlock who believed it Cecilia had no idea where Verity had gone, or even if she’d been allowed to keep her child

A sob burst fro and harsh that she had to block her mouth with her fist just to hold it in She could bear this--maybe--if she were the only one affected But there would be a child Her child She did not knohat it was to be a mother She barely even knehat it was to have one But she knew one thing: She could not subject her child to a life of illegitimacy if it ithin her power to do otherwise

She had already stolen so much from Edward--his trust, his very name She could not steal his child, too It would be the ultireat father And he would love being one

If there was a childhe nant, she would stay She would tell Edward everything, and she would accept the consequences for the sake of their child

But if she was not pregnant--and if her courses followed their usual schedule she would knoithin a week--then she would leave Edward deserved to have his life back, the one he had planned for, not the one she’d thrust upon hi, but she’d do it in a letter