Page 103 of His Lordship's True Lady
Annie scowled, her expression reminiscent of Lily’s mama. “That’s what Uncle does. He cuts you off from anybody who might give you a good opinion of yourself, frightens you, and then pretends he was just joking. When I learned that you were being paraded around London in my place, I’d already presented Lawrence with our oldest boy. Tippy assured me you were managing, and I hoped you might make the good match Uncle was always trying to arrange for me.”
“To Oscar the noddypoop?”
They shared a smile, and Lily felt a spark of hope.
“If I might ask,” Hessian interjected, “how did you learn Lily had taken your place?”
Excellent question. Lily also wanted to know why her own sister hadn’t done anything to re-establish contact.
“Tippy was my governess,” Annie said, “my rock, when Mama died and thereafter. Lawrence didn’t think it fair to let her believe I was dead. He wrote to her sister in Chelsea, and two years later, when you had made your bow, Lily, Tippy began writing back. She was in a difficult position.”
“More difficult than I was?” Lily retorted. “Tippy had a snug cottage she could have sold, a tidy sum earning interest, and no obligation to Walter Leggett. I was fourteen years old, Annie. Fourteen, not a friend in the world, holes in both boots, and the stable boys were drawing lots to see which one would despoil me. Uncle offered me pretty frocks, lessons in French, and a come out. Not until he’d shipped me off to Switzerland did he make it plain all of this largesse was conditioned upon my learning to impersonate you.”
Squirrels chattered overhead, and from beyond the hedges came the sounds of laughing children and a honking goose. Hessian had been right to choose this place rather than some parlor or garden Lily didn’t own.
“I am sorry, Lily,” Annie said. “I am so very sorry, but I wasn’t much older than you when I married Lawrence. I’m not proud of the decisions I made when I was seventeen, though I’d do the same again if it meant I could have these past ten years with Lawrence in Scotland. I hope you’ll give me the rest of our lives to put matters right between us.”
Seventeen for a pampered London heiress wasn’t much older than fourteen, and Annie had been much closer to Mama than Lily had been.
“I must think on this,” Lily said. “I am angry with you, though I don’t want to be. I have wished…”
Hessian took her hand without her having to ask.
“I have wished,” she went on softly, “that I was dead, that Uncle was dead. I have also wished that you were alive, Annie, and of all my wishes, I’m glad that one came true.”
The realization gave Lily some peace, and Hessian’s hand, offered freely and before others, gave her strength.
“And yet,” Annie said, “I never questioned Tippy’s reports when she claimed you were thriving, even though I knew Walter Leggett better than anybody. I am your only family worth the name, and I’m not worth the name.”
Lily rose, keeping Hessian’s hand in hers. “Not so, Annie. We share an uncle and a cousin, both of whom have played us false. I’m told I’ll be biding with the Countess of Rosecroft for the nonce. Perhaps you might pay a call on me there later this week?”
Delmar helped his wife to her feet, and Annie seemed to need his support.
“You don’t want to be seen in public with me,” she said. “I understand.”
“No, you do not,” Lily said. “Uncle thinks you dead, and if you and I should be seen together, our resemblance is striking. Walter Leggett must not have any warning that his plans have come to an even sorrier pass than he knows. He has disrespected Mama’s memory, her in-laws, both of her daughters, and her legacy. We were young, without resources, and did the best we could, but Walter Leggett has no excuse.”
“That is generous of you,” Annie replied. “Also the truth. Mama’s inheritance was sizable, and if Walter has frittered the lot of it away, he’s the next thing to a thief, as well as a bully and a charlatan.”
She looked like she was about to cry, as did Delmar. Hessian looked as if he wanted to call out both Noddypoop the Elder and Noddypoop the Younger.
What a fine man was Hessian Kettering.
“We won’t let Uncle get away with this,” Lily said, hugging her sister. “He’s had everything his way, no matter the cost to anybody else, and somebody must hold him accountable.”
The embrace was careful and brief, but it was a start. Lily watched Annie go, wanting to call her back for another hug, and also relieved the initial encounter was over.
But what to do about Walter? Perhaps Hessian had a few ideas. He was ever one for developing sound and detailed strategies.
* * *
“That went well,” Lily said.
It hadn’t gone awfully.Hessian had managed to keep foul oaths behind his teeth, for example.“You were kind,” Hessian replied. “You have much to consider.” Too much to consider, which was why he wasn’t on bended knee importuning Lily for her hand. “There’s more, Lily.”
“If you tell me I have a brother… but I do have a brother. His Grace of Clarendon doubtless has an heir or three. More family who know nothing of my existence.”
She turned and wrapped her arms around Hessian, and he indulged in the need to hold her too, despite their relatively public location. Lily had been so composed, so fierce, with her sister, even as she’d withstood one revelation after another.
