He took out a tightly folded stack of papers.
The first read only—
My dearest son Henry, take these proofs of your parentage to the Conroys in Kent. Find the Seven Oaks and ask for direction, they are not far off. Your father and I will watch from heaven to see that you do so. All my love—Baroness Dedmont, née Edna Edenborough.
“Lady Edna!” Rosalind said.
“Who is Lady Edna?”
“It seems she is your mother, Shrimps,” Rosalind said.
“She never went by that name,” Shrimps said.
“Then perhaps that was a secret, too.”
Rosalind hurried to look at the next paper, and then the next two. One was a marriage record, the next a birth record, and the final was a letter to the Conroys and Lady Edna’s parents, outlining everything that had transpired after they’d run off together.
And what a sad account it was.
It seemed James Conroy and Lady Edna had been determined to make their own way. They did not see how either set of parents would ever be reconciled to their marriage, and the baronial estate was not entailed. They might not be able to take his title from him, but they could take everything else. Mr. Conroy had set out to do day labor and Lady Edna had taken in laundry.
They had gone forward, unafraid of what they must face. Then, they had been shocked at how difficult the work was and how little it paid. All they could afford was a single room in St. Giles. They had been terribly naïve in thinking it might be done, but they struggled on as all they cared for was each other.
The work had worn James down, but he’d been stoic about it. Even after he came down with a terrible chest, he’d refused to stay abed and left early every morning.
Until one day, somebody came with the news that James had perished where he stood. They said he’d gone very white, and gasped for breath, and then he was gone.
By then, Lady Edna was with child. She thought of going home, but she’d seen in the newspapers that another heir had been located and installed. Worse, she read that she and her husband had supposedly died in the sinking of theLouisa.
For some time, she had been near paralyzed with grief and fear.
She knew Henry was the rightful heir, but how was she to prove that he’d not been born out of wedlock? She did not have the papers to prove it. James had managed all of that.
Lady Edna had finally emerged from her daze and determined to work and put away any spare penny she could. Then she would pay someone to gather the papers.
Once she had them, she would return and face them all down. She cared little how they would rant and rave at her—her son would have his proper place.
This packet was the result of her efforts to gather proof. She’d written this account as she knew herself to be gravely ill. If she did not survive, Henry must know who he really was and be able to prove it.
“Shrimps,” Rosalind said quietly, “how long have you been carrying this around, not knowing what it said?”
“Almost three years now,” Shrimps said.
“Goodness,” Rosalind said. “Shrimps, you are the son of Mr. James Conroy and Lady Edna Edenborough. They ran off together to Gretna Green. It was in the papers at the time. I remember because Miss Mayton found it very romantic and used to read us all the reports of it.”
“Gretna Green,” Shrimps said thoughtfully. “My ma used to talk about Gretna Green. She said there was a blacksmith’s shop there and my pa called it the place where dreams are made of. She used to talk about it to soothe me to sleep when we didn’t have enough to eat.”
“Of course it would be the place dreams were made of, for them at least—it was where your parents married.”
“That’s a nice thought,” Shrimps said, nodding.
“Shrimps, I do not think you understand the implications of these papers. You are the rightful heir to a barony. You are a lord. Lord Dedmont, to be exact.”
Shrimps snorted. “I ain’t never.”
“According to these papers, you are.” Rosalind paused, then she said, “And now it makes a deal more sense why they’ve taken you, too. You were asked to prove you really were the name you gave out because they were certain you were not. Theyknewyou were Henry Conroy.”
Shrimps appeared near overwhelmed by the information.
