Page 53 of The Remarkable Myth of a Nameless Lady
She is my cousin… There is to be an attack tomorrow… My father bought Ravencliff from Mr. Price… Alicia should have been the lady of that manor… Mr. Price is not the ringleader; someone else is pulling the strings…Those thoughts thundered in his skull, echoing the thud of the hooves of the horse beneath him. They almost overwhelmed him a number of times, forcing him to delve deep into his resolve in order to keep him on this path.
I have to know. I have to know. I have to know.He did not know why Alicia would lie to him, which only made the dread and confusion sweep further through his being. Mr. Price had more cause to lie but, again, Jacob did not think Mr. Price would be so foolish. No, there was only one person who could give him the precise, blunt truth, no matter how awful.
Which was how he found himself striding down the hallway toward the room where he had left the revelers. He burst in, sweat dripping down his face, panting hard and frightening the party that was in full swing within.
“There you are!” one of them called. “We thought you had abandoned us entirely!”
Jacob ignored them. “Mother, might I have a word with you?”
The Duchess laughed stiffly. “Darling, can it wait? I am in the middle of entertaining.”
“No, it cannot wait,” he replied. The assertive note in his voice rendered the room silent, the revelers casting concerned expressions at one another.
“My apologies, everyone, it looks as though I am urgently required.” The Duchess chuckled nervously. “I will return anon.”
Smoothing down the front of her skirts, she rose from her position as the center of attention and followed Jacob out of the room. He did not speak, knowing that once he began, everything would tumble out without him being able to stop it. And so, he held onto his questions as he walked through the hallways and came to a halt in front of his study. He opened the door and ushered his mother in, waiting until they were both seated before he finally began.
“Jacob? What on earth is the matter with you? You have quite embarrassed me,” his mother muttered, adjusting a strand of hair. “In front ofyourfriends, I must add.”
“Never mind that, Mother.” He raked in a shallow breath. “I am going to ask you something, and I want you to answer me honestly. Do you understand?”
She pursed her lips. “Honestly, what has happened to you? Has someone come and replaced my son with someone else, in the space of an evening?”
“Do you understand, Mother?” he repeated, more firmly this time.
She reeled back in alarm. “Why… yes, I understand. Though, I cannot see what the urgency might be.”
“Was my father’s sister—my aunt—the wife of Mr. Price?” He gripped the edge of his seat until his knuckles whitened, in a vain attempt to control his emotions. “Is Miss Alicia Price your niece?”
The Duchess’ mouth fell open, her eyes glittering with sudden panic. “How do you know that?”
“So, itistrue?”
“I-I did not say that!” she cried, gulping.
“You asked how I knew that, which means it must be true. Is it? I want to hear it from your lips.”
The Duchess toyed with her silk gloves, shifting awkwardly in her seat. “Y-yes… y-yes, it is true.”
“And is it true that my father tricked Mr. Price into selling this house to him?” Jacob’s lip twitched, and he had to force it not to curl into a sour grimace.
“I do not know the nature of their deal,” she replied, staring down into her lap. “That was your father’s business, not mine.”
“But you persuaded him to buy this house, did you not? You saw it when you visited his sister, and you decided you wanted it. Is that not true?” He gripped the edge of his chair harder.
“I urged him to buy it from his sister’s husband so that wastrel would not bring it to ruin, like his family line brought that castle on the hill to ruin!” she shot back. “I had your father contemplate purchasing it, so that his sister would not be without a roof over her head when that wretched man finally showed his true nature. It was to be her refuge, but then she had those blasted children! It took years after they were born for me to persuade your father to agree to make the deal. Years longer than it should have done.”
Jacob froze. “Then youwerethe one to persuade him? You urged him to take this place from a father and his children, who had lost their wife and mother. How can you say you were doing it for his sister, when you still proceeded in urging Father to make the deal, after she was dead? And then you did not give Mr. Price what he was owed!”
“He did not deserve a penny. And I wanted to have it as payment. I wanted to see him brought low,” the Duchess spat, tears brimming. “I wanted him to suffer, as he made my husband’s family suffer when he whisked her off to this awful country.”
“He did not kill her, Mother!” Jacob cried. “She died in childbirth.”
“Which she would not have had to endure, if it were not for that ingrate.” His mother jittered with fury, faint splotches of scarlet burning through her cheeks.
“It is all true… it is all true,” Jacob breathed, his head spinning. No wonder his mother longed to be taken back to London. This house must have held so many ghosts for her, which haunted her daily. Mr. Price, Alicia, her husband’s sister—everyone who had been affected by her decision. And, with her husband gone too, there was nobody else here that she could blame but herself.
“What does it matter?” The Duchess softened her voice. “I had your father purchase this house for you and your brother, also, so you might become titled gentlemen with a fine house, even if it is in this sorry isle. You deserved it far more than that sickly waif and her crooked brother. That girl is certainly nothing like her mother. She is entirely her father’s daughter. She would have brought this house to ruin, too, given half the chance.”
