Chapter 33
Asensation of horror crawled up Violet’s spine.
The threat was delivered in calm tones and with a smile.
A threat that would destroy her reputation and have a catastrophic impact on the Ravendel family.
Aunt Charlotte, as sister to Fiona, would be tainted.
So too would Lillian and Clara, her daughters.
All the Ravendel women would be touched by it.
And Violet’s world would unravel. No longer would she hold her position within the Ton.
No longer would she be the famous Violet Ravendel, expert on social etiquette and essential attendee to any social function.
It does not matter. Those are trivialities. If I become a social recluse, retreating to the Ravendel country home in Hampshire and no longer at the heart of London society, that will be as nothing to the damage that will be done to my cousins.
She could not make herself fully believe it though.
The fear in her was not just that Lillian and Clara’s reputations would be tarnished before they had even properly dove into society to make themselves known.
Clara had not even debuted yet. The fear was also for her own standing, which she took so much pride in.
“I know how much you value your position within the Ton. That is true, isn’t it?
” Ambrose said, calmly. “Think of all you personally will lose if this gets out. My own reputation will suffer not one jot. Men do not suffer in such scandals. If anything, it will be enhanced. I will be adding a rakish quality to my name which will make it all the more attractive to some. No, the damage will all fall to the Ravendel name.”
“I am aware of that,” Violet said, quietly. “What proof do you have that you are my father?”
“I have your mother’s love letters to me. And the letter in which she informed me that she was with child.”
Violet’s stomach sank. This was not how she had envisioned meeting her true father.
Is this why Uncle George has always tried to deny me this information? Was he simply trying to protect me from this man?
“As your daughter, why would you wish to threaten me? I cannot believe you would wish me harm,” Violet said.
“I do not. And I have watched your rise through the Ton with no little pride. You are quite magnificent, Violet. Truly worthy of the Godstone name. When I saw that you had caught the eye of the Earl of Munster, even consulting with Mary Wyndham on the arrangement of some of her social events…well, I almost burst with pride. I considered telling you there and then. But, a small voice told me to hold onto the information. That I may need to use it as leverage at some point. If there is one lesson I would give you about politics, it’s that you do not squander the advantage that privileged information gives you. ”
“You speak as if this is some kind of game to you?” Violet said.
Something of her shock must have been evident in her voice or face. Ambrose threw back his head and laughed.
“Of course it’s a game. And one with the highest of stakes.
I intend to be Prime Minister one day and must build a reputation for success within my party first. I had thought myself well along that path when your barbarous Scotch Duke raised his ugly head.
The man was so ignorant, it was almost unfair to orchestrate his humiliation.
It was ridiculously easy. Then you became involved. ”
The expression on Ambrose’s face told Violet that she had been wayward, even naughty, that he was a displeased parent. She returned his stare with all the coolness she could muster, despite the turmoil within her.
I am not a wayward or willful child. He may have sired me but I am not answerable to him. Uncle George has been more of a parent to me than him.
At once, she regretted her insistence on calling him Uncle. On calling Lillian and Clara, cousin, and Charlotte, Aunt. George and Charlotte had been parents to her. Clara and Lillian had been sisters.
I was so vain to think that I could reject a lifetime of love simply because I did not consider the label I used for them to be correct. What does it matter if I call them Mother, Father, and Sister instead of Aunt, Uncle, and Cousin. It is still the same person inside.
She felt ashamed and looked away, blinking away tears.
What a fool I’ve been.
Ambrose seemed to misunderstand her distress. He chuckled, getting up and pouring himself another glass of wine. He offered her the decanter and she silently put her hand over her glass. Ambrose shrugged and replaced the stopper.
“I’m glad you have the humility to realize your mistakes. Even to feel guilt. I believe we can still have a relationship. Ravendel will know and even if it is kept from the younger women in your family, it will still allow us to behave as father and daughter in private.”
“Lillian will have to be told,” Violet said, feeling numb.
Ambrose sat and raised a questioning eyebrow.
“She thinks you a potential suitor. It would not be appropriate and I would not have her hate me, thinking that I am a rival,” Violet explained.
Ambrose shrugged with an insouciant smile. “It matters not to me. It is your secret to keep.”
“It is,” Violet agreed.
She was staring into space, comprehending the full enormity of the situation.
“What is it specifically that you would have me do?” she asked.
“Specifically, use your influence with Lorchester to persuade him to drop his support for the Bill. The best outcome would be that he retreats to his country estate and does not trouble the capital with his barbarism again. I would, however, settle for his presence in London as a thoroughly unreliable rogue who frequents dockside taverns and gambling dens. Let him go back to the man he was before he met you.”
The cruelty in Ambrose’s words was made worse by the slight smile he wore while speaking them. She could not believe that she shared the same blood as this man.
“Your threat depends on my willingness to spare my family the dishonor of your revelation. What if I care more for Alexander than I do for them?” Violet said.
“You do not. You cannot,” Ambrose said, his self-satisfied smile fading away.
Violet leaned forward in her seat. “But what if I do? What if I am as self-centered as you, caring only for my own interests.”
“May I remind you that your reputation will be dragged through the mud as well? Unjustly, but it will happen.”
“But Alexander will still triumph over you. I can distance myself from my family. Lillian already despises me, thinking that I am trying to rob her of the attention of a man she believed was interested in her. It will not be difficult to disown the Ravendels in order to minimize any impact upon them,” Violet said.
“Why on earth would you do that? When you can simply do as I ask?” Ambrose said, sounding genuinely perplexed, “He does not belong here and should not be here. His place is in Scotland where his habits and appearance will, doubtlessly, blend in. Follow my instructions and no-one is harmed except an upstart Scot who should not be here in the first place.”
“A man I believe I love,” Violet said.
It hurt to say those words as she did not know for certain how Alexander felt about her.
He had walked away from her, after all. Perhaps he had decided that for all her tutoring, she had failed him.
Perhaps, he was already complying with the instructions that Ambrose was trying to give to Violet, removing himself from London society and abandoning his political crusade.
I cannot believe that. I must hope. For I do love him and I cannot abandon him so readily, even if he has abandoned me.
“Love? What does that have to do with anything? I have watched you pair up your friends with eligible men, making advantageous matches. Were any of them based on love? Or was it simply rank and prestige?”
“Partly,” Violet admitted. “But I would not encourage any woman to accept a man simply because of his wealth or rank. Always, I saw the spark of love, knew that it would grow if those two people were…nudged together.”
Ambrose laughed, throwing back his wine in the first openly ungentlemanly gesture she had seen him make. The laugh was cruel and loud, mouth twisting and expression ugly. It felt as though she were being given a glimpse behind a mask at the true monster that lay beneath.
“Daughter, I shall have to remedy you of this romanticism. It will be your undoing,” he said.
Violet rose, carefully smoothing her skirts and folding her hands at her waist.
“I thank you for the hospitality…father. I call you for what you are but I do not acknowledge your right to that title. I shall renounce the Ravendel name and reject the family, thus robbing you of your victory.”
“And would you renounce your sister?” Ambrose asked, eyes narrowing.
Violet felt her world rock. This was one revelation too many.
“Sister?”
“When you were born, you were not alone. You have a twin sister,” Ambrose told her.