Page 109 of The Girl Out of Time
Theo progressed carefully, building dread slowing his steps. He leaned around a group of plants, and there she was, sitting on the sofa, one hand clenching the fabric of her skirt, another covering her mouth. Emmeline.
He’d still hoped, until this moment, that it wouldn’t be her.
She hiccuped, then flinched and looked up. Her eyes, glistening with tears, widened as he approached.
“Go away,” she said.
“Please, listen to me.”
She stood up. “Oh,nowyou want to talk? Now you want to explain?”
“Emmeline—”
“For how long, hmm?” She crept toward him. “Since when have you been engaged to her? Longer than a week? From before our outing at the museum? Or did you decide afterward that I wasn’t good enough, not when you could have an earl’s daughter—”
“It’s not like—”
“Since when?” She enunciated each word in fury.
“Since I was six years old.” His voice rose almost to match hers.
Dumbfounded, she stared at him.
“Now, will you let me explain?” he said, calming down.
She wiped her eyes with a handkerchief. “All this time? How?”
“Please.” Tentatively, he reached out for her; when she didn’t shake him away, he took her hand and led her to the sofa. “It’s not how you think.”
“W-well, joke’s on you, because I’ve no idea what to think.” At least she didn’t sound angry anymore.
“Lord Wescott is my uncle,” he said.
“That’s why he said you were his heir?”
“My uncle through marriage, only. His wife is my mother’s sister.”
She shook her head. “I don’t understand.”
“Lord Wescott has no sons. I’m not sure of the details, but an accident happened when he was young. Cass was already born at that point, but afterward, he couldn’t—well, you know what I mean.”
She nodded.
“There are two things that mean the world to my uncle: his daughter and his title. So when he realized he would not be able to procure himself an heir through traditional means, he found another way. Cass would inherit everything after his death, but if she married—and of course, she would—a great deal of that inheritance would fall under her husband’s control.”
“Why wouldn’t he marry her to someone he approved of, then?”
“Because any man my uncle would approve of would already have his own title, and Wescott’s title would pass out of existence. But there’s an old hereditary law allowing a peer’s son-in-law to take over his title, should the said peer have only a single daughter and no other suitable candidates. It would be a complex case, but Wescott has enough pull and power to make it happen.”
“You’re saying he picked you, so he could make you into the next earl?”
Theo looked down at her hands. “He wanted someone that shared at least some blood with the family, even if it was on his wife’s side. He wasn’t impressed with my father’s pedigree, but my mother came from a good,English family—good enough for him, clearly, if he married Aunt Augusta. And me being a no one helped.” He slowly traced her fingers; she didn’t seem to mind. “I was his blank canvas. He could make me into anything he wished. His perfect heir.”
But no matter how perfect he was, Wescott would never care for him. He was only a means to an end. The best he could do, in Uncle’s eyes, was to not embarrass him as his heir.
“Everything you told me about your family … your uncle in France, your cousin, the farm—”
“It’s all still true. My uncle—Uncle Gustave, that is—wouldn’t allow for me to be taken to England. He might be poor, but he’s as stubborn as a mule.”
