“I make it my business to know who people are.”
“I’m at a disadvantage, sir, as I don’t know who you are.”
“Inspector Phineas Strange, Scotland Yard.” He shook his head. “Apologies. It’s how I’m accustomed to introducing myself because I usually arrive places in an official capacity. But not so here.” He glanced back toward the gathering. “So all these are our father’s bastards, are they?”
“Some are their spouses or children. Why did you not come forward sooner?”
“I wasn’t certain I wanted to be associated withsuch a vile creature. But then I finally realized I was granting him power over me he hadn’t earned.”
“You know the Earl of Elverton was your father?”
“All evidence would point to it.”
“Care to share that evidence?”
“I was handed off to a baby farmer. That was his preferred method for ridding himself of us, was it not?”
“When?” the countess asked. “When were you handed off?”
He provided the date, and Leonora watched as all the blood seemed to drain from her face.
“I gave birth to a son that morning. I swaddled him in a blue blanket—”
Now it was the inspector who went pale. “With Elverton embroidered in the corner.” He reached into the small pocket on his waistcoat, withdrew a scrap of cloth, and held it out. Many of the threads had thinned and broken over time, perhaps from numerous rubbings, but enough remained to make out the word.
The countess pressed fingers to her lips as tears welled in her eyes. “I named you Matthew. You’re my firstborn. How you must hate me for letting him take you.”
“Madam, I’ve seen the lengths people are forced to go to in order to survive. I hold no ill will toward you. Fortunately, the woman he paid for my care was benevolent. I also find hate a waste of energy.”
The countess released a quiet sob, before reaching out a shaking hand and resting it against his cheek. “For the few hours I held you, I loved you a lifetime’s worth.”
“How fortunate a lad was I, then.”
“I don’t suppose I could hug you.”
Without a word or any hesitation, he enclosed her in a solid embrace.
“I have three of my boys now.” Her voice was thick with tears. “Who would have thought, after all these years...”
Leonora and Aiden were introduced.
“I’m another one of his bastards,” Aiden said. “The countess is my mother as well.”
“I can see the similarities in our features.”
Leonora decided she liked the man when Rook told him about the recompense he was willing to pay and Inspector Strange refused the offer. “I’ve no need of it. Put it to better use elsewhere.”
The dowager countess and Aiden took him off to meet his other siblings.
Rook moved closer and circled an arm around her shoulders. “I was hoping one of these days, another of her sons would turn up.”
“Do you think the last will?”
“I suspect not all his bastards survived, Nora. And he kept no records of where he took them. Odious man.”
With a governess in tow, their two sons and daughter were frolicking over the green, enjoying a ruffling of their hair or a hug from one of their many aunts and uncles.
“We have quite the large family, don’t we?” she asked quietly.
