Page 3 of His Improper Lady

“Moreland of the Duke of Broughton’s Moreland?” Wells’s eyebrows shot up.

“Yes, I think so. I’m not sure what the office has to do with the Morelands, but the sign says it’s a detective agency.”

“Oh, even better.” Brock sighed.

She made a face at him. “They won’t know it was me.”

“I still don’t understand why you did something for Falk.”

“That was what he wanted from me in return for telling me who our father is.”

“That’s why you risked jail?” Brock surged to his feet again. “I can tell you who your father is. He is a weak, selfish man who was unfaithful to his wife and uncaring about his children. He was a man who couldn’t face up to his duty to his legal wife and who abandoned you and Wells. He fled his marriage but he didn’t want to have to do it alone, so he took our mother, his mistress, with him, leaving us to starve. Why would you want to find out his name?”

“I didn’t say I liked him. I know our parents abandoned us like a pair of old shoes. I just want to know who he was!”

“What good will that do you?” Brock asked.

“I don’t know. Don’t you ever wonder who your father was? Whose blood runs in your veins?”

“No. Never. The man is nothing to me. And the blood that runs in my veins is mine.” Brock paused, his eyes dark. “Wells and I are your family. Is that not enough?”

“Of course you’re enough.” Desiree knew her brother well enough to see the pain that lurked beneath his stern face, and guilt swept her. She jumped up and hugged him, saying fiercely, “You and Wells are my family. The only family I need. The only family I want.” She stepped back, looking intently into his eyes so he would see the truth there. “You’ve been the best brother one could have. You’ve always taken care of us, even when you were so young someone should have been taking care of you. You came back for us, just as you said would, and freed us from Falk. You’ve built this whole lovely life for us.”

A smile twitched at the corner of Brock’s lips and he raised his hands. “Enough, enough. You’ve convinced me. I am a paragon of a man.” He took her hand and squeezed it, then said, “I cannot think Falk would be a reliable source of information. What did he tell you?”

“Nothing. I haven’t seen him yet. I came straight home. I doubt he’ll tell me anything because I couldn’t find what he wanted. But...” Her eyes took on a sparkle. “As it turns out, I don’t think I’ll need him. Our father was a Moreland.”

CHAPTER THREE

IF SHE HAD hoped to shock her brothers, she certainly achieved her goal. Both men stared at her blankly. Finally, Brock dropped back into his chair. “What makes you think that?”

“I found something when I was in the office. I opened a desk drawer, and there was a ring inside. A ring exactly like the one you have. The one our father gave you.”

“Are you certain?” Wells asked skeptically. “I mean, there must have been little light.”

“I held it up to my lantern. I could see it clearly. It was just like Brock’s ring. A plain gold ring with that crest engraved on it.”

“A number of coats of arms look very similar,” Brock pointed out.

“It was the same.”

“Even so, that doesn’t necessarily mean that it is the duke’s crest,” Wells mused.

“And you don’t know that the desk where you found it belongs to a Moreland. I realize the name is on the door, but I doubt a Moreland actually works there. He probably financed it, and the other chap does the work. What was the other name?”

“Quick.”

Brock frowned. “That name sounds faintly familiar.”

“You mean you remember it? Was that our father’s name?” Desiree asked.

Brock shook his head. “I don’t know. I don’t remember your father’s name. It wasn’t something they would have bandied about.”

“Quick doesn’t sound like a patronym that would have a coat of arms,” Wells pointed out.

“I can see that you two are determined not to believe me,” Desiree said.

“It’s not that we don’t believe you,” Brock protested. “I’m sure you found the ring. I’m just not sure it means what you think it does.”