Benjamin swallowed his anger, and, instead, practiced the sensibility Duncan always required of his sons. “Betts, you must quit this madness. Perhaps too much drink has confused you to the point you believe your words are true.” He noted several of the onlookers nodded in agreement. “My betrothed’s sister loved only one man, Lieutenant Anthony Chase, God rest his soul. Lieutenant Chase is currently listed as assumed dead on one of the many battlefields in Europe.”
“You lie!” Betts declared as he swayed in place.
“I can produce the marriage certificate for Lieutenant Chase and Miss Cassandra’s joining. As one of the child’s godparents, I made certain there was proof of the child’s birthright so he might inherit one day,” Benjamin said with more calm than he felt. “Just because you attempted to accost both my betrothed and her younger sister does not make either the mother of your child. Your horrid actions towards Miss Whitchurch forced her to take a position in Bath at a girls’ school just to be out of your reach. I pity the barony when it is under your care, for no honorable woman within ten miles will know the freedom to walk about without worrying about the depravity you have displayed on a continual basis.”
Several gentlemen among the onlookers stepped closer, as if preparing to support Benjamin if needed.
“He is my child!” Betts hissed.
“The child’s christening certificate does not mention you,” Benjamin repeated. Ironically, even he was beginning to enjoy Betts’s public humiliation. “It lists Miss Cassandra as the child’s mother and Lieutenant Chase as the father. I admit, it is a great sin that the boy will not know the love of his mother and father, but Miss Whitchurch and I plan to raise him along with any blessings we are presented with from our joining. I have promised that he will have an education and an honest occupation.”
“Good for you, Thompson,” Lord Stanley declared as he took another step closer to where Betts swayed in place. “You are a credit to both your father’s fine name and that of Lord Duncan.”
Benjamin nodded his gratitude, but he did not remove his eyes from Betts.
“Where is Cassandra in all this?” Betts demanded. “She is just willing to desert her son?”
“Ah,” Benjamin thought. “It took a bit to reach this point, but I can now openly change the opinions of any who still might believe parts of Betts’s tale.”
“Surely you recall when you forced your way into my house that you cruelly told my betrothed and all her friends and my staff that Mrs. Chase had been killed near the docks. Were you too inebriated then to recall your dastardly manners?”
“Cruelly!” Betts shrieked. “How was the truth ‘cruel’?”
“Though your actions were appalling, you are correct, sir. We would not have thought to search for Mrs. Chase near the Thames. I suppose I should speak my gratitude for providing us that bit of information, though I should tell you if you ever enter my house again without an invitation, I will not hesitate to have you brought before a proper constable.”
“I wanted to see for myself if the boy favored my countenance,” Betts protested. “Cassandra claimed he had something of my look about him.”
Benjamin wished to reach out and strangle young Betts, but he would not place Ethan’s future in danger. Instead he said as a reminder to those listening in what both he and Duncan wished them to believe. “I suppose in your customary drunkenness that you imagined it to be so, but my betrothed’s sister died several days after giving birth to the child. We assume she likely received the news of Lieutenant Chase having fallen in battle and took it quite hard, but we do not know that with assurance. The coroner said she probably bled out over the days following the child’s birth. We all know of some poor woman who has suffered thusly. When I attended medical school in Edinburgh, more than one such catastrophe came before us. Miss Cassandra brought the boy to her sister, but left before my betrothed returned to the respectable boarding house rooms they once shared.
“In fact the only part of your lunacy that has proven true is when you mentioned the docks and the Thames. We took you at your word, though you were quite inebriated at the time, and we looked there. I am not assured how you knew of Miss Cassandra being in that area. Did you see her by some chance? In truth, we had not known of Lieutenant Chase’s return, but then again, we were looking in the wrong place—in his home shire, not London. Evidently, the lieutenant thought that he would be able to be with his wife when she gave birth, but such was not meant to be. It is all quite tragic, but it is the Chase family tragedy and not of your making. Both mother and father likely died within days of each other—Miss Cassandra in childbirth and the lieutenant in service to England, though we cannot say those are the facts, with absolute confidence. According to the coroner, Mrs. Chase died in her let rooms from the birth of her son. We have exhumed her from the local parish church and reburied the lady on my Kent estate where both my future wife and the child will grieve her and honor her,as is proper. As to the child’s appearance favoring you, no one can say with certainty, for we all know things such as eye color often change and dark hair is quite common. Once it is confirmed that Lieutenant Chase is also dead, we will contact the Chase family to know their wishes in the matter. However, as my Victoria has cared for the child since he was newly born, I can say, neither of us will easily hand him over to others. We are both quite devoted to the boy.”
“Bless you, my lord,” several from the growing crowd said.
“You lie!” Betts shouted. “I know who killed her! I know who left Cassandra in the alley to bleed out!”
Benjamin wished he could demand that particular answer, but with a crowd watching his every move, it was not possible. However, before he could respond, Lord Stanley shoved Betts from the way. “Why do you persist in this madness?” Stanley demanded. “Take yourself off to your rooms or your club or wherever the likes of you keep at it. Your father should know great shame. I mean to write to him and tell him of the spectacle you have created, though I doubt it will do any good. Surely, like all who look upon you now, your father knows you could not be worthy of the barony.”
There were a few “ayes” spoken among the onlookers.
“You wait,” Betts shouted. “I will prove it to you! Then it will be Thompson who is the fool for aligning himself with the Whitchurches!”
Benjamin looked on as Betts pushed his way through the crowd to reach the street, where he disappeared into the stream of people hurrying about their business. Benjamin swallowed a few steadying breaths before reaching a hand to Lord Stanley. “Thank you kindly, my lord, for your intervention, but my instincts say Mr. Betts will not soon forget his embarrassment at your hands.”
Stanley blustered, “I appreciate your warning, but I am a man of honor.”
“Yes, you are,” Benjamin said, but he would have someone fromthe Home Office keep an eye on Stanley until either Stanley or Betts or both returned to their respective country estates.
