Page 54 of An Unwilling Earl
“What would you like to know? I can try to answer any questions you have about Harriet.”
“I don’t know where to start.” And she was afraid to ask. For twenty years her mother had been an ethereal being, an angel looking down on her from heaven. She’d not really been real to Charlotte, and now she was about to learn what had made her mother a person.
“She was six years old when I was born,” he said. “We had another sister, but she died of influenza when she was just three years old, right before I was born. Her name was Charlotte, too.”
“I was named after your sister?” Charlotte’s heart was beating hard, and she was filled with much trepidation and anticipation. She didn’t want to like this man.
“I like to believe so.”
“Did you know about me?”
He hesitated. “Yes. My father kept up on Harriet’s life.”
“But he didn’t visit her. He didn’t invite her back home.”
“No.”
“He hated her that much?”
“I don’t think hate had anything to do with it. I think it was more about pride. He didn’t want to admit he’d been wrong.”
“He cut her off from her family, a family that she’d loved. That is unacceptable.”
“I agree.”
“Did you know my papa died?”
“Not until Lord Ashland told me.”
Would he have reached out if he had known? Would he have tried to save her from her aunt if he had known? Would her life have been completely different?
“What was she like?” she finally asked through a thick throat.
“Precocious. Strong-willed. She drove our parents mad because she never followed the rules and she lost many a governess because of it. But she was also kindhearted. Nothing was ever done in a mean-spirited way. Harriet was curious. She liked to ask questions, whether they were appropriate or not. She liked to experiment and test theories, and she never understood why we had so many rules.”
“When she met my father she didn’t understand why the relationship was frowned upon?”
“Oh, she knew. By then she knew the rules and understood them, but she didn’t care. She claimed they were in love and that love was more important than anything else.”
“Even when she knew she would lose her family?”
“Even then. She was sad about it. I remember lots of tears, lots of yelling, lots of slamming doors. Like you, Harriet didn’t understand our father’s stern disapproval and unbending convictions. She desperately wanted him to change his mind, but he refused. I think he regretted it in the end.”
“But it was far too late.”
“Yes.”
“Thank you for filling in the pieces of the puzzle.”
“It’s my pleasure.” He paused and seemed to consider something. “I would like to get to know you better, Charlotte. I regret what my father did, and I would like to make amends. Lord Ashland said that you ran away from your guardian because she was cruel. I’m so sorry to hear that, and I open my doors to you. You are more than welcome to come live with us. Lady Chadley wanted me to extend the invitation, but please know that it comes from my heart as well.”
“I appreciate that, and I’m aware that my current living arrangements are…out of the ordinary. Jacob has been more than kind and has been nothing but a gentleman.” She dismissed the memory of their kisses for fear they would show in her expression, and that was none of her uncle’s business. “However, I will not be in London for much longer, so it seems silly to disrupt your household at this point.”
He frowned. “Where are you going?”
“To America. I thought to make a living teaching American heiresses the English ways so they can come here to find titled husbands.”
“But everything you know is here.”
