“It is not amusing for it is true. And it is the gentlemen who I am concerned about. They would strip me of everything I have, everything I am. Queen Victoria would make an example out of me,” he said, feeling his throat close up as he thought of the possibilities.
“And there are those who would enjoy nothing more,” Thomas said, rubbing his chin.
“Have you heard anything?” he asked, immediately suspicious.
Thomas shrugged. “Not specifically. Markham was at the club this morning. He looked dreadful. I dare say he has been drowning his sorrows since the night at Stafford House. I suspect he was in his cups this very morning. He rambled and ranted, claiming that your marriage is a farce and there is no way Lady Pembroke did not know about your union. He intends to prove it and free Charity from your grasp.”
“Free Charity from my grasp?” he exclaimed, banging his fist on the table so hard that the brandy in his cup almost splashed over the edge. “She wanted to be free of him!”
“I know,” Thomas said, raising his hands to calm him. “And that is why I am saying that perhaps you ought to consider telling her the truth. Markham will cause you both trouble in future. She ought to be prepared.”
“I will not,” he said emphatically. “I cannot. When I came into the study, she was looking at the painting, and do you know what she said to me?”
Thomas shrugged again. “As I was not present, I dare say I do not know.”
“There’s no need for the sarcasm,” he shot back. “She said that I did not look like my family. When she realized my discomfort, she attempted to amend her statement by saying I must resemble my grandfather, but you and I both know that I do not—certainly not my Hayward grandfather! She’ll know it soon enough, since his portrait is hung up in the hall.”
“All the more reason to tell her the truth,” Thomas replied, leaning back and crossing his arms.
He couldn’t tell her. Even if he’d wanted to, he couldn’t. His secret was too dark to share, and too dangerous. It was better for her to remain unaware. If she learned the truth, she might inadvertently place herself in a precarious situation. If someone like Markham was determined to uncover secrets, he might use her as a means to that end. No, it was better for everyone—especially her—that she remained blissfully ignorant.
CHAPTER18
Charity
Charity was still making her rounds around the stable yard, with Ambrose on his lead, when she spied a familiar carriage approaching. The coat of arms—a bear on a blue and white background—was distinct, and she recognized it as her uncle’s at once, aware who was coming to call even before her cousin stepped out.
“Millie!” she called, waving at her cousin as she left the vehicle. Her cousin, a vision in her pretty blue gown that sparkled in the sunshine, waved back at her, the false locks fixed to the front of her head bouncing as she walked a bit too hastily toward Charity.
“My dearest cousin! You are still in one piece,” she exclaimed, embracing her. “And here is your beast,” she added, gently rubbing Ambrose’s muzzle. The horse, who had known Millie from his stay at her family’s country estate, leaned into her hand.
“I was not expecting you,” Charity admitted, though she was, of course, delighted to see Millie.
“I had to come and see you. You were so miserable, I could not bear the thought of you all alone in this grand estate feeling like you have no friend in the world other than your maid.”
“I am grateful,” Charity said, squeezing Millie’s hand while holding onto Ambrose’s lead with the other, “but now I have three friends. You, Jean, and Ambrose. It is just as well, for I shall need all the strength I can muster because I am to dine with Eammon tomorrow.”
Millie let out a faux cry of surprise. “Dinner with your husband! Surely not!” she gasped.
Charity used her free hand, which she had just used to squeeze her cousin in gratitude, to playfully slap her on the shoulder. “Do not make fun of me, or I shall suspect you have come here to gloat rather than to comfort.”
“Never! But you must admit dinner with your husband should not be such a dreadful affair. Has he made any efforts to make you feel comfortable?”
“No,” Charity replied, although as soon as she said it, she knew this was not entirely true. “Well, a little. Yesterday I went to my chamber immediately and had dinner on a tray. Today he was away with his cousin all morning. But this afternoon, he took me to the stable when Ambrose arrived, and he…split an apple for me to give to the horses.” She relived the moment in her head, focusing on how his muscles had flexed as he did it. “With his bare hands.”
“Is that so? How magnificently brutish!” Millie remarked, though her chuckle hinted that she was indeed impressed. “Well, apart from his physically skill at splitting apples, it seems he does care for you if he ensured your horse arrived promptly. Apparently, he sent someone yesterday to Hartford, and the man had to stay overnight at our estate so he could leave this morning to ensure the horse's delivery.”
“He is a confusing man,” Charity admitted. “He is so aloof and speaks in riddles, and is seemingly amused by this entire situation. Yet, on the other hand, I discover things about him that make me think perhaps he isn’t so terrible after all.”
“Things such as what?” Millie asked.
“Having Ambrose brought to me, of course. But also, he takes the horses into the village for the little children to ride once a month. He says it helps him connect with his tenants, and everyone in the household seems quite fond of him.”
“Well, he sounds like a true Mr. Darcy!”
“Mr. Darcy? Who is that? I do not think I know the gentleman,” Charity said. Having grown up mostly up north at Pembroke meant she was not as familiar with the aristocracy as was usually the case for a lady of her breeding and age.
“Oh, my dear cousin! I thought you were well-read! Mr. Darcy is a hero in Jane Austen's novel,Pride and Prejudice. He and the heroine, Elizabeth Bennet, meet, and at first, she finds him terribly proud and aloof. Indeed, he is a prideful sort at the start of the book. However, as our heroine comes to know him, she discovers that while he has done dreadful things—such as interfering in the romance between her sister and his best friend—there is more to him. She ends up at his estate and finds that the servants adore him and eventually sees the righteousness in his actions. They end up happily ever after. Perhaps you are Elizabeth Bennet, and he is Mr. Darcy.”
