Chapter Seventeen
‘Her Ladyship is not at home,’ Mother’s butler pronounced when Pamela and Damian showed up on the doorstep.
‘Not at home to me or actually out of the house?’ Pamela asked.
The butler looked down his nose and started to close the door.
Damian stuck his booted foot out. ‘We will wait in the hall while you ascertain the truth of the matter.’ He shouldered past the man and Pamela followed him in.
Damian was not a man to be stopped by a mere butler. Pamela tried not to smile at the thought. Their errand was serious.
Much depended on what Mother had to say, because she did not believe that Damian could truly put the past behind him. And if she married him with this cloud hanging over their heads, she had no doubt that it would come back to haunt them.
And she could not live with the doubt.
To her astonishment, Damian followed the butler up the stairs. He glanced over his shoulder and she hurried after him.
The butler looked back at them full of indignation, but one glance at Damian’s face had him hurrying onwards.
And still Damian reached the drawing room before him.
He walked in.
‘My Lady!’ the butler said from behind him. ‘He would not take no for an answer.’
Her mother, seated on the chaise longue with an embroidery hoop in her hands, glared. ‘What do you—?’
Her mouth snapped shut at the sight of Pamela squeezing around the butler to stand beside Damian.
‘How dare you bring that—?’
Damian stepped towards her.
Mother pressed her lips together with a little shake of her head.
She swung her feet down and sat up. ‘That will be all, Willers,’ she said to the butler.
The man left.
Damian closed the door.
‘Well,’ said Mother. ‘To what do I owe this...this intrusion?’
There was no sense in beating about the bush. ‘Did you know that Father defrauded Lord Dart’s father?’
Her mother’s eyes widened. She made a face. ‘I—’ She shook her head. ‘I know nothing about it.’
Her expression said she was not telling the truth.
‘Mother, please. You must tell us.’
‘I think you owe me that much,’ Dart said.
Mother stiffened. ‘I owe neither of you anything. Do you know how furious Lord Malcom is with me after your behaviour at the ball? He is most displeased with the pair of you. Several people have already rescinded our invitations.’
Damian gave her a hard look. ‘Do you not owe it to your daughter to let her know the truth about her father?’
He still believed her father guilty, no matter that Pamela was sure he was not. She was right to see the matter as an insurmountable difficulty.
‘The truth, Madam.’
Her mother looked from one to the other as if trying to work out what it was they wanted to hear. She let go a breath. ‘Dash it all. If you must know, Pamela, your dearest papa was an idiot with money. We were badly dipped for most of our marriage, living from one disaster to another. He was always giving money to anyone who begged for his aid. I do not know how we managed to stay out of debtors’ prison.’
Pamela’s stomach sank. ‘I knew my father was kind to all he met. I did not realise his kindness was a problem.’
‘Of course not. Do you think we would have let you worry about such things? That was why I was so upset when you refused to entertain any of the suitors I suggested after Alan died. I did not want you to go through what I went through with your father. You were a very stubborn and foolish girl.’
Shocked, Pamela stared. She had never suspected her mother of wanting to protect her.
‘When Long explained his investment proposition, your papa refused to have anything to do with it. He told me all about it later. It seemed to me like a wonderful opportunity.’
Pamela shot Damian an ‘I told you so’ look. Her mother seemed not to notice. ‘As I said, your father never did have a head for finances.’ A guilty expression crossed her face.
Pamela’s heart stilled. ‘Mother. What did you do?’
‘What was I supposed to do? Half the time we didn’t have enough money to pay the butcher. I wrote to Long, explained that after some thought Lamb had changed his mind and sent him a sum of money to invest.’
‘Where did you get the money without Father’s knowledge?’
‘I sold some jewellery. It was mine. Inherited from my mother. I received a good return on our money, too.’ She grimaced. ‘Of course, your father was too busy looking after his flock and reading all those dusty books of his to notice our situation had improved.’
‘What about my father?’ Damian asked. ‘It was Lamb who got him drawn into the scheme.’
She shook her head. ‘No. I wrote to him. Without my husband’s knowledge.’
‘What?’ Pamela said. ‘How could you?’
‘Long was threatening to remove us from the plan if we did not come up with more investors. I didn’t want that. I wrote to several of my husband’s old friends. I was doing them a favour, I thought.’
‘Why on earth would they listen to you, Mother?’ Pamela said.
Her mother waved a dismissive hand. ‘I was quite adept at writing as your father. I had to. To stave off tradesmen when necessary.’
‘You mean you committed forgery?’ Damian said in chilly tones.
She glanced at Damian. ‘Lord Dart’s father was the only one who responded. He had been falling into debt and saw it as a way to repair his fortunes.’ She wrung her hands. ‘I thought I was helping, Pamela. Then the money dried up and no one could get their investment back.’
‘So that is why Lamb denied any responsibility for the scheme,’ Damian said. ‘Because he truly hadn’t been involved.’
Mother winced. ‘If he had known, he would have wanted to pay the money back. We would have been paupers. We were barely making ends meet once the investment failed. It was a disaster.’
Sick to her stomach, Pamela stared at her mother. ‘But he did find out, eventually, didn’t he? I heard you and him arguing the day before he died.’
‘He found the ledger I had been hiding in my sewing room.’ Mother looked sad. ‘His heart gave out...’ her lips pursed ‘...leaving us to fend for ourselves. I was lucky Malcom came to our rescue, but you, you ungrateful hussy, had to ruin everything.’
‘Mother!’ Pamela looked at Damian, who was staring at her mother. ‘I am so sorry for what happened to your family. It seems it is our fault, after all.’
His gaze left her mother’s face and came to rest on hers. ‘Your father did not betray mine.’
‘My mother did.’
He shook his head. ‘What hurt my father most was the way your father cast him to the wolves, when they had been such close friends in their youth. It was the one thing that made him so angry. So vengeful. I think he would be happy to know your father was an innocent in all of this.’
‘Well, he has had his vengeance now,’ Mother said. ‘Our family name is ruined. We will have to leave town for several years. Malcom is very angry, might I say.’
The truth was not quite what Pamela had expected, but she was happy to know her father was not responsible for the downfall of Damian’s family. ‘It serves you right.’ She got up. She could no longer bear the sight of her mother.
She glanced at Damian. ‘It seems that justice has been served after all.’
And since there was no more to be said, she walked out of the room and down the stairs.
She was aware of Damian following.
At the front door, she turned around. ‘I really am sorry.’
He took her hand and brought it to his lips. ‘It was not your fault. And it seems my father and your mother were equally fooled by an unscrupulous fellow.’
‘Who has, because of me, not been punished. But I am glad the young Mr Long was not made to pay for his father’s crimes.’
‘You are the sweetest, nicest person a man could ever wish to meet. I had spent so long being angry, I could not see what I was missing from my life. I meant what I said, earlier. I love you and would be honoured if you would become my wife.’
The sincerity in his gaze held her entranced. She shook her head. ‘I am beyond the pale.’
‘I put you there. So it is only right I join you. Besides, I care nothing for London and its society. And after what happened at my ball, I doubt they care much for me. I am off to the New World. Please. Won’t you come with me? I love you beyond anything.’
She had never cared about society. Not for a moment. A sense of a new beginning welled up inside her. And looking into his eyes she knew he was telling the truth. ‘Yes.’ She smiled. ‘Yes, I will.’
He swept her into his arms. ‘I love you so very much.’
She pressed her hand to his cheek gazing up at him. ‘I love you too.’
His mouth came down on hers in a long hard kiss.
A cough behind them broke them apart. The butler was holding the door open. ‘Good day, My Lord. Madam.’
They laughed and stepped out into the street.