Chapter 23 #2
He was beyond tired of taking the blame. Utterly exhausted. There was not a person in all of England who’d cast the culpability of his family’s ruin on a mere boy, which was what he’d been when it had all occurred.
It had to stop.
“Here, you can read for yourself, Mother.” He calmly folded the post with the shaming article front and center before handing it to Lady Cartwright.
“But, keep your venomous outbursts about my suitability as an earl to yourself. I am uninterested in your wallowing and self-pity over your cursed relations.”
Cart made to stand, a servant appearing to pull his chair back. He should feel victorious, vilified for finally speaking his mind to his mother instead of cowering in her presence.
Instead, he felt empty—and alone.
Not a single soul to call friend.
He was dead set against bringing Theo into any of this, as he knew the strained living arrangements did not escape her notice as it was.
As if conjured from his very thoughts, his younger sibling entered the room, her nose pressed so close to a book that she nearly collided with Cart as he attempted his dignified retreat from the dining area before his mother finished reading the article detailing his downfall.
“Simon,” she called, not bothering to look up to see if he was even in the room. “There is something dreadfully wrong—“ She ran into his outstretched palm. “Oof!”
“Slow down, puppet,” he said. “What can you find dreadfully wrong in a book”—he tilted the book up to see the cover—“that’s nearly a hundred years old?”
She gave him a knowing smile, as if proud to find something erroneous in a book Cart had studied a dozen times. “This, look here.” Theo pointed to the page before her, lowering the book so Cart could inspect what she’d been reviewing. “See this map?”
“Yes, it is a map of England, done by Robert Morden around 1695.”
Her narrowed look told him she was impressed by his skill at pinpointing the name of the mapmaker in questions. “Do you see anything off about this page?”
“Heavens, Theo,” he sighed, lifting the heavy book of maps from her outstretched hands. “It is a map, likely traced from the original by one of Morden’s many assistants.”
“Please, take a closer look, Simon,” she pleaded, her excitement at finding something unique showing in her voice.
His mother hadn’t seen fit to berate him as yet, so Cart took a closer look at the map, following the edge of England all the way around.
He briefly inspected the name of each shire, followed by the outlying areas including the channel.
Nothing seemed amiss—or maybe it was that he’d been overly distracted of late.
It only followed suit that his mind was not as sharp as it had once been.
Whatever Theo meant for him to find, he could not spot it. “I give up, Theo. What have you found?”
“Look!” Her small index finger landed on the bold script across their great country…and it was labeled Angland. She giggled in triumph at her keen observation skills. “I can hardly believe this.”
“Something our dear Simon didn’t notice?” Lady Cartwright fairly cooed from the table behind him. “Oh, Theodora, do pull your head from the clouds—if it weren’t for me, we’d be living in the poorhouse.”
“Mother,” Cart warned. They’d agreed long ago to keep their animosity between them and out of hearing range of Theo. “Theo, that is fascinating!”
“My lord?” Squires called from the doorway. “This just arrived for you.”
On the silver platter, a single cream envelope was perched. No writing to signify whom it was from.
“It arrived by courier only moments ago,” Squires answered Cart’s unasked question. “The man did not indicate a response was needed and left before I could ask his direction.”
“Thank you, Squires.” Cart lifted the letter from the platter.
“Lady Theodora, your languages tutor has arrived and awaits you in the schoolroom.” Squires tucked the empty tray under his arm, bowed, and departed the room, likely returning to his post at the front door.
“Puppet,” Cart said, tugging on her loose plait. “Hurry now to your studies.”
With a quick smile, Theo bounced from the room, overjoyed to have impressed Cart.
“Simon?” Lady Cartwright called from the table.
He glanced over to see his mother still studying the post. “Yes?”
“I think it best you find a school for Theodora with all haste.”
“I agree, Mother.” For the first time in many years, they were in agreement on something. “I will increase my efforts to locate a school for Theo.”
“Very good, and with this new development, it may be for the best if I distance myself from London with similar haste.”
Cart walked from the room, his disbelief over his mother conceding to a boarding school for Theo only overshadowed by her last words: distancing herself from London—and very soon.
Her disapproval of him was so ingrained in her every action and thought, he’d lost sight of their bond—a bond that he’d considered irrevocably broken years before.
And now she would leave him to his own follies—abandon him to repair the damage he’d done by his association with Jude. For once, he agreed it was something he deserved.
Cart continued to his study, the letter almost forgotten in his hand when he looked down and saw the missive addressed not to him, but the magistrate.