Page 42 of A Scandalous Love for the Enticing Duke
“Tell me, dear child, were you?”
Agnes feared that if her mother listened carefully, she would hear the wild, non-rhythmic beating of her heart. Memories of the last private moment she shared with Alan flashed through her mind. His hands cupping her pert bosom, his fingers rough against her delicate feminine folds. She suddenly felt flushed and hurriedly she pushed the memories away before her cheeks developed too much colour, obvious for her mother to see. Victoria must never find out such happened between her and Alan. So, through her teeth, she lied.
“Alan has never had such intimate knowledge of me, Mother. Of this, I assure you.”
“Graciousness! I had hoped so. Well, in that case, there is remedy for this malady, yet. Bless the Stamfords for they would be your salvation. I am afraid, Agnes. There is more. Heart-breaking news; I do hope it does not shatter you.”
Agnes’s curiosity was piqued again, even as a part of her wondered why her mother was being unusually calm about this. Finding her voice and her courage for she had vowed never to cower before her mother, she cleared her throat. Though she had come close to doing just that; cowering, it was enough consolation that she had recovered just in time.
“Will I have to plead this news out of you, as well?”
Victoria sent a haughty look away but made no comment about her manners. “No. You wouldn’t. Nevertheless, you shall have to see for yourself.”
Agnes looked down at the parchment her mother now held out to her and took it. As soon as she had it in her hands, she loosened the rope that held it bound, confusion written over her face. What did this parchment of documents have to do with the conversation at hand?
“What is this?”
“Why don’t you take a look, yourself?”
She did. Flipping open the first page, she adjusted her eye to read what was written. The first thing she caught was the name of Alan’s enterprise. Then, there was her father’s name. This was clearly some sort of business record between the two enterprises. Eager to learn more, she flipped the second page. There, she found ledgers, recording transactions between her father and Sheldon, profits from joint business ventures and so on. She could not understand. Why was her mother showing her this? She looked up, the question in her eyes.
“I am not quite certain of the implication of this, Mother. These are records between Alan and Father, are they not?”
“Indeed, they are. After learning of your liaison, I pondered for days over why you two would do such a formidable thing. I eventually concluded that you must love Alan. Still, I could not trust that these feelings were mutual or sincere, on his part. I surmised that he must have something to gain, so I proceeded to do some digging. This, is just one of the things I was able to discover about your dearest Alan. These are records I acquired from a trustworthy staff in his firm. According to these, that merchant has been conning your father. Inflation, deflation, he has done it all to rip your father off profits of ventures that he was entitled to. Alan has been lying to us all. To think that we welcomed him into our home. It is such a saddening thought.”
Disbelief was what Agnes felt. There ought to be some sort of explanation for this. This could not possibly be true. She began to flip through the pages with the speed of wind, taking in all she could on each page. When she was done, she began again, and again, and again, unable to trust what her eyes saw. Yet, no matter how many times she flipped through, nothing changed. The figures remained the same, told an equivalent story.
Alan had betrayed her love, her trust. She felt a searing pain in her chest as her heart tore into two. Her head suddenly felt heavy, and her eyes brimmed with tears. She looked at her mother, eyes searching for the slightest hint of a smile. This had to be a lie. This had to be some sort of forgery. Her mother’s way of punishing her, for how could the man she had thought she knew do this evil deed?
“I know what you are thinking about, Agnes. I assure you, I was quite shocked to learn of this, myself – as was your father. He too could not believe his eyes.”
“Father knows of this?”
“Oh, but of course. I told him right away. It is his business after all, he ought to know. However, I did not tell him of your affair. I thought it would be best to keep that particular truth between us.”
Agnes sighed. A myriad of emotions threatened to overwhelm her, pull her under. This was too much at once. Much more than she could handle. Why did life have to be so cruel?
“What was Father’s verdict?” Her voice sounded broken, even to her. She feared she may never recover from this. Yet, she willed herself to remain strong. What if this was untrue? She could not put this past her mother, and she owed it to Alan to seek explanations from him. Tonight, she would write to him and request that he come to her. One last time, just to be certain so that this memory of him would not scar her forever.
“Your father as you know, is a very kind man. Too kind for his own good I’ve always retained. As you can imagine, he was devastated by the news. Alan was like the son he never had. He had no other option than to sever every tie with him. Alan is no longer welcome in this household, business-wise or otherwise. He has been banned.”
As anyone else in his shoes would do. She could not blame her father. The evidence was damning. If Alan was innocent, then she must find a way to prove it. Sighing, she handed the parchment back to her mother. She had no use for it.
“He had left with this, you see. Thankfully, I had the sense to have a clergy make a copy.”
Agnes said nothing; she simply nodded at her mother’s words. Right now, she would like to be left alone.
“Mother, thank you for bringing this to me. If you would not mind, I would rather be left to myself at this moment.”
“Oh, of course. In time. You see, there is one more thing you should know.”
What sorcery was this? Had she not heard enough? What more could her mother have to say? “And what might that be? He is an impostor? The real Alan died in the shipwreck that took his father away?”
“Gracious! That would make for an excellent screenplay. Unfortunately, no. He is truly the Alan Sheldon, and as we speak, he prepares to leave London with his mistress. You see, your father isn’t the only one Alan has been conning. He has done the same to all his business associates, and it is only a matter of time now before his dubious ways are discovered by all of them. In shame and for fear, he has decided to leave London. I think more appropriate words would be – run away from London.” Victoria paused as she put a hand to her chest, stared into the distance, and shook her head. “It’s all so saddening.”
She swiftly returned her gaze to Agnes and took her hands in hers. “I am terribly sorry, my dear. After learning of all of this, I could only imagine the pain it would cause you, so I made a vow that I shall not be too hard on you. Certainly, you too will agree that this is punishment enough for your indiscretions. However, look on the bright side! You have the future Duke of Yorkshire, and very soon, you shall be his wife. The way I see it, you win in the end. I would say, good riddance to bad rubbish! I am here for whenever you need me, sweetheart. Now, I shall hearken to your request and take my leave.”
She released Agnes’s hands then, but not before giving her an affectionate kiss. Then with empathy in her eyes, she rose up, gave her cheeks a warm caress, and left.
