Chapter 19
“I’m sorry you didn’t get more answers,” Alec said as our cab neared St. James’s Palace.
“I am, too.” I hadn’t spoken much since we’d left my mother.
There were too many thoughts and questions circling through my head.
But I was ready to talk now. “What did she mean by secrets in the nobility that could hurt me? Is my father an aristocrat? Was that why they couldn’t have a life together? ”
“I don’t know.”
“Even if you did, what would you do with the information? Your mother made it quite clear that it would hurt his family if they learned about you. Perhaps you should trust her and not look for answers.”
“I could use the information to protect myself. If I knew who he was, I could avoid his family. What if—” I paused, a thought coming to me.
“What if the Duke of Severton’s family scandal has something to do with my mother?
What if—what if his father and my mother had an affair?
My mother said that she and my father weren’t married—but that doesn’t mean he wasn’t married to someone else. ”
“Your mother said that your father is still alive. The duke’s father is dead. You have nothing to worry about on that account.”
“No, she said that she still loves him, and when I asked if he was still alive, she avoided the question. Perhaps he did die.”
“You are making trouble where there is no trouble. The odds of Severton being your half-brother are very slim.” He sighed. “But if it makes you feel better, I will see what I can learn about his family scandal.”
“Thank you, Alec.” I almost touched his arm in appreciation, but I couldn’t risk a moment of intimacy between us again. I had to keep my distance.
As 7 Buckingham Gate came into view, I took a deep breath.
I needed to put all this aside for now. We had plans to ride in Hyde Park that afternoon with Lady Mandeville to discuss the party Aunt Maude was hosting for the Prince of Wales in three days.
Already, word had spread that the prince would be at our home.
That news, along with being seen with the duke at the opera the night before, was exactly what Aunt Maude and Lady Mandeville had hoped for.
Our social standing was on the rise, and invitations had started to arrive from the best families in the city.
The cab pulled up to the front of the house and Alec got out before helping me exit the vehicle. He offered me his arm as we walked up to the front door and opened it, allowing me to enter before him.
Aunt Maude paced in the entry hall, the train of her dove gray day dress trailing behind her.
I paused, my heart in my throat, as she stopped and turned her steely gaze on us.
“Where have you been?” she demanded, her voice shaking with fury.
Neither of us spoke. What could I possibly say, but the truth?
I opened my mouth to speak, but she began to walk toward the drawing room. “Come with me.”
Alec closed the front door and gave me a look that was full of empathy and concern.
“I’ll tell her the truth,” I whispered. “It’s better than concocting a story that will only make her more upset.”
We followed her into the drawing room and found her pacing. Alec closed this door for privacy, too.
“Well?” she demanded, crossing her arms and tapping a foot. “How often do you leave like this? Is it a daily ritual?” She paused, her face going pale. “Are you having a—tryst?”
“Good heavens, no,” Alec said.
“We went to visit my mother,” I told her.
She lowered her hands, staring at me. “Your mother?”
“I learned that she is living in Islington. We went there today so I could meet her.”
“For what purpose?”
“She’s her mother, Aunt Maude,” Alec said. “Does she need any other reason?”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Aunt Maude crossed her arms again as her gaze bore into me. “Why sneak about?”
“I didn’t think you’d let me go.”
“I’m not a monster.”
“I know—I just wasn’t sure—”
“You cannot make assumptions about me without asking me first.”
“I’m sorry. I won’t do it again.”
“And you.” She turned to Alec. “What do you have to say for yourself?”
“I wanted to help Clara. It’s as simple as that. We went to Mrs. Farmington’s home in Islington and then came straight back here. Nothing more. No one saw us.”
Aunt Maude briefly closed her eyes and then lowered herself into the wingback chair, placing her forehead in her hand. “It doesn’t matter if anyone saw you—they’re already spreading rumors about Clara as it is.”
“What?” I frowned as I took a seat on one of the sofas. “What are they saying?”
Aunt Maude motioned to the table between the sofas. There were three newspapers lying there.
“It’s all over the newspapers. A copy of Town Topics just arrived from New York this morning, but it must have arrived at the London offices of The Morning Post and The World yesterday, because they covered it in their editions this morning.”
I picked up the copy of Town Topics. It was a salacious New York newspaper Aunt Maude subscribed to that was notorious for sharing gossip about the wealthy social class without directly naming the parties involved.
There, on the front page, was a headline that made me feel weak.
Hotel Widow Adopts Tenement Girl to Pass Her Off as a Niece to Capture a Duke.
Below the headline were all the sordid details about how I had grown up in Five Points. They didn’t mention Aunt Maude’s name, nor mine, but they didn’t need to. Everyone would know who we were.
“How?” I asked, looking at the other two newspapers that shared all the same information. “Who would have told Town Topics?”
Aunt Maude’s lips were grim as she stared at me. “Your dear old Uncle Charlie and Aunt Orla.”
“What?” I frowned. “How do you know?”
“They tried to blackmail me right before we left New York, but I ignored their threat.” She rose and paced again. “I should have just paid them what they asked for.”
“They wanted money for their silence?” Betrayal sliced through me. How could my uncle and aunt hurt me this way? Did they want to remove everything good from my life? Was that it?
“I’m sure Town Topics paid them well for their story.
” Aunt Maude shook her head. “And just when everything was going as we planned. What will we do now? Will the prince even want to come for a dinner party? And what of the duke? When he hears that you are not my niece, will he continue to pursue you?”
I caught Alec’s eye, and he looked just as disappointed as I felt. Even though I suspected it was hard for him to watch me with the duke, he truly wanted me to be happy.
“What will we do?” I asked.
Aunt Maude stopped pacing and set her shoulders.
“We will continue as we have been. As soon as Lady Mandeville arrives in her carriage, we will go riding in Hyde Park. If she does not come, then we will rent a carriage and go on our own. I will not kowtow to anyone. We all have a right to be here. My money is just as good as anyone else’s.
If the Duke of Severton doesn’t want it, then we’ll find another aristocrat that does.
And if the Prince of Wales doesn’t want to come for supper, we’ll get along without his approval.
” She nodded once, as if the matter were settled.
I’d learned that once Aunt Maude set her mind to something, she was almost guaranteed success.
I hoped this time was no exception.
At the appointed hour, Aunt Maude, Alec, and I were back in the front drawing room, ready and waiting for Lady Mandeville to arrive.
Gallagher had helped me into a white day dress with a black belt and a black, wide-brimmed hat with white ostrich feathers tucked into the crown.
I held a white parasol, closed at the moment, and white kid gloves, which I would put on before we left the house.
None of us spoke as the clock ticked by. Lady Mandeville was ten minutes late.
Alec stood near the window, looking out onto Buckingham Palace Road. He was wearing a black riding suit, with a cutaway jacket and a green waistcoat underneath. His hat was beneath his arm as he stared out the window.
“How long will we wait before we accept that Lady Mandeville isn’t coming?” he asked the room at large.
Aunt Maude sat in her wingback chair in a beautiful gown, staring at the door. “We will wait one hour.”
The next fifty minutes would be excruciating.
I stood from the sofa and paced to the window to join Alec.
Lady Mandeville’s carriage rounded the corner and came to a stop in front of the house.
“She’s here!” I said to Aunt Maude.
“I knew she would come.” Aunt Maude slowly rose from her chair. “She has too much at stake if we’re not successful. I told her I would only pay her once an engagement was announced.”
“Really, Aunt,” Alec said as he moved away from the window. “Please don’t discuss the financial implications of all of this with Clara around. It only causes her undue stress.”
“She’ll benefit the most from it,” Aunt Maude said with no regret.
“Still.” Alec glanced at me with an apologetic smile.
I shook my head, not wanting him to worry about me. This affected him as much as it did me and Aunt Maude, perhaps even more so. If things didn’t go as we hoped, his hotels would suffer, and their financial situation would be grim.
We met Lady Mandeville in the foyer. She did not greet us with her usual enthusiasm but sighed. “Is it true?”
“Is it true that I adopted this beautiful young woman and she is my heiress, just as I claimed?” Aunt Maude nodded. “Yes. Shall we go to Hyde Park as planned?”
“Is Clara your niece?” Lady Mandeville asked.
“Does that matter? She’s an accomplished, intelligent, wealthy young woman who would make any duke proud. She, like the rest of us with new money, is just as deserving of a place in society. Now. Shall we proceed with our plans, or must I find someone else who will help us achieve what we want?”
Lady Mandeville stood for a moment, as if weighing her options, but eventually she, like Aunt Maude, squared her shoulders. “I do believe my carriage is ready for our ride in Hyde Park.”