Page 154 of The Lyon Whisperer
She nodded. “Yes, of course.”
“After Letty’s father informed her of his decision, she promptly took off for Paris. Later we told everyone she’d gone to purchase her trousseau,” her father said.
“But in reality, she’d simply gone to buy time?” Chase guessed.
He nodded. “She never even said goodbye. I didn’t know what happened until I received a missive from her explaining the situation. She said she couldn’t go through with marrying Selbie. Said she would sooner sail to America. She asked if I would join her in Paris and elope with her. I did.”
“Aw,” Amelia crooned, charmed by the happy, romantic ending.
“We married, unbeknownst to her family or mine, and took an extended honeymoon. By the time we came back, the damage was done and irreversible—and Leticia was with child.”
“I imagine Lord Selbie was none too happy,” Chase said.
“Selbie was furious but could do nothing. Letty wrote to him, informing him of our marriage. By the time we got back, he was engaged to an heiress, the current Lady Selbie. We believed fortune had smiled upon us.”
He met Chase’s then Amelia’s eyes. “What I have to tell you next is not easy. I have not spoken of it in…” He broke off, eyeing Amelia. “Twenty-three years.”
Amelia swallowed. Her mother had died twenty-three years ago, after succumbing to a fever following her birth.
“I mentioned your mother had a reckless streak.”
“So you did,” she murmured.
“I will regret to my dying day I did not do enough to curtail it.”
“What happened, Papa?” Amelia asked softly.
Her father’s hard countenance softened briefly, and a smile flickered at his mouth. “Papa. You have not called me that for a long time.” He wiped the back of his hand over a suspiciously damp eye and drew a deep breath before continuing. “Selbie waited until she gave birth to you. He then dispatched a letter to your mother, informing her he could do math relatively well and…how do I say this? Your birth came a bit too soon.”
Amelia blinked. “You mean…?”
His cheeks went crimson.
Amelia feared hers had a similar affliction.
“She was fond of midnight rides, you see. The exhilaration of racing under the canopy of stars and, I suppose, the illicit thrill of the thing.
“Before we knew her father had accepted Selbie’s suit, she…er…invited me to meet with her in secret. It was following my statement regarding ending my courtship of her. Naturally, I agreed to hear her out. That’s when she told me she would marry me and none other. We got caught up in the moment and…er…”
Chase interrupted. “I think we get the gist.”
He gave Chase a grateful look. “We didn’t know she was pregnant when we married, but we realized soon enough. Selbie had the right of it.
“In his letter, he threatened to tell all and sundry that she had conceived you on the wrong side of the blanket, unless she agreed to be his mistress.”
Righteous indignation filled her. “But you said he was engaged to be married.”
“So I did,” her father agreed.
“Vile creature,” she muttered.
“He probably did not expect her to tell me of the threat. Or perhaps he did not care if she did. In any case, she showed me the note. I told her not to worry about it, that I’d take care of it.”
Chase met her father’s eyes. “You intended to call him out.”
“I did—intend to, that is.” He gripped his hands very tightly before him. “That night, unbeknownst to me, she rose from her bed in the middle of the night. She was not yet recovered from childbirth, you see, and we slept in separate chambers.
“I’ll never know exactly what she was about, or whether she intended to have it out with Selbie as I’ve long assumed.”
