Page 72 of A Baron's Scandalous Quill
Alexander veered back in his seat. He waved his hands in the air.
“I want nothing of it!”
“Alex!” Sarah wailed from behind her handkerchief. “How can you say such a thing?”
“Why would I want anything to do with a bigamist’s fortune?” he hissed angrily. “You knew he was a bigamist, did you not? You knew he left you with the intention of marrying another.”
She looked down at her lap, fiddling with the handkerchief.
Becca poured another cup of tea and took it to the woman, sitting beside her. Sarah thanked her with a nod and took the cup, swallowing hurriedly; clearly her mouth had gone dry with the terror of discussing such secrets.
“Why did you never say anything?” Alexander asked, his voice strained. At last, he managed to rouse an explanation from her.
“What woman would wish to talk of such shame? To tell their son that she was not enough to keep her husband, that he left her for another?” She stared at her teacup the entire time she spoke. Becca laid a hand on her shoulder, unsure what more she could do to comfort the woman.
“I heard people talking in the village about George Dorset’s advancement in the world. When people suspected he had married twice, I started using my maiden name again. No one asked questions. In the parish records, you were recorded as a ‘natural birth.’”
Everyone in the room bristled, all except Henry, who had clearly read this himself in the parish records.
“Everyone believed George and I were never married after all, and you were born out of wedlock.” She shook her head. “What more could I do, Alex? You were my responsibility. I have loved you more than any other, my son.” She smiled sweetly then, hercheeks glistening with tears. “I let George Dorset go, glad to have nothing to do with him anymore.”
Alexander nodded sharply but looked even more discomforted than before. He fidgeted in his seat, unable to settle.
“I know this is no nice thing to hear,” William said, turning to face Alexander. “Believe me, I do. I began this journey wanting to write a book about George Dorset’s fraud, to reveal to the world what kind of man he was. I never expected it to become a story like this.” He gestured a hand between them all. “But I am on a mission to set things right.”
“An admirable sentiment, Lord Lancaster.” Alexander laughed a little, clearly thinking such a thing to be impossible. “So many wrongs cannot be corrected.”
“Maybe they can’t all be corrected, but some can.” William leaned forward.
Becca watched him closely. In her mind’s eye, she could see how they had spent most of the night together, their bodies entangled. After they had made love, neither one of them had wanted to leave one another’s arms.
When they had eventually parted, she had waited until the bedchamber door closed before she had shed her tears. Now, she blinked, holding back such tears again as she saw the kindness and insistence on justice that shone from within William.
“I am going to repay George’s debtors and all the men he defrauded. I have already begun, but there will still be money left. There will still be land left, and by law, by right, it does not belong to me.” William motioned his hand toward Alexander. “It belongs to you. I intend to lay the truth before my solicitor and have the estate settled on you.”
Alexander parted his lips. He looked pale, even rather sick, and a strange sound escaped him.
“No,” he murmured again, his voice as quiet as a mouse. “I am a clerk, Lord Lancaster. I am not gentry. I do not belong in a grand house with money. That is not my life.”
“You can do with it whatever you wish to,” William reminded him. “It will be yours to command as you wish. Use it to enter theton,if that is what you like, and I will gladly escort you into the world, to right the wrongs of the past. Or sell it up, if you prefer, and find a new home for you and your mother. Something of your choosing.”
“Alex,” Sarah called from across the room, toying with the handkerchief in her lap. “Do not throw away such kindness. You and I have had plenty of hardships dealt to us in our lives. Do not bite the hand that now feeds you.”
“It is not that simple, Mother.” He sighed and raised a hand into his fair hair, pulling on the tendrils. “You baffle me, my lord.”He laughed and looked at William again. “Many a man I know would not be so preoccupied with giving away their fortune.”
“He has another,” Lord Longfellow reminded him. “He may be my illegitimate son, but he is my son. I will ensure he is my heir.”
“But still,” Alexander went on with fervor, “many a man would hold onto all the gold they could. Why give it to me?” He addressed William alone with this question. “Why?”
“Because George Dorset littered this world with pain,” William said darkly. “With all the crimes he’s committed, I cannot get full justice. I cannot be repaid the years that he kept me imprisoned in our house, nor the misery he imposed on my mother, but if I can give you back your birthright, then I shall.” William smiled. “Please accept my offer.” He extended his hand to Alexander. “I will be your friend in this. I vow that to you.”
Alexander hesitated. He looked between his mother and William once again, then slowly raised his hand, though he didn’t quite take William’s palm just yet.
“This should be some book you’re having written, my lord,” Alexander said with a sudden amused smile. “Explosive! What will people make of George Dorset’s son being little more than a clerk?”
“They’ll love it,” William laughed softly. “Thetonlove to talk of a good scandal.”
“Ha! Well, if you are prepared for it, my lord, then very well.” Alexander placed his hand in William’s, and they shook.
