Fortune’s Final Folly

by McKnight, Christina

  Her motives were utterly selfless.

  When Henry returned from Oxfordshire with the news that Shrewbury Gardens was all but abandoned, Kate had only lowered her head and set about the task of doing as much as she could. Even now, she was across the street removing burnt floorboards alongside the workmen. His savings was dwindling, but Joshua did not care as long as Kate was happy.

  He ran his hand through his hair. He’d been foolish enough to believe that luck would be on their side, and the duke would send funds. Unfortunately, in similar fashion to Mr. Caleb Abelston, his solicitor, the Duke of Shrewbury was deceased, and his heir unaccounted for, likely on the Continent, living comfortably while Kate struggled in Cheapside. It irked him that he still had not been able to discover the connection between Kate and the Shrewbury dukedom.

  And so, it was as Joshua had always believed—unfair.

  He could accomplish nothing more this night; especially laboring over the unjust social classes that kept most of his country’s people in near or abject poverty and had Kate believing that their lives were never meant to cross paths. That some invisible force had deemed them unequal.

  He could only continue as he was and make do with what he had. That had to be enough…for the time being, at least.

  Across the street, two men exited the building, their arms full of their craftsmen tools as they departed for the night. The pair lived deeper in Cheapside in a boarding house for single men. They’d needed work, and Joshua had been obliged to see the work completed by men from the area. He watched as they passed the cobbler’s shop and the bookseller’s, pausing only briefly as they exchanged a few words with a man standing in the shadows of the walkway before nodding their heads and continuing on as night grew closer.

  Joshua extinguished the few candles Henry had left lit for him. While the sun had set behind the row of buildings, it was not so dark yet that it prevented him from collecting his things, locking up, and retrieving Kate for their ride home. With luck, they’d arrive at his townhouse before Dolly retired for the night, and he could thank her for the midday meal she’d packed for Kate and him and tucked away in his carriage without his knowledge.

  He smiled. His days were beginning to find a new routine, a better one. However, he was not misguided enough to think that it could be permanent, no matter how much he longed for it to be so. Eventually, the schoolroom would be repaired, and he and Kate would go back to waving at each other from their respective buildings.

  She’d made it clear she wanted nothing more; that their stations in life prevented it.

  However, he’d seen the longing in her eyes, and it matched his own. Could he prove to her that things did not have to be the way they were?

  He moved to the back office and took the key from his desk drawer. The chime sounded in the front.

  “I’m collecting my things and will be ready to depart shortly.” It was either Chapman, having pulled his carriage around, or Kate, her work for the day complete. His heart raced a bit at the thought of having someone other than his servant to greet him at the end of his day. He dipped to pick up a primer one of the children had discarded on the floor in their haste to leave earlier and returned it to his desk—or, more accurately, Kate’s desk as she’d been using it during school hours. He headed for the door.

  “Lord Joshua Stuart?” an unfamiliar voice asked from the doorway.

  “Good evening,” he called into the shadows at the front of the office. Someone stood there, but the darkness obscured them from sight. It was not uncommon for a Cheapside resident to seek him out for legal counsel after they’d finished their workday. “The office is closed for the day. However, I would be happy to schedule an appointment—”

  “You are Lord Joshua Stuart…of Stuart and Lords, Solicitors?” the woman prodded.

  Joshua took in the sight of the older female, her skirts skimming the floor, the material worn but not tattered. Her hair was piled and pinned atop her head. “Yes.” Few people in Cheapside knew about his Bond Street office.

  “I am looking for Miss Katherina Elliott.” Though her words were a demand, and she stepped farther into the office as she said them, Joshua sensed she did not mean to sound threatening. “You will give me her directions.”

  Joshua looked over the woman’s shoulder. The planks of wood were still nailed into place, covering the gaping holes where the door and front window of Kate’s home should be.

  “I am sorry, but I cannot—”

  “You represent her.” The woman’s voice deepened with stern conviction and…something else. Something personal. “Where can she be found?”

  “Yes, I represent her,” Joshua agreed. “She is my client. However, I cannot give you her personal information. How did you find me here?”

  “I was originally given the directions to your office off Bond. They sent me here,” she paused, clasping her hands before her. “After some prodding, of course. You went to Shrewbury. Was it Pierce who sent you?”

  “Pierce De Vere?” This was the first person he’d come into contact with who seemed familiar with Lord Holderness outside of his less than stellar reputation in town.

  “Yes.” Agitation flowed off her in heavy waves, and her chin trembled slightly—in an almost familiar way. “Did he send you?”

  Joshua shook his head. “No, no. I only know the man by name, and even that, only of late.”

  “He is not another client of yours?”

  “Certainly not.” The dimness of the room prevented Joshua from seeing the woman’s face clearly, but her shifting moods were evident. “I serve only Miss Katherina. I was charged with delivering her stipend on a quarterly basis. Did you come to ask after only De Vere?”

  Joshua had given away too much information mentioning the money, but he needed to know what this woman knew before she fled. She stepped from foot to foot in an anxious manner as if she were preparing to flee. If she left his office without sharing what she knew of Kate and De Vere, he might miss the opportunity to truly help Kate.

  “I am here for Katherina. Where is she?” The curt, clipped tone had Joshua taking a step back. “I have waited long enough, and I will not wait another moment.”

  The urgency in the woman’s voice had him discarding his jacket and setting about lighting the candles once more. She remained in the doorway, shrouded in shadows from the lack of light within the room, the setting sun outside being of little help.

  Light filled the office as he re-lit the wall sconces to reveal the woman. She was dressed as Joshua had suspected in a flowing, multicolored skirt with a thick, jeweled belt and yellowed blouse. The woman pinned him in place with her hardened stare.

  It was not that Joshua couldn’t move, it was that he didn’t want to move.

  Her hair was shot through with grey, but it did not take much imagination to see it had once been a deep ebony with shining curls. Her swarthy skin had the tone of a thousand desert days but the impact of a thousand frigid nights. Despite all of this, it was her eyes that held him transfixed.

  Almond-shaped with a color somewhere between blue and grey as if shortly after birth the color had been held in limbo, refusing to be one or the other yet uniquely both at the same time.

  All these years, Joshua had thought the shade one of a kind…something that could not be reproduced in more than one person. The color itself was an impossibility but having another matching set staring at him now was utterly unfathomable.

  “Your name, madam?”

  The woman’s chin notched up several degrees before she spoke. “The Countess of Holderness.” She paused, swallowed, and with evident reluctance, added, “A’laya De Vere. Or I once was.”

  Holderness? Was the name not linked to Shrewbury? And what did she mean, “I once was?” There had never been any word that Pierce De Vere had wed, no mention of another in the lineage archives Joshua had scoured, nor in the file they’d found. Nowhere had Joshua found evidence Pierce was living outside of England with a wife—and perhaps a family.
He was a reprobate, a rakehell, and a gambler.

  The woman’s name needed verification. Her identity did not.

  The resemblance was beyond words and outside of comprehension. It was more than anything Joshua could have imagined was true.

  Why had Kate not told him? Out of everything she’d kept private, why would she choose to keep this secret? She’d shared that she’d always felt different—could it be she was unaware of how different she was?

  “I am here for my daughter, Lady Katherina De Vere.”

  The utterance answered every question he’d had since discovering the unknown link between Shrewbury and the Vicar Elliott and his wife. That connection was Kate.

  It had always been Kate.

  The Elliotts had moved to London when she was but a babe, coming from places unknown, and had purchased a building with a large sum of money. Even in Cheapside, that was a feat, unless—as Joshua and Kate had discovered—a person had been given a bequest of some sort.

  “Your hand, my lord.” The countess removed her thick, woolen gloves from her hands and held her palms out to him. “Give. Now.”

  Where had this woman come from, and why was he pleased to see her fierceness?

  Joshua was helpless to stop himself from taking the several steps until he stood before the older woman. He should be leery of anyone asserting a claim over Kate. She was his.

  No, she wasn’t his.

  But he did as asked. Holding out his hands, she took hold of them and closed her eyes. Her head lowered, and she swayed slightly from side to side before stiffening.

  “Can I trust you, my lord?” she mumbled. Though her chin lifted, her eyes remained closed.

  She seemed to be listening intently, waiting patiently for his reply. The brief few moments he’d shared with her had not led him to believe that she was a woman practiced in patience.

  “I am unsure,” he confessed. “It depends on your intentions concerning Miss Kate.”

  “Lady Katherina.” Her eyes opened, and her penetrating grey-blue stare turned steely as it held his. “My instinct says you can be trusted. You are a protective man, my lord, and I am grateful to learn this. I feared you were somehow involved in keeping Katherina from me.”

  Involved? Joshua could not be further removed from things.

  “My man, Henry, I sent him to Shrewbury,” Joshua said, stumbling over his words. He pulled his hands from her grasp and retreated. “Why did you not make yourself known? He brought back word that the duke was not in residence—and hadn’t been in some years.”

  The chime above the door jingled, signaling another had arrived.

  “Joshua, I saw the lights extinguished and determined you were ready to depart. I hope I did not keep you waiting.” Kate’s light voice filled the room. “I must say I accomplished much today, especially if my terribly soiled gown is any indication. The workers informed me that, with a few more days of hard work, we should be ready for the lumber. I’ve sent word to Sally Ann’s elder brother. He’s thirteen or so, and strong. He can help some—”

  Kate stooped to collect the basket Dolly had packed their noonday meal in, her words cutting off when she finally noticed Joshua wasn’t alone.

  “Oh, my apologies, my lord.” Kate straightened, the basket forgotten as her words returned to a formal nature. “I wasn’t aware you were still working. I will go ‘round to the stables and wait until you have finished for the day.”

  Kate—no, Lady Katherina—turned to depart.

  “Wait,” he and the woman spoke in unison.

  His stare locked once more with the elderly woman before him.

  “Don’t go,” he said to Kate. “This concerns you. It is I who should take my leave.”

  This time, it wasn’t only Joshua who froze in place, the woman before him did, as well. Kate’s mother. He could not believe the sight before him.

  The questions that’d plagued them for the last few weeks were to be answered here and now.

  Nearly as an afterthought, Joshua wondered how many questions Kate had kept to herself during all of this.

  Chapter 12

  Kate glanced over the woman’s shoulder at Joshua, attempting to get his attention for a hint of what she’d interrupted and how it could possibly include her. However, his stare was locked on the woman whose back was to Kate. She didn’t recognize the voice, nor was she familiar with the woman’s chosen style of dress. Her skirts were a rainbow of colors that Kate suspected were difficult to obtain, even with an extensive collection of the best dyes available at the local market. She did not recognize her as a woman from the neighborhood nor a shop owner in Cheapside.

  “No, my lord, there is no need for you to leave.” The woman’s icy tone was more than a warning. It was a threat. But what threat could this stranger pose to Kate? “This matter is as much about you as anyone else.”

  The bank would not have sent a woman to convey official business, and she was far too advanced in age to be a courier. The hour was growing late, and the day was fast approaching night. The businesses in Cheapside—and Kate assumed all over London—had closed for the evening hours.

  “Miss Kate.” Joshua cleared his throat, finally glancing past the woman to Kate. “May I introduce the Countess of Holderness, Lady A’laya De Vere.”

  “But Henry was told…” Kate fell silent as the woman turned to face her. Everything about her was familiar in a way the vicar and his wife had never been. Kate’s jawline, her rich skin tone, and her almond-shaped eyes were mirrored in the woman’s countenance. Not to mention she was precisely the same height as Kate, and their hair held a similar curl. “…the duchess had passed away, and there was only mention of the earl. Never a wife.”

  Her last words were spoken barely above a whisper as Kate’s stare held the woman’s face—so similar to Kate’s own.

  The haphazard lady looked nothing like any countess Kate had ever imagined. Her hair was long and knotted as if it hadn’t seen a proper washing in weeks. Her blouse was yellowed and wrinkled, dusty from travel. Even her shoulders were slouched.

  But her eyes were sharp—and a very familiar hue.

  “My lady.” Kate dipped into a clumsy curtsey. “It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance.”

  Behind her, she heard the jingle of reins as Joshua’s carriage pulled to the curb outside the office, ready to take them back to Cavendish Square. Neither Kate nor the countess moved.

  Something within her felt complete, while another part of her, debatably a more significant piece, splintered and shattered into a million bits.

  The chime echoed in the quiet room as Joshua’s driver pushed open the door. “Ready, my lord?”

  “Can you give us a few moments?” Joshua asked the driver before gesturing toward the back room Kate had used for nearly two weeks. “I think we should retire to my office to speak privately. We shan’t be interrupted there.”

  When neither woman moved, Joshua nodded to Kate, who slipped by the countess and him and walked quickly toward the rear of the building. Her steps were stilted, the confusion in her mind making her body work extra hard to move.

  She didn’t give a whit about privacy. She needed to know why her likeness was reflected in the countess’s face. How it was possible? And…and…and…

  Kate was uncertain where to begin to try and understand what was transpiring around her. To her. She’d never heard of Shrewbury before the fire. Or the De Vere family name. Her parents had never spoken of living in Oxfordshire. And while Kate had held her doubts about who had given birth to her, she’d never imagined she was related to a countess.

  Behind her, the elderly woman’s footfalls were slow and light, while Joshua’s were as they always were, assured and steady. It gave Kate confidence despite how jumbled her thoughts were. Joshua was here, by her side, and together, they would sort it all out.

  “May I ask what is going on?” Kate pivoted to face the pair who’d entered the office after her, with Joshua hurrying to light the candles in the r
oom. Even in the darkness, the truth of the situation could not be hidden. “My lady, I cannot deny that I see an uncanny resemblance between you and I. Am I correct to assume we are related?”

  “More than that, Kate,” Joshua breathed.

  “Far more,” the woman concurred.

  “Can we please start from the beginning?” Kate asked.

  Joshua gestured to the row of seats she’d set up for her pupils. “Let us sit, please.”

  The countess glanced sideways at Joshua but did as requested, selecting a tall-backed, wooden chair. Kate sank into the open seat next to her, while Joshua moved behind his desk. Despite being overwhelmed, Kate was drawn to sit near the woman, to feel her presence as if the nearness would be enough to sort out everything in her mind and return the clarity Kate had felt before entering Joshua’s office.

  “You have been receiving funds?” It was the countess who broke the silence first. “All these years…”

  “My uncle was charged with delivering a quarterly stipend to Vicar Elliott and his wife before they passed. After that, the money arrived on schedule but addressed to Miss Katherina Elliott, their daughter.” Joshua folded his hands on his desk, but Kate could feel his discomfort as he stumbled over the word daughter. “I continued in my uncle’s stead until a few weeks ago when a fire ravaged Kate’s building and money was needed for repairs.”

  This was Kate’s mess to handle, not Joshua’s. But his presence gave Kate the courage to speak up.

  “We learned then a bank had been issuing the funds from an account set up nearly twenty years ago with an initial bequest of ten thousand pounds for the purchase of the building across the street.” It seemed odd that it was necessary to explain any of this to the woman as it was her family who’d been responsible for it all.

  “Around the time you were taken from me,” the countess whispered. Tears appeared in her eyes, and Kate had the overwhelming urge to pull the woman close and embrace her.