“Charlotte?”
“Did my mother know?” Charlotte turned to look her father squarely in the eyes.
“I beg your pardon?” Lord Cunningham said and walked further into the room to take the armchair opposite the one in which his daughter sat.
“Did my mother know?” She said again and stared at him levelly, witnessing the very moment in which he realized the meaning behind her words.
“About Ruth?” He said with a suddenly exhausted sigh. “No, she never knew. I went to very great lengths to ensure that she was not confronted with the awful truth.”
“Who was Ruth’s mother?” Charlotte said and realized that her anger had dissipated the very moment that her father had volunteered the truth.
For some reason, she had expected him to lie to her and yet she realized that he never truly had before. Yes, he had held the most damaging of all secrets close to his chest, but he had always answered his only daughter honestly in all other things.
“I daresay you will not remember the woman, Charlotte, she was your nurse. She spent a good deal of time caring for you when your mother could not, and as time went on, she took a good deal of care of me too.”
“And mother never knew?”
“You must not think that this was something I undertook lightly. And in truth, such intimacy between myself and your nurse happened only once. But then once is enough, is it not? Once is surely once too often when you have given your vow to another.”
“But you cared for her?”
“Yes, I cared for her great deal. In truth, she was a friend to me, despite the difference in our station. I do not wish to excuse my actions in any way and I hope you will believe me when I tell you that I am not. But I was extraordinarily lonely as a young man, your mother had been ill for more of our marriage than she was well.”
“But that was not her fault.”
“No, it was not her fault. It was nobody’s fault, Charlotte.” The old Baronsaid and his pale blue eyes shone with tears. “It was not your mother’s fault, it was not my fault, it was not Violet’s fault.”
“Her name is Violet?”
“Yes, and I would beg you not to think ill of her, for she was the kindest of women. The blame was mine, every bit of it, and I would not seek to blame anybody else.”
“But where did she go? Surely you did not dismiss her when you discovered she was with child, especially since you say that you did not blame her for what happened between you.”
“I did not dismiss her and would never have done so. She went away for a while, obviously, when her belly began to swell, and it would become clear to all that she was with child. But I did not intend to abandon her, and Violet knew that. I had every intention of taking my responsibilities, whatever it was that Violet chose to do in the end, I had promised to support her.”
“And so, she decided to give her child away?”
“Unfortunately, Violet did not have a say in the matter, Charlotte. You see, that poor young woman died giving birth to Ruth and so, in the end, I could not fulfill my obligation to her. But I could fulfill my obligation to my daughter.”
“You gave her away?”
“For her sake as well as your mother’s. There was no way I could see of keeping the child in the house without alerting your mother to the very great wrong I had done her. In the end, all I could do was have her raised by another family and then, the very moment she was old enough to come here and work, I went back for her.”
“But Papa, my own sister has been my maid all these years.”
“And that was the very best that I could do for her at the time. You know well that the offspring of such clandestine affairs are treated with far more scorn than the perpetrators. Ruth would have been vilified as illegitimate and despised when, in truth, I should have been the one to suffer.”
“Yes, that is very true.” Charlotte said and sighed.
It was the way of England and she knew it. Even though her father’s mistake had been very grave, he had truly done as much as he could do for his secret daughter without giving her away to everybody.
“Does she know?” He said and suddenly looked as if he would truly shed the tears which continued to shine in his eyes.
“She does,” Charlotte said and was suddenly keen to ease his worries. “But she is not at all angry with you, Papa, you must not worry about that. She cares for you the same way she always has. She is a very fine young woman.”
“Yes, she is. And I cannot tell you the pain it has caused me at times to look upon my own daughter and know that she is just a servant in my house.”
As Lord Cunningham bent his head to hide his tears, Charlotte realized just how much he must have suffered over so many years. Her father was not like other men; he did not have the capacity to father children and ignore them as so many in his position did. Charlotte knew that he undoubtedly loved Ruth every bit as much as he loved her, and she was relieved to know it.
“I wish you had told me, Papa,” Charlotte said tearfully, knowing that, in the end, that was all she had left with which to reproach him. “I wish I had not heard it from another.”
“And who was it? I cannot think that dear Gwendolyn knew if your mother did not.”
“It was James Harrington.”
“The Duke’s son?”
“No, he is the Duke now.”
“And that is why he disappeared so suddenly all those years ago?”
“It was not James who sought the information but rather his father. He had held it over James these last three years that he would, if James continued to associate with me, tell all of society the truth of Ruth’s origins. And so, James kept it to himself and did, in the end, just as his father had wanted him to do.”
“And is he married now?”
“No, he is not.”
“Then he defied his father in the end, did he not? By not marrying at all?” Lucas looked up and smiled, his eyes red and his expression resigned.
“I suppose so.”
“Well, I am sure that he had his reasons for telling you in the end. When a young man does something to protect another, even when it causes pain to himself, he is not to be dismissed lightly.”
He looked right into Charlotte’s eyes and she could hardly believe that, even in such a moment, her father’s first thought was her own future happiness.
“Well, I am too tired to think of it at the moment. I shall come back to that another day.” She rose to her feet and felt suddenly exhausted. “Papa, forgive me but I must lay down for a while.”
“Of course.” Lord Cunningham rose to his feet also but stood tentatively as if he did not know whether or not his own daughter would welcome his embrace anymore.
Charlotte, almost broken by his uncertainty, covered the short distance and threw her arms around his neck.
“Can you forgive me?” He whispered, his voice ragged.
“Of course, I can.” Charlotte said, surprised to discover that it was, in the end, what she truly wanted to do.
“Then I have another daughter’s forgiveness I must beg, have I not?” He said as he released her.
“Yes, but I do not think that she will deny you either.” Charlotte said and kissed his cheek before turning to leave the room.
Chapter 32
When James received a hurried note from Ruth Clarkin that she and her mistress were to depart for the east, he had begun to pack immediately. Without even sending word forward to Hector and Lawrence that he would be staying, he set off as soon as he was ready.
Ruth had begged him not to give up on her sister for otherwise all the pain and hardship would have been for nothing. She gently suggested that he ought to make his way to Hanover Hall and wait to hear from her.
So, his accomplice, however much she had suffered, was still willing to work with him. What a very fine young woman Ruth Clarkin was.
But James had an important call to make on the way and he instructed his driver to stop in town at the office of Charles Holt, Attor
ney at Law.
When he jumped down from the carriage and approached the front door, he sincerely hoped he would find the dreadful little weasel was in residence. Holt was the last piece of unfinished business, barring Charlotte herself, and he was determined to set things to rights before making his way to Hanover Hall.
On the day James had spoken to Ruth and decided that he would, finally, tell Charlotte everything, he had immediately made his way to the office of Mr. Jacob Summerton, the attorney who had been so helpful to him in his quest to be closer to Charlotte again.
Telling the man he intended to retain him as the attorney to the Duchy, he asked him to draw up an immediate and very specific document. Summerton did so without delay, clearly delighted to be so endorsed by the Duke of Sandford.
When he knocked at the office door, a middle-aged woman with a sour expression opened it and ushered James in. When he announced himself as the Duke of Sandford, the old crow looked for all the world as if she could not care less. Still, she no doubt suffered enough if she was Holt’s housekeeper. She had likely already had her fair share of being ordered about by Holt as if he was the master of a grand establishment himself.
She left him in an overly opulent office, clearly, the old Duke had paid Holt well, and returned moments later with the attorney, whom she announced rather grandly as if the man had just wandered down an ornate staircase to be presented at a ball.
Charles still wore the look of self-satisfaction he had worn ever since realizing he had the upper hand in the master-servant relationship. Well, that was all about to come to an end.
The very moment the housekeeper had departed, James rose from his seat and lurched across the room, grasping Holt by the throat just as he had done three years before.
Before Charles Holt could make a sound, James had forced him back across his own desk and held him down with ease.
“So, you think I have forgotten my promise to make your life a misery, do you?” James hissed angrily, feeling every rough emotion he had felt the last time the two of them had come to blows.
“What? Your Grace, please.” Holt squeaked, and James was gratified by his fear.
“When I release you, I have a paper for you to sign.” James went on with menace.
“Then I shall read it over, Your Grace and…..”
“No, you will just sign it, or I shall choke the life out of you here and now.” James said and released him.
He threw Holt into a chair and slapped the paper hard down on the desk, glaring at the terrified attorney the whole time.
“You cannot make me sign this.” Charles said as he scanned the document.
“And yet you will sign it.”
The paper contract was a brief promise never to speak of the events Charles Holt had learned whilst acting upon the instructions of the last Duke. Any breach of the contract would result in Charles Holt forfeiting a larger sum of money than he had ever possessed in his life, not to mention the possibility of criminal charges.
“I shall cry out.” Charles said hopelessly.
“Not if you cannot breathe you shall not.” James pressed the feather quill into the attorney’s hand and forced him to dip it into the inkwell and sign his name.
“This is not legally binding. This is coercion.”
“And who on earth is going to believe you over me? The old Duke is dead, and the new Duke will stick at nothing if you cross him. Do you understand? And it goes without saying that your services are no longer required by the Duchy of Sandford.”
Charles Holt merely nodded and raised a hand to the reddened skin of his throat.
Content with his little piece of business, James rose to his full height, smiled, and walked out of Charles Holt’s office, safe in the knowledge that the man was too much of a coward to go up against him in the future. He had underestimated James and it had been his undoing.
Hector had, as always, been very pleased to see him and not at all perturbed by his sudden appearance. Perceiving, as he always did, that all was not well, Hector had very quickly rooted as much of the truth out of James as he could possibly be given.
And, as always, Hector’s insistence that James get on with things and not simply sit and wait had propelled him into motion once more. Just two days after arriving at Hanover Hall, James set off on one of Hector’s horses across the fields, covering the short distance to Thurlow Manor in no time at all.
It was with some trepidation that he approached the front of the house and he smiled nervously as he asked the housekeeper to let Lord Cunningham know that he had come specifically to see him.
He waited for only a few nervous moments in the hallway before Lord Cunningham himself was striding towards him with a smile on his face and his hand outstretched.
James could hardly believe the reception, having fully expected that Lord Cunningham, angry at James for his upending of his life, would have thrown him out without so much as an audience. But he was seeming to welcome James back into his home as if there had not been three years passed since their last meeting.
“How very nice to see you, Your Grace.” The Baron said without real ceremony, despite the fact that he had addressed James correctly.
It was nice to see that the Baron remained unchanged, whatever had passed beneath the roof of his house in the last days.
“And it is a pleasure to see you, Lord Cunningham. In truth, I did not think that you would admit me.”
“Oh, that is just silly, my dear fellow. Come along, we shall sit in the drawing room for a while. I have asked the housekeeper to arrange for a tea tray.” Lord Cunningham laid in arm over the younger man’s shoulder and led him through the corridor to the drawing room.
“Have a seat.” He said the minute the two of them were alone and the door closed behind them.
“Thank you, Lord Cunningham,” James said and knew that he could not wait for the man himself to broach the subject, he would have to be the one to begin. “I have come here to see you today to apologize for all the upset that I have undoubtedly caused you and your family.”
“You are apologizing for things that are outside of your control, young man.” Lord Cunningham said with a smile. “After all, it was not you who fathered a child out of wedlock, was it?”
“But you can hardly think that it was my business to tell it to Charlotte and Ruth.” James was a little dumbfounded after a sleepless night expecting the worst.
“No, it was my business to tell them, but I did not do that, did I? I knew that it was all bound to come out one day and yet I did nothing to soften the blow. I kept my head in the sand, as it were, and hoped for the best.”
“I would never have told them without good reason.” James wanted desperately to explain himself.
“And I can already guess at your reasons, Your Grace.” Lord Cunningham smiled. “With your father gone, you thought that you might be able to find an easy route back into my daughter’s heart. But then you know her almost as well as I do, so you must have realized that she would never have made it easy for you. It is in her nature to analyze, to make decisions, and to stand by them. If I am truthful, you would never have been able to find your way back into her heart without telling her why you left in the first place. And I do not think you would have taken that decision lightly, and so I cannot blame you for it.”
“And yet I had expected that you would.”
“It would be the easy way out, would it not? To take all my anger and disappointment in myself and place it on the shoulders of another who does not deserve it. But in the end, that would have got me nowhere, would it?” The old Baron leaned his head against the high-back of his armchair and sighed. “And if I am to continue to be honest, I am bound to say that the situation, now that it has come to a head, has finally provided me with a great sense of relief. It is as if I had been squeezed for many years, my entire body in the grip of a vice, and now somebody has undone it set me free and I am, in the end, extraordinarily grateful to you.”
“I must
be honest and say that I did not see that outcome, Sir.”
“And yet it is the outcome nonetheless, so all that there is left to do is for us to move forward, do you not think?”
“Yes, I do.”
“So instead of worrying about me and my relationship with my daughters, perhaps you ought now to turn your attention to your own relationship with my dear Charlotte. You must not forget that all of this is for a reason and you cannot give up now, can you?” The Baron smiled at him in a knowing way and James realized for the first time in his life what it would have been like to have had a true father.
“I shall do my very best.”
A Damsel for the Daring Duke Page 26
