Page 88 of Marry in Secret
“Why?”
Thomas took a deep breath. If Uncle Walter was here, there was no point in denying the relationship. It was bound to come out anyway. But if Uncle Walter intended to publicly repudiate him, here, in front of Rose and everyone she cared about, he had to be stopped.
“Remember the uncle I said disowned me?”
Ashendon’s brows snapped together. “The Earl of Brierdon? He’s youruncle?”
Thomas nodded. “I don’t know why he’s here, but if it’s to make trouble... I won’t allow him to embarrass Rose. Or you two.”
Ashendon looked grim. “I won’t allow it either. Right, I’ll get Galbraith onto it. You stay out of sight—better yet, go to the library. We’ll find Brierdon and bring him to the library. If he’s bent on mischief, we’ll soon find out.”
It went against the grain for Thomas to let Ashendon take charge, but it made sense to ensure that their meeting took place in private instead of witnessed by a ballroom full of gossips.
He went to the library to wait.
“Thomas?” Rose entered. She hurried to him and slipped her arm through his, a wordless gesture of solidarity. “Emm told me what has happened. Your uncle is here? The one who so cruelly disowned you?”
Thomas nodded. His mouth was dry. He didn’t knowwhat he was going to say to Uncle Walter. He’d take it as it came.
It didn’t take long. The door opened. Ashendon entered, followed by a slender gentleman dressed all in white—white knee breeches, a white shirt and a white neckcloth tied in such an intricate arrangement he could hardly turn his head, a white waistcoat and a tight white coat bearing a dozen gold fobs and chains. Galbraith followed, and a moment later Lady Ashendon entered.
Thomas frowned. “That’s not my uncle. You’ve brought the wrong man.”
“You said the Earl of Brierdon,” Ashendon said.
“Yes. I don’t know who this fellow is, but he’s not the Earl of Brierdon.”
The newcomer uttered a huff of outrage. “I certainlyamthe Earl of Brierdon. Who are you, you impertinent—” His quizzing glass dropped. “Thomas?Good gad! Itisyou! My friend Venables did ask me whether the Commander Beresford mentioned on the invitation was any relation, but I told him I had no idea. Lord knows there are enough Beresfords scattered around the country, and I mean, you’d been dead for years, after all.” He lifted his quizzing glass and peered at Thomas. “But you’re alive.”
Thomas’s jaw dropped. “Cousin Cornelius?”
“Cousin Cornelius?” echoed Ashendon. “He’s not your uncle?”
“No, of course not. He’s some sort of cousin.”
“Second cousin once removed,” Cousin Cornelius said sulkily. “You never did get that right.” Thomas hadn’t seen Cousin Cornelius since they were boys. He hadn’t improved.
“But I heard the Earl of Brierdon announced. Where is Uncle Walter?”
Cousin Cornelius rolled his eyes. “Dead, of course. How else would I be the Ear—er...” He trailed off, looking uncomfortable.
“Dead?”Thomas was shocked at the news. Uncle Walter couldn’t possibly be dead. “But how? When? He wasn’t old, or at least not very old.”
“Broke his neck on the hunting field four years ago.”
Thomas stared at him, trying to come to terms with the news. Uncle Walter? Dead? And then he realized what else Cornelius had said. “Four years ago?Four?Are you sure?” The date had to be wrong.
“Of course I’m sure,” Cousin Cornelius said pettishly. “As if I’d forget the date I inherited an earldom.”
Rose slipped her arm through Thomas’s and murmured, “Lord Brierdon—your Cousin Cornelius, I mean—has been a member of London society for some years.”
“But I talked to you about Uncle Walter.”
“Yes, but you never mentioned him by his title. I never put the two together.”
Thomas turned back to Cousin Cornelius. “Why areyoucalling yourself Lord Brierdon? Gerald is the heir. He should be the earl.”
“Gerald died before Uncle Walter,” Cornelius said. “Caught some horrid disease in Italy—cholera or something like that. Nasty end. Was shipped home in a barrel, poor sod. The old man was devastated, first his beloved Gerald dead, then you, lost at sea.”
