“Oh, how stupid of me! Yes, child, I’m your mother! And you are my beautiful, brilliant daughter, come home to me at last!” the woman answered, crushing Beatrix to her once again.
Looking over the woman’s shoulder, Beatrix was relieved to see her cousin standing atop the steps, looking down on the moving scene with admiration and approval. She shot him a helpless look as her mother’s tears turned to sobs of great emotion. Peter grinned, but came down the stairs to her rescue.
“Aunt Miriam, shouldn’t we bring her inside the house? She can be every bit as much your daughter with a roof overhead,” he chided playfully.
“Quite right! Yes, you must come in at once, I’m certain you’re famished!” Lady Miriam replied, still clinging tightly to Beatrix’s arm as she led her up to the house. “You must tell me everything about yourself, and then I shall show you the house. I do hope you’re staying for a long time?”
“I rather thought we’d leave the plans open. But I, too, am eager to meet you and know you, Lady Miriam,” Beatrix answered slowly, still unnerved by the exuberant reception.
“Pish, none of that! Will you please call me… Mother?” the older woman asked shyly. “Oh dear, what am I saying? I don’t even know if you had a mother who loved you and raised you, and here I am usurping her throne!”
“No, no,” Beatrix said, laughing lightly. “I never had a mother. I would be honored to address you so, in fact.”
“What? No mother? Oh, you poor child!” A fresh bout of tears followed, and Beatrix once again shot Peter a pleading look.
“Aunt Miriam, the poor thing will be washed away by your crying! Come, this is a happy occasion, the first of many I’m sure,” he explained, taking his aunt’s other arm and moving the emotional procession forward.
Somehow, they managed to make it inside, and Beatrix felt a slight sensation of choking at the grandeur and enormity of the house. The handful of servants still in the Marchioness’s employ were turned out in a line to greet her, and she felt very much scrutinized under their gaze. Lady Miriam led the way to a beautiful drawing room and bade Beatrix sit.
They passed the entire afternoon getting acquainted, and more than once her mother had to be consoled. Tales that Beatrix had found endearing and even comical would set off another round of sobs, so much that she worried to divulge too much.
“And what of that villainous monster who took you from me?” Lady Miriam asked at one point. Her countenance seemed both wounded and enraged.
Beatrix struggled to show no insult at the mention of her father. Instead, she took a deep breath and slowly answered, “Remember, that person is the only family I’ve ever known. While I, too, question his actions, we must both always remember that his task was to fling me over the bridge into the nearest river. Instead, he took pity on me and carried me home, raising me as his own. If not for him, I would have died the day I was taken.”
Lady Miriam froze, obviously lost in thought. Just as Beatrix began to worry that she had offended the woman on the very day they’d met, her mother said, “I thank you for helping me to see it that way. I have had a great pain in my heart at the thought of you not only stolen but then raised by the worst sort of criminal. Your summation not only proves me wrong, it shows me that I owe the man a great debt!”
Beatrix blinked in surprise, and even Peter showed some measure of admiration for the quick turnaround.
“In fact, I should like to invite your father when you next return so that I may express my thanks.” Lady Miriam smiled again, dabbing at more tears but seeming determined to put the discussion behind her.
Their talks continued well on through the afternoon. More than once, Peter had had to suggest that they stroll about the gardens or view more of the house, simply to give Beatrix a moment’s rest from her mother’s desire to know everything about her. After a strange sort of small meal that her mother had referred to simply as “tea,” Beatrix’s head was swimming a bit from the excitement of the day.
The excitement was to carry on, unfortunately, when a liveried servant entered the drawing room and announced the arrival of Lord Bellton.
Chapter 31
“Callum!” the older woman cried, abandoning all pretense of protocol on such an upheaval day. “Come let me look at you, I don’t think I’ve seen you since that summer when you and Peter came to stay with me!”
He nodded formally to Lady Miriam and clapped Peter on the shoulder when they shook hands. He was on the verge of greeting Beatrix when Lady Miriam interrupted.
“I have the most wonderful news, young man,” she began, pointing him to a chair and taking a seat herself. “In what has been the oddest but most fortunate turn of events, my long-lost child has been found and returned! Lord Bellton, may I have the extreme pleasure of introducing my daughter, Beatrix.”
Both Beatrix and the Marquess turned to look sharply at Peter, who merely shrugged his shoulders. It was lost on all three of them that Lady Miriam should not have been informed of the circumstances as to how her daughter had been discovered, only that she had.
Callum recovered quickly, and said sternly, “Yes, I have actually had the pleasure of meeting her once before. It is lovely to see you again.”
“Yes, same,” she managed to reply softly without looking at him.
Lady Miriam seemed none the wiser, and said, “It is the strangest, most wonderful thing. To think that the daughter I lost all those years ago had been living not so very far from here all this time! Did you know she attended St. Mary’s School for a time? Her cousins were both students there! Is it not remarkable that the girls should have attended the same school and perhaps played or studied together, and never knew they were kin?”
“Yes indeed,” Callum agreed, daring to glance at Beatrix. He quickly looked away when he saw the look of incredulity on her face.
“But tell me, to what do we owe the great honor of your visit?” the old woman asked, delighted with all of the guests in her usually empty house.
“Yes, old friend,” Peter said, glaring while attempting to hold back his amusement at Callum’s somewhat unexpected intrusion. “I thought when I left you in town you were to stay there for a few days. What brings you here now?”
Callum looked around, bemused at being put on the spot. “I wanted to, that is to say, I was hoping… that I might speak with Peter about an urgent matter.”
