“A small, private funeral would probably also be best,” his mother said.
“No.”
Her brow furrowed. “Why not?”
“His bastards should have a chance to—”Spit on him.“I don’t know who all of his children are. They should have an opportunity to attend, to sit in the area designated for the family. Perhaps even Matthew and Mark will be there.” They were her first two children.
She smiled sadly. “I suspect they are long dead. Most are, Johnny.” For the first time since he’d arrived after receiving her missive, tears welled in her eyes. “When Aiden was born, I wanted so badly to keep him. I named him Luke. He was the third one to whom I gave birth, and your father had taken the other two away. I begged him to allow me to hold onto him. I’d see to it that he wasn’t a bother. But he gave me a choice: continue to live a life of ease in the posh residence he provided or keep my son and live on the streets. I gave over my third son. I often wonder... what sort of mother did that make me?”
“A protective one. I’m sure it didn’t feel like it at the time, but without the earl’s benevolence, how would you have kept Aiden or yourself alive? Even if you’d been allowed to keep him, his life would have been misery, a constant reminder to the earl of what he didn’t want. As you’re well aware, he had a tendency to permanently rid himself of people he didn’t want in his life.”
“Like his first wife, who had failed to conceive,” she said softly. “At the time, when she died, it never occurred to me he might have been instrumental in bringing about her demise. When he married me, I’d hoped it was out of love, but I suspect it was because I was so fertile, and he needed his heir. Therefore, I got to keep the fourth. You. But the life of ease was never truly easy, even when I was his wife and not his whore.”
“Don’t use that word,” he snapped as the anger roiled through him. “That’s not what you were.”
“My darling son, your mother was no saint.”
“You’re a saint to me.”
She laughed lightly. “Every mother should be so fortunate to have a son like you.”
He took another swallow of scotch. “I’m sorry to have been responsible for bringing more scandal into your life.”
“I assume you’re referring to your upcoming nuptials.”
He nodded.
“People will forget it in time.” She waved a hand through the air. “Another scandal will divert their attention away from yours.”
“I never wanted to be anything like him.”
“You’renot. You’ve always been such a comfort to me.”
He set his glass aside. “I’m going out for a while, but I’ll return to see how you’re faring. Will probably stay here tonight.” Probably every night after as well.
“Give her my best.”
He furrowed his brow. “I’m going to spend time with the Chessmen.” Even though they were probably all abed at this late hour.
She smiled softly. “Of course you are, darling.”
Hehadplanned to rouse his mates from bed and drink himself into oblivion with them at his club, following a toast to all their fathers—the men who had unwittingly and unknowingly been responsible for providing them with a common cause and bringing them all together. Hence, he was a bit surprised when he found himself tapping lightly on a door that led into a suite of rooms on the top floor of the Trewlove Hotel.
The door finally opened a fraction and a wide-eyed maid peered out.
“Will you let Miss Garrison know—without disturbing her mother or brother”—he held out five quid to her—“that... her betrothed wishes a word.” He couldn’t yet force the wordsEarl of Elvertonpast his lips.
With a snick, she closed the door. A few minutes later, Nora was standing there in her nightclothes, her dressing gown cinched tightly at her waist, her hair plaited and draped over her shoulder. “Your father’s died,” she said without preamble.
He’d always been so skilled at shielding his emotions. What the devil did his face show? Still, he nodded.
“Wait there.” The door again closed, but in a blink, she’d returned, her pelisse draped over her and pulled close around her. She joined him in the hallway.
“Are you still in your nightclothes?”
“I’m adequately covered and there’s no one about to see. I’d invite you in, but the last thing you need is for Mama to awaken and begin gloating that her daughter will be marrying an earl. There’s a lovely park a short distance from here. It’ll offer us a place to talk without being disturbed.” She closed her hand around his—hers so warm, his so cold. He didn’t understand what was happening to him.
But he didn’t object as she led him out of the hotel, across the street, and down another street. The area was well-lit. Mick Trewlove had taken a desolate part of London and turned it into an idyllic spot for the up-and-coming.
