“This man…are you certain he cannot be punished?”
“I cannot prove he did it. Nothing is so simple. I must tread very carefully, my daughter, for all our sakes. There is danger. Do you understand? I must have your promise you will not act alone or tell your sisters before I am ready to do so. Will you promise me?”
Vivianna nodded reluctantly. “Yes, I promise.”
“Then trust me in this. I swear I would die rather than allow you all to be harmed again. I will send word when I have news.”
Again Vivianna nodded. It was, she realized, time to go. She did not want to go, but she knew she must. This was not her home, and although Aphrodite was her mother, she had not been in that position for many years. Lady Greentree—Mama—would be wondering where she was. Lady Greentree had been her mother since she was a child, and Vivianna realized, with a sense of regret, that Aphrodite must remain in the shadows.
Aphrodite must have known that herself, for she gave a sad little smile. “You go home now,” she said. “I know you must. I do not hate Lady Greentree. She has cared for you and loved you, and I am grateful. I lost you long ago, and now you are back, but it cannot be as it was. I know that. I know that.” She sighed and shook her head. “Go, mon chou, and I will send word when it is time to meet your father. But please, you may come back to me. Whenever you wish.”
“Thank you. I will. I think I will need time to believe this is not a dream.”
“Of course. Goodbye, Vivianna. Goodbye, my daughter.”
She fell into her arms again, and then she was beyond the door. Outside, the birds were singing. She could hear them above the noise and chaos of London. She had found her mother. After so many years they were reunited.
She could hardly believe it.
And the birds were singing.
“I have lost her. I have found her, only to have lost her. Oh, Jemmy, Jemmy, I never thought…I never realized it would hurt so much, when I am so happy.”
“My love, my poor love.”
Aphrodite took a deep breath, though it cost her dearly. “I cannot grieve for her anymore. I cannot. She is safe and happy, she is a wonderful person. I should be proud and pleased, and I am, Jemmy. I am!”
“She is an awful lot like you, my love.”
Aphrodite’s eyes brightened a little, and she wiped her cheeks with her fingers, rather like Vivianna had done earlier. “Is she?”
“You know she is.” He handed her a handkerchief. “What will you do about the father?”
Aphrodite attempted to marshal her thoughts. “I will go and see him, as I promised. Fraser was never a problem, but he is not a young girl’s idea of a father. She will be disappointed, Jemmy.”
“That isn’t your fault.”
“No, that isn’t my fault.”
“And the others?”
Aphrodite shrugged, her eyes mournful. “There will be time to decide what to do. There must be. I cannot risk such a thing happening again, or worse.”
“I will kill him for you. You know I would do anything—”
“But I cannot be sure. I was never entirely sure. I feel he was responsible, but there was never any proof. How can I accuse a man of such a crime when I have no proof? It is his word against mine, Jemmy.”
“Let me kill him for you.”
“Hush, Jemmy, hush.” She leaned against him, feeling the strength in his arms, the familiarity of the man she had loved all her life. The man she had lost, only to find again years later.
He kissed her and stepped back. Jemmy unbuttoned his red jacket. “You need to rest, my love,” he said. “Let me take you upstairs.”
She smiled. “Yes, I would like that, Jemmy. I still have you, don’t I? Though after all I have done, I do not think I deserve you.”
“You did what you had to, as I did what I had to. The past is over, and we are together now.”
Jemmy Dobson bent his head to kiss the only woman he had ever loved.
Vivianna was in a daze when she returned to the house. She did not know what to say to her family, so she said nothing, removing herself to her room and pretending she had a headache. Another lie, but she could not think of that now. The humiliation, the sense of betrayal, and her broken heart were all still there, but they were juxtaposed with this new joy.
She had found her mother. She was Aphrodite’s daughter. Her past was suddenly a little less mysterious, although not entirely. There were still secrets, and it seemed that Aphrodite meant to hold them close to her and not reveal too much. Maybe it was, as she said, for Vivianna’s sake and the sake of her sisters, but Vivianna wished with all her passionate nature she could solve the problem now.
By the time she came down to supper, Vivianna felt a little better, though she was still pale enough to cause comment. Marietta was full of the wonders of London—she had spent the afternoon with Mr. Jardine and Lil, wandering about Madame Tussaud’s at the Baker Street Bazaar. Lady Greentree had been closeted with her sister, no doubt offering sympathy and advice concerning her husband. Lady Greentree had loved her own husband and sincerely mourned him still—he had died in India with her brother, Thomas Tremaine. They were best friends, had served in the same regiment and had both succumbed to fever within days of each other. In fact, it was through Thomas that Amy Greentree had first met her husband all those years ago.
Speaking of him now, Lady Greentree sighed, “Even after all this time I miss him so.”
“It was a love match,” Helen said. “You were fortunate that it worked out for you, Sister. Sometimes, in the first flush of love, one is blinded.”
There was an uncomfortable silence, as they all thought of the horrid Toby—and Vivianna of Oliver. Mr. Jardine cleared his throat. “I never had the pleasure of meeting your husband, Lady Greentree. I wish I had. He sounds an admirable sort of man.”
Lady Greentree gave him a grateful smile. “He was, Mr. Jardine. I am sure you and Edward would have got on very well together.”
Although, thought Vivianna, if Edward had not died, then Mr. Jardine would not have found himself a home at Greentree Manor. It occurred to her now, watching them together, that her mother and Mr. Jardine were extremely well matched. Perhaps because of her own new and tender position as a brokenhearted lover, she saw them from a different perspective. It was odd, that they had never considered marriage: Mr. Jardine was a gentleman, even if he had lost his fortune, and a personable man in looks and manners; Lady Greentree was calm and lovely, and universally admired. And yet, still mourning for her husband as she was, perhaps Lady Greentree did not notice other men. At least, she did not notice them as prospective bridegrooms!
“Edward would have been a wonderful father to you all,” Lady Greentree said now, looking about at her two daughters. “He longed for children.”
“I wonder who my real father is.”
It was Marietta, as usual saying exactly what was in her mind, without thought for the consequences. Vivianna, who now knew of the past, bit her lip. A crease marred Lady Greentree’s usually serene countenance.
“Dear child, I, too, wish I knew! After you were all found, we tried to discover the secrets of your past, but without success. William searched high and low, and even placed advertisements in some of the more widely read newspapers and circulars, but there was no response. Not one person came forward. Not one clue did we receive. We tried our very best, indeed we did, but to no avail!”
“I am sure Marietta did not mean to criticize you, Mama,” Vivianna said quietly, with a glance at her sister. “We know how hard you tried to find out the truth about us.”
Marietta gave her sister a cross look. “Of course I was not criticizing Mama! I was merely wondering out loud.”
“Perhaps it would be better for you not to know,” Vivianna retorted. “Not everyone is ready to hear the truth, and sometimes knowing it can be more dangerous than ignorance.”
She should not have spoken; she knew it as soon as the words spilled from her lips. But she had had a diffi
cult day and her head was not as clear as it should have been. Marietta tossed her fair curls and sulked, while Mr. Jardine gave her a little smile. Helen sipped from her glass. It was Lady Greentree who seemed most struck with Vivianna’s words. She was watching her eldest daughter with a clear, pale look that Vivianna knew well.
Amy Greentree sensed that something was amiss.
And Vivianna knew that Amy Greentree would not rest until she had winkled the truth out of her.
Lady Greentree’s visit to her bedchamber was no surprise to Vivianna. She smiled at her mother in the mirror as Lil busied herself brushing out her hair.
“I wanted to speak with you,” Lady Greentree said, and sat down on the chair by the window. Outside, the street was quiet, only the occasional rattle of a coach or the clip of a horse’s hooves.
Vivianna caught Lil’s eye, and the maid gave a little bob and left them alone. Vivianna began to tidy her dressing table, moving the few pots and jars about. She had never been much for lotions and potions—for devices women used to hide behind. Perhaps that was why Oliver had found it so easy to hurt her—she was honest and true, while he was devious.
“Vivianna?”
“Yes, Mama.” The word came naturally and Vivianna knew it always would. Lady Greentree was her mother and nothing could change that. Aphrodite was…well, she was Aphrodite. It was too late now for Aphrodite to assume that place in Vivianna’s life, but she could be a friend. A special friend.
“Something has happened,” Lady Greentree said, watching her daughter from the shadows. “You are sad, my dear. Is it Lord Montegomery? Has he done something to—”
Perhaps it was to prevent her mother probing any further with her questions about Oliver, perhaps it was just that she wanted to tell her. Needed to tell her. Or perhaps it was the right thing to do. She had promised Aphrodite that she would not tell her sisters, but she had said nothing of Lady Greentree. Vivianna ached from holding this secret in, and if anyone had a right to know, then it was this woman who had shaped her life.
“I have found my mother,” she said evenly, and thought how strange it sounded.
Lady Greentree started forward, her lips open, her face chalky white. “You have found your…mother?” she whispered. “How…?”
“It was purely accidental. I was following Oliver and I…I met a woman. She asked to know a little of my past and I…we realized that I was her daughter. Lost all these years. Mama, she looked for us, she searched, but we had been taken from her. After we met again, she did not even want to tell me the truth. She knew I was happy with my life as it is now, and she thought she would spoil it. In the end it slipped out.”
Lady Greentree was listening, but Vivianna could see she was growing more and more concerned. Worried for her own relationship with Vivianna? Perhaps. But Vivianna thought it more likely she was worried that Vivianna would be hurt.
“Are you certain she is your mother?” she asked. “There are unscrupulous people in this world, and—”
“Oh yes, I am certain. I know you are thinking that she may have duped me, but Mama, she has Francesca’s looks, and…there is me in her face, too, and Marietta, sometimes. She is our mother. I know it, in my mind and my heart.” Vivianna smiled wanly. “Mama, you will not like this, but her name is Aphrodite and she is a…was a courtesan.”
Lady Greentree blinked. “Good Lord,” she said faintly.
Vivianna pulled a face. “Wait, there is more. The three of us are the children of her lovers, three different lovers. She will not tell me their names. She means to protect them, and us, I think. When we were taken from her she thinks it was by someone connected to her, and she fears that person will harm us again. I must wait. I must be patient while she contacts my father.”
Lady Greentree searched for words. “Will I be able to meet her, this Aphrodite?”
“Do you wish to?” Vivianna asked, hardly daring to hope.
Lady Greentree smiled, and now there was genuine amusement in her eyes. “Am I so straitlaced, my dear? I admit it is not the ideal situation, but if it is what you wish, then I am more than happy to meet with Aphrodite.”
Vivianna went to her mother and knelt by her, resting her head upon her lap. Lady Greentree stroked her hair, much as Aphrodite had done earlier, each touch of her fingers filled with love.
“You are my daughter, Vivianna. You know that, don’t you? I do not think of you in any other way. Greentree Manor is your home. I would hate to think that you might feel you had to live with Aphrodite, and yet I would also hate to think you felt obliged to stay with me because you owed me some debt or other.”
Vivianna shook her head. “You are my mama,” she said, “and nothing will change that. Aphrodite was lost to me many years ago, and although I am glad to have been reunited with her, I do not think either of us wants to suddenly set up house together. She has her own life and I have mine. But I would like you to meet her, Mama, and I would like to know the name of my father. I have never felt entirely whole, you see. And I think, if I can know these things, then I may.”
“Of course I understand that, Vivianna. And of course I will meet her.”
Vivianna smiled through her tears. “Thank you,” she whispered, and they both knew it was not just the willingness to meet Aphrodite she was thanking her for. “I…I would suggest tomorrow, but I promised I would help Greta and Susan. There is much to be done if we are to move the children to Bethnal Green.”
“My love, I am quite happy to wait until you are ready. This must have come as rather a shock to you—I know it has to me. Perhaps you need time to adjust.”
Vivianna did not know what she needed. She had found her mother, but it had not made her life complete. For a moment a memory of Oliver flitted into her mind, his lazy smile and the gleam in his dark blue eyes as he looked at her. Her heart squeezed and the pain was enough to make her stop remembering.
Chapter 18
The following morning, Vivianna met the Beatty sisters at the former lodging house at Bethnal Green; it was not at all as Miss Greta remembered it. The three women gazed about in surprise at the newly painted walls and the repairs that had turned a sagging, soggy dwelling into a place pleasantly smelling of sawdust. There was even a small garden at the back, the soil already tilled and waiting.
Oliver had warned her he had made repairs, but she had not appreciated how much he had done. She could hardly believe it. All this, for the children? Or was it for you? teased a mocking little voice in her head.
“Of course not!” she muttered, and then bit her lip. Luckily the two sisters were as flabbergasted as she and did not hear her talking to herself.
“Well!” Miss Susan’s eyes were brighter than they had been for weeks. “I still don’t want to leave Candlewood, but I think we can have no qualms about moving the children here.”
Miss Greta had a little smile on her mouth. “Lord Montegomery has certainly taken some time and trouble to please us.” Her glance to Vivianna was quizzical, “Or to please someone.”
Vivianna sniffed. “We must have pricked his conscience enough for him to feel obliged to make the place habitable.”
“I think we can safely begin to move our belongings from Candlewood,” Miss Greta said, practically.
“Yes.” Miss Susan smiled. “Oh, the children will be pleased.”
When Vivianna returned to Queen’s Square, she found that Aphrodite had sent Dobson with a message that her father had been told and wanted to meet her. It was as if a new phase in her life was opening, and Vivianna welcomed it.
And once more determined to put Oliver behind her.
Angus Fraser lived in Grosvenor Square. The house was certainly imposing; it spoke of opulence and wealth and grandeur. But Fraser was no aristocrat, he was a self-made man. Aphrodite had told Vivianna that by living in such a house Fraser was showing off to the nobility who had mocked and snubbed him all his life. “He is rubbing their noses in it,” Aphrodite had explained with a wry smile, “and that is very
Fraser.”
Inside the house it was more like a museum. Cold and empty and full of beautiful things. A little dusty, too. Vivianna only saw two servants on her way up the sweeping grand staircase to her father’s bedchamber.
“Is he all alone in the house?” she asked Aphrodite.
“It is how he wants it to be,” Aphrodite said with one of her shrugs.
Vivianna wished she could accept such things as matter-of-factly as her mother, but the echoing house saddened and disturbed her. And the thought that in just a moment she would be face-to-face with her father frightened and yet elated her at the same time.
Despite everything, her treacherous heart longed for Oliver’s arms about her. Instead, she slipped her fingers into Aphrodite’s, and was grateful for her comforting squeeze.
“I know I promised not to tell my sisters about you,” she said quietly, “but I have told my mother…Lady Greentree. I am sorry, but she knew something was wrong, and I have lied to her enough lately. Did I do the wrong thing?”
Aphrodite turned toward her with a suddenly still and pale face. She then looked away and chewed on her lip. “I…maybe not. Maybe it is for the best that you did so, Vivianna. Yes, I think you did the right thing. Anyway”—with a forced smile—“it is done now.”
They reached an arched doorway with double doors; the way into Fraser’s bedchamber. Aphrodite halted.
“I have told you that Fraser is dying,” she said. “He has no legitimate heirs. You are his only child, Vivianna. I do not know what he plans to say to you; Fraser does not show his feelings to me. He has asked to speak to you alone.”
“But—”
“Do not be afraid. His bark is worse than his bite. You will see.”
Vivianna moved to open one of the doors. Aphrodite had told her a little about her father in the coach on the way here. Fraser was very rich, but he was not a gentleman. Most of his wealth came from breweries in London and elsewhere about the country. He could be blunt and rude.
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