Page 94 of The Wise Daughter
“Carver’s really gone?”
“Gone forever. The mounting evidence against him will ensure it. Your solicitor seemed to think so, in any event.”
Aaron massaged his brow, easing the tense ache in his head that he had woken with. “I’d forgotten Cornell was here. Maybe we can revise the marriage contract before he returns to London.”Assuming Nora will still have me,he silently added. “To think, Carver was my cousin. I wish I had known. Things might have been different between us. We could have been better friends. I could have treated him more kindly.”
“Oh, Aaron. Do not burden yourself further by wondering about what might have been. It never does any good.”
He was tempted to make a snide remark about whether such beliefs had mollified her conscience over the years, but he bridled his tongue. Discerning the worry and regret behind her eyes softened him.
“Did you know,” he asked, “about Carver?”
“I only recently suspected. Men I had never seen before started coming to West Riding looking for the former duchess. Of course, they only found Mrs. Westlake, the reclusive old woman who couldn’t remember the former duchess, which is hardly a lie.” She closed her eyes, and the worry lines glared back at him. “I learned that someone was trying to discover proof of a marriage, the one between your uncle and a certain Abigail Carver. When the men left, I made a few of my own inquiries, and I reached out to your friend, Ruthers.”
Aaron groaned. “How is it that you are even acquainted with Ruthers?”
She stood to pace around the room, wringing her hands. “I may have left, Aaron, but a mother has her ways of watching over her son.”
“What does that mean?”
“Once you finished your formal education and began touring through the continent, I decided I needed a way to learn what you were up to.”
“I met Ruthers during my last year of school in Hesse-Kassel.”
“Yes. He is actually a distant cousin on my mother’s side. I knew him as a child, and I knew I could trust him. When his parents died, I sent him to the same school you were at, hoping you would become friends. I paid his way for as long as I could. He promised to stand by your side no matter what. He’s been keeping me informed, but as of late, he has also been helping me replenish my coffers by selling my old gems.”
“Your jewelry.” Aaron thought of the necklace he had found in Nora’s room after the fire, how he had caught Ruthers with more that night. He thought of Ruthers’s confessions to taking things and selling them. Ruthers had been so reluctant to admit who the money was for, so when Aaron finally pulled a confession from him, Aaron didn’t believe him. His mother, the former duchess? The gems were actually for his mother? Ruthers had begged Aaron to believe him, swearing that the day would soon come when his mother would confirm the truth of his story. Aaron had been so angry that night that he might not have believed Ruthers were it not for their longstanding history together and a grudging curiosity to see if it could be true.
Disoriented from seeing familiar events through a new perspective, Aaron recalled the time Ruthers had saved his life.
“That moneylender who threatened me, who cornered me with the pistol when I couldn’t pay him what I owed, that wasn’t orchestrated by you somehow, was it, Mother?”
“Certainly not. Ruthers really did save your life that night. That’s when I knew I could absolutely trust him.”
“I came to the same conclusion.” Aaron closed his eyes, confused by it all, and wished he could go back to sleep. He hated to ask his next question, the one that made him feel like a little boy again, but the thought of not asking and not knowing was worse. “I have to know, Mother, why did you leave me?”
“Oh Aaron.” Her answer came in a strained whisper as she took his hand and moved closer to his side. “I never wanted to leave for as long as I did. I never planned it.”
“Then explain it to me.”
She pulled out a handkerchief and dabbed her eyes. “You must first understand that your father and I were married eight years before you were born. You were our miracle. We loved you so very much. You should have seen how your father beamed when he learned he had a son to pass his title to. We were happy for a time, but the pressure to have another baby soon returned. I was to produce another son, a spare. When I couldn’t conceive a second time, I felt like an utter failure. Your father never said so, but the gossips did. After a while, even the servants whispered and looked at me differently. I became so melancholy. I didn’t ever want to leave the castle or be around anyone.”
“Strange, since you did leave.”
“True. Even then, Mr. Carver was working his mischief.”
“Carver,” he spat. Were Carver’s claws really in so deep? “What had he to do with your leaving?”
“People were already saying the most hurtful things, and your father and I were growing distant. Mr. Carver only had to build on their talk. He grew freer dropping comments and hints, a word here, a word there. He never said anything directly offensive, but his comments were always packaged as well-intentioned advice. I thought I was making my own conclusions. I told myself no one wanted me around anymore. I said it so many times, I believed it.”
“Why would Carver want you gone?”
“In light of what we’ve discovered, I can only assume he didn’t want me to ever have a chance at producing another heir. He was only the butler then, but he must have been calculating. When your father made him the steward, his slights against me grew worse, but I failed to see them for what they were. I made excuses for him. I told myselfhe was only being honest. One day, he suggested I take a holiday to rest from it all. I think he knew that if he could just get me away, it would be so much more difficult for me to return.”
“Even with me at home to care for?”
“But that’s just it, Aaron. You weren’t at home. Your father had sent you off to school. I didn’t think it mattered to you whether I was in Ravenglass or Broad Oak or West Riding. You were still hundreds of miles away.”
“West Riding? But that’s where Nora is from.”
