Chapter Twenty
Lisbeth sat with Jeremy and Alice, wishing that this wasn’t all so difficult.
Her daughter sulked. “Why do we have to go to the country? I want to stay in London. You said I could attend the next event at Seely House. I want to be there when Rose reveals the end of the epic. You should want to as well. You helped find the tablets.”
Alice’s older-than-her-years words did make Lisbeth smile. “I know you want to go, but I think we have had so much change; we should leave for a bit.”
“Is he going with us?” her daughter asked, folding her arms.
“Thomas Easton will stay with us in the country!” her son said, excited.
Her eleven-year-old rolled her eyes at her younger brother. “He is married to Mother.”
“I’m not sure what he will do.”
Alice looked at her weirdly. Her daughter was becoming far too perceptive. Lisbeth sighed. “I have to visit Seely House today for a few hours, but I promise tonight I will read your favorite story.”
Lisbeth kissed them both and smiled at their governess on her way to the foyer. Before she could leave, Morrison stopped her, carrying a bundle of mail. Her eyes widened. “Are those for me?”
He shook his head. “They are for Mr. Easton.”
They must be letters from his admirers. Jealousy flared in her. One of the gossip sheets had insinuated that Thomas might have married too early and didn’t realize how many admirers he had. She pushed the thought from her mind. “Please bring them to the guest chamber.”
Morrison nodded. Lisbeth pushed away all the emotions bubbling in her. She needed to go to Seely House. The place and the club had become her refuge over the last year.
A few hours later, she sat in the office alone.
Lisbeth was somewhat relieved. The papers were printing outrageous stories about Thomas, and Lisbeth had no way to explain it.
She glanced at the ledger she was working on.
She’d taken charge of the club’s finances and enjoyed it.
They weren’t making a great deal of money, but more than breaking even.
She had hoped Rose would be here. One of the guards had told her she had finished the ancient epic.
The hero lives happily ever after with the princess.
Why did the epic seem so less complicated than real life?
Feeling restless, she rose and walked to the research room.
The two tablets were held in a glass case there.
They would join the three other tablets in the exhibit room and be revealed at their next event in a month.
Lisbeth ran her hand across the glass; pride thrummed through her that she’d found them. Traveling to Syria was nothing like her current life, but she’d enjoyed it. She’d played a part in finding the first-ever ancient cuneiform story.
Motion at the door made her glance up; Addie peered at her. “Hello.”
She smiled at her. “Hello, friend.”
“Diana, Esme, and I just arrived and thought we’d have some tea. Would you like to join?”
Lisbeth wasn’t sure she wanted to do that. She didn’t want to answer any questions. As if reading her mind, Addie held out her hand. “Only share what you want.”
She placed her hand in Addie’s, and they walked to the office. Sarah and Rose were now in there as well. Lisbeth said, “Everyone is here.”
“We’re here for you. We want you to know that you aren’t alone,” Sarah provided.
She felt grateful for these women. “It is too complicated even to begin to explain.”
Esme ushered her over to the sitting area, and Diana asked, “Do you love him? He’s been at the Den, looking pretty miserable, my husband has told me.”
“We were so in love once. He felt like a part of me, and I felt like a part of him. Still, there have been so many changes in the last ten years. Marrying may have been foolish. No, not may, but was.”
“He loves you, Lisbeth,” Rose said, her voice filled with certainty.
“I believe he does, but it may not be enough.”
“He is behaving like a fool,” Esme tutted.
She shrugged. “He isn’t the only one at fault.”
Addie squeezed her hand. “What can we do?”
She smiled softly. “Just being here like this makes it better. Tell me something that doesn’t have to do with what is in the gossip sheets.”
Rose smiled. “I finished the epic.”
“The guard told me that,”
Her friend grinned, “Belit and Sibri end up together. He fights with the king but doesn’t kill him. The king agrees to let him and the princess be together, and then they eventually rule.”
“I love it,” Lisbeth said. She glanced at the other ladies. “Do we think that will gain us a spot in the Great Exhibition?”
Addie’s eyes sparkled. “I didn’t want to share too much, but I received a letter from the Royal Commission for the Great Exhibition, which is sending someone to our next event. I think we are close.”
The Great Exhibition would primarily showcase industrial technology from around the world, with a small area of the event dedicated to highlighting clubs and work being done in the field of antiquities.
Of course, the London Society of Antiquaries would have a space there, but they were so close to obtaining one as well.
Excitement fluttered in Lisbeth’s stomach.
Addie said, “Rose mentioned you may leave before our event.”
“So much is going on.”
Sarah frowned. “You are part of the success of the Historical Society for Female Curators. You should attend.”
“I will think about it, but don’t plan on me being there.”
The ladies looked disappointed. Rose stated, “We are here for you.”
She knew they were and was grateful.
*
Thomas sat in the drawing room with his mother. He’d spent the night, but she’d given him space, not pushing to talk. That was always his mother’s way. Eventually, he asked, “Why didn’t you tell me?”
His mother sighed. “I didn’t know until Alice was about three. I ran into Lisbeth, and we both knew I deduced that she was your child.”
“I still don’t understand why you didn’t write to me.”
A sigh escaped his mother. “Your letters after Lisbeth returned were so angry. I could feel the hostility and buried deep down the sadness, but around the same time I found out about Alice, your letters changed. You’d just had your first famous discovery in Syria.
It was the ruins of an ancient library. You were so excited and even happy.
I feared if I told you, you’d run back here and make yourself miserable. ”
“She was my daughter,” he bit out.
His mother reached over and squeezed his hand, “I know, and it ate at me every day, but I also didn’t want you to destroy your life.
Lisbeth has always been the one thing you wanted more than anything else.
If you came back, you still couldn’t have her.
And Alice would be another person you were denied. ”
“I’m still so angry at both of you.”
“I’m sorry, Thomas.”
He couldn’t hate his mother forever. Thomas nodded. Relief seemed to fill her face, but then she frowned. “Why did you marry Lisbeth?”
Thomas groaned. “Because I was angry.”
His mother frowned at him. “You married her because you love her and want a life with her and her children.”
He didn’t deny it but said, “I’ve made a mess of things.”
She nodded. “You have, but you can still fix it. Do you love her? If so, admit it to yourself. Once you do, you can figure out what needs to be done next.”
Thomas sighed. “Of course, I still love her, but I fear it isn’t enough. We’ve both behaved poorly.”
“If you don’t try, you’ll never know.”
He loved Lisbeth and wanted to try. Over the last few hours, he’d come to that realization. Still, Thomas wasn’t sure how it would end. He wasn’t optimistic. “I want to work things out with her.”
She beamed at him. “Before you leave, I wanted to provide you with some letters you received.”
Thomas watched as she walked to a table where a large bundle of mail was. She brought it back and shrugged. “They are admirers, I’m assuming. Except for this one. Try to be rational, no matter what it says.”
Intrigued, he looked at the letter on top of the pile. It was from the Earl of Adnin, Lisbeth’s brother. He opened it and read.
Easton,
I expect you to call upon me right away.
Adnin
He scoffed, sensing the man’s condescending tone. Thomas rose. “Thank you. If you will excuse me.”
“Thomas, don’t do anything reckless.”
He was already stalking out the door.
Less than an hour later, his hack driver stopped in front of the Earl of Adnin’s townhouse, the place he’d grown up in with Lisbeth. Fury roared within him. This was the man who’d made Lisbeth leave him in Tuscany. He paid the driver and knocked on the front door.
He didn’t let the butler speak, but walked in. “Please let Adnin know Thomas Easton is here to see him.”
The butler was not the man Thomas had grown up with, but someone younger. “Mr. Easton, I’m not sure he is in.”
He walked to the drawing room, which he was so familiar with. “I will wait.”
Standing in the room, a dozen memories flashed in his mind.
The previous Earl and Countess of Adnin had allowed him to spend time with Lisbeth, he suspected, to keep her occupied.
They’d formed an instant connection. It was not normal for the child of a housekeeper to have so much freedom, but no matter how rot the previous earl was with money, he had been kind.
Adnin stalked in, his eyes glittering with anger. “I wasn’t sure you would show your face here.”
Thomas glared back at him. “How could you allow your sister to make such a sacrifice?”
“How could you compromise her?”
He must know everything, Thomas realized. Adnin bit out, “I don’t know how you convinced her to marry you, but I will get it annulled.”
Dark laughter from him. “You don’t have that power. I could buy you ten times over.”
Adnin charged at him, throwing a punch and hitting him in the jaw. Thomas responded, striking him in the eye, causing his head to snap back. Adnin grabbed him, and they crashed into a cart before tumbling to the ground and tussling.
“You ass,” Thomas hissed.
“You disreputable—”
The rest of the sentence was silenced by water being thrown at them. Thomas looked up to see an angry Lisbeth and a shocked Benson. He and Adnin froze. She glowered at them. “What is wrong with the two of you? You are grown men.”
“Lisbeth—” Adnin started, still clutching the front of Thomas’s shirt.
She shook her head. “No. I don’t need this.”
Thomas smirked, and then she glared at him. “And you, if you planned to enjoy all the vices of London, you should not have married me.”
With that, she spun around, her skirts swirling around her. Her footsteps thundered down the foyer and out the front door. Benson shook his head and hurried after her. Thomas and Adnin released each other, both moving to sitting positions on the floor.
“End the marriage,” Adnin demanded.
Thomas sat there, the last bit of his apprehension of trying with Lisbeth disappearing. He’d been acting like a fool. What was he doing? “I love her.”
Adnin’s eyes widened. “You haven’t been behaving that way.”
“I was upset about Alice, but I want to make things right.”
The man, whom he didn’t want as his brother-in-law, said, “She didn’t have a choice.”
Thomas nodded. Adnin added, “If you hurt her, I will give you another thrashing.”
He scowled. “I gave you a thrashing.”
Adnin snorted.