Chapter 10 #2
“Hello, Charlie,” said Anthony, affectionately.
Alice did her best to hide her shock - Charlie with his blond hair and blue eyes looked remarkably like Anthony. Anthony had a son. A son he kept hidden from society. She felt suddenly faint.
Alice saw Anthony exchange a quick glance with Sarah who gave a small nod of assent.
“Charlie, this is my friend, Miss Alice Fairfax. I have been spending a great deal of time with her, and I thought you might like to meet.”
Charlie turned towards Alice.
“Hello, Charlie, how do you do? Please, call me Alice,” she managed to say.
“Hello, Alice,” the little boy replied.
“Charlie is my brother,” Anthony explained. “Well, half-brother.”
A wave of relief washed over Alice so strongly that she felt even more unsteady. His brother. Her mind raced, trying to make sense of this revelation. Anthony gave a look to say he would explain everything later.
“Charlie gave us a bit of a fright the other night,” Anthony explained.
“He fell down the stairs,” Sarah continued, “He sprained his ankle and managed to bump his head badly. Then he started being sick.”
“By the time Sarah managed to get a message to me, Charlie was not doing well, so I left immediately, picking up a physician I trust on the way. I stayed until the physician declared Charlie fully out of danger.”
“That must have been really scary for you,” Alice said to Charlie.
“Yes, but Anthony said I was so brave that when I am better, he’s going to take me for ices in the park, and I can have as many flavours as I want.”
“I think a maximum of three flavours might be sensible,” Sarah commented with a laugh.
They stayed for an hour entertaining Charlie by playing cards with him on a low table pulled over to be next to the invalid.
Alice enjoyed the game but was distracted by thoughts of Anthony and his newly revealed brother.
How long had he known about Charlie? How had he found out?
Had his mother known? What about his father?
Had he been aware of Charlie when he was alive?
“We will need to leave now if we are to return to your aunt’s house for luncheon,” said Anthony, checking the time on his pocket watch.
“I am glad you are feeling better, Charlie,” said Alice as they were saying goodbye.
“Me too. Will you come to visit me again? When I am fully recovered? We can go riding together, Anthony’s teaching me,” Charlie suggested.
“I would love that. Riding is one of my favourite things in the world,” she replied. “We shall have to see if your big brother will bring me.”
They got back into the carriage and set off for Anthony’s house.
“Charlie really liked you,” Anthony said.
“And I liked him, he is a lovely boy. Poor Sarah must have been terrified when he hurt himself.”
“She was, as was I to be honest. Now you know where I was the other night…”
“Yes. I am sorry. I admit, I thought you had let me down because you had decided to stay out all night having fun.”
“That is completely understandable,” he said. “You had absolutely no idea about Charlie and I tend to encourage a certain perception of myself.” He sighed, and ran his fingers through his hair leaving one side standing up a little. Alice refrained from reaching out and smoothing it down.
“I was home from university the summer Henry broke his leg, when I came downstairs to absolute uproar. Apparently my mother’s old lady’s maid had turned up out of the blue,” Anthony explained.
“Sarah had been a favourite of my mother’s and I remember being confused when she was dismissed and asking what had happened.
No one would tell me, and no one seemed to want to talk about her visit and why my parents were so upset, but I eventually got out of one of the grooms that Sarah had been asked to leave because she was with child.
That the child was my father’s and Sarah, desperate for money, had swallowed her pride and brought him to the house.
“You know what my father’s temper was like, but I braved it and went to speak with him about what had occurred,” explained Anthony.
“I just could not fathom any man behaving the way he did, and hoped deep down I suppose that it had all been some kind of mistake, a rumour that had somehow started and gained traction. But my father admitted the affair, seeming to think that I would understand and condone his behaviour. When I made it clear I did not, he hit me.”
Alice gasped. She had purposefully never had much to do with Anthony’s father, and had been intimidated by him when she was younger. He was definitely a man who liked to have his own way, but to hit his grown son…
“That day I failed to turn up to take you riding. I felt terrible about it, but I just could not come. My mind was in turmoil.”
“So, that was why,” said Alice. “I had assumed you just had not cared to ride with me or had something better to do.”
Anthony gave a sad smile, “Not at all. I wanted nothing more than to get as far away from my father as possible, but I could not trust myself not to tell you everything and I had promised my mother I would not say a word to protect her and our family’s reputation.
Then, just a week afterwards, my father died of a heart attack and I did not know how to react.
He was my father, but he had done this terrible thing and part of me felt responsible because he was concerned I would tell people about Sarah, even though he had threatened to disown me if I had. ”
Alice’s hand flew to her mouth.
“I am so sorry,” she said. “How awful for you.”
“Once my father was buried, I was determined to find Sarah, despite my father’s wishes.
I wish I had known about the situation and been able to aid her sooner.
Though I may not have been brave enough to defy my father when he was alive I suppose and, being still reliant on him for money, it would have been hard for me to help her and her child as I wanted to.
“My mother wanted nothing to do with the situation, but accepted she could not stop me helping Sarah. After interviewing the servants, I discovered Sarah had family in London. I hired two private investigators and eventually located Sarah and Charlie, freezing and half-starved in a room Sarah was renting in Cheapside.”
“What did you do?” asked Alice, wondering how she could have been so completely wrong about him.
“I used some of my inheritance to help them,” Anthony said simply.
“Sarah chose their house and I bought it for them and they have an annuity set up now. But it was not easy to persuade her, and she will not accept as much as I would wish her to. After the way my father treated her, you can understand her reluctance to have anything to do with any of my family. She took a lot of convincing, but Charlie is my father’s son just as much as I am, and he was due his inheritance exactly as I was. ”
Alice nodded in understanding.
Anthony continued, “I am telling you this because I am used to people thinking badly of my actions. Generally, I encourage it as talk of me coming to London for nefarious reasons means no one suspects the true reason: Charlie.
“But, for some reason, I can no longer bear for you to think badly of me. And I know I can trust you not to tell anyone. The only other people who know are my solicitor, my butler, and my valet, through necessity, and your brother.”
“Henry knows?”
“Yes. I needed someone to talk to about all this and his greatest joy is spreading wild rumours about me to explain my many visits to London.”
“Rumours which I believed,” said Alice, putting her head in her hands.
“And why would you not?” replied Anthony. He reached over and led her arms down, looking her in the eye. “You were supposed to believe them, just like everyone else.”
“But now?”
“Now I want you to know. I cannot have you thinking badly of me.”
“Thank you for trusting me. I will not tell anyone, your secret is safe.”
“Thank you, and thank you for helping to entertain poor Charlie.”
“He is quite charming.”
“I am inclined to agree,” said Anthony, as the carriage pulled up by the still saddled horses. “Come on, let us return you to your aunt.”
Alice mounted Rosalind and they rode back to Aunt Jane’s house, the events of the outing going around in her mind.