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‘As you wish, ma’am,’ Wendell said, bowing. ‘Ladies and young gent, if you would follow me?’
* * *
His mother waited only until the door had shut behind the visitors before rounding on him, incredulous fury on her face. ‘Alastair, have you taken leave of your senses? How could you expect me to play hostess to the woman who put you and everyone who loved you through such agony? Jane wrote me that you were seeing her again! I’ve been praying ever since that if you didn’t have the good sense to avoid her, you’d at least get your fill of her quickly and be done with it. How dare you bring her here?’
Not at all deterred by her reaction, he said, ‘I dare, Mama, because it was the right thing to do. Please, calm yourself and hear me out! Once I’ve acquainted you with the facts, I believe you will agree with my decision.’
‘That’s highly doubtful,’ his mother said with a sniff.
‘But you are fair-minded enough to listen before making a judgement.’
‘Wretch!’ His mother gave him an exasperated look. ‘When you put it that way, what can I do but listen?’
He waved her to a chair and pointed to the tray Wendell had left. ‘Shall we have tea?’
‘Probably wise. I’ve a feeling I’m going to need something to steady my nerves.’
She poured them each a cup and seated herself beside him on the sofa. ‘So, tell me the whole.’
He took his time, and his mother did not interrupt, sipping her tea thoughtfully while he related the circumstances leading to Diana’s marriage, gave an account of her life after, and concluded with the present difficulties with the heir and the need to protect her son. After he finished, she remained silent for some time, while he held his breath.
‘You believe the boy to be in danger?’ she said at last.
‘Diana certainly does. After my conversation with the Duke, I do believe he would mistreat him, exacting revenge upon the poor boy for an alienation of his father’s affection that he blames upon Diana. He wants the boy to “suffer as he did”, I believe he put it.’
‘He actually said that?’ His mother gasped. When he nodded, she grimaced. ‘Peer or no, he seems thoroughly reprehensible.’
‘So you understand why I felt it necessary to intervene, even though the child in question is Diana’s.’
‘I do, much as I wish the mother were anyone but Diana! Now, what else are you not telling me?’
A little startled, Alastair hedged. ‘What makes you think there is more?’
‘My dear son, you may be a man grown, and harder to read than you were as a child, but I have known you since the cradle. There’s something else going on, isn’t there?’
Alastair gave a rueful smile. ‘I never could hide anything from you, could I?’
She smiled. ‘As you got older, you didn’t always confide in me, but I could still tell when there was something wrong. What is it this time?’
‘I intended to tell you the whole, once I had your agreement to shelter the boy. Bringing him here may mitigate the accusations somewhat, but I’m afraid it’s quite possible that by helping Diana, I shall be dragged into a rather ugly scandal. If, once I’ve related the circumstances, you’d prefer to take refuge with Jane until the storm blows over, I’ll understand.’
With a sigh, she rose and poured them each another cup. ‘I’m not likely to abandon either a helpless child or my son, but perhaps you’d best lay it all out.’
‘Jane was correct when she told you that I’d...become involved with Diana again. I thought if I...could claim her for a time,’ he said, his ears reddening at the thought of confessing this to his mother, ‘I might finally rid myself of the lingering attachment that, try to deny it as I might, I never truly succeeded in stamping out.’
‘But once she poured out to you the reasons for breaking your engagement, described how shabbily she was treated during her marriage, and threw herself upon your compassion, you felt you must become her champion?’
He gave a negative shake of the head. ‘She made no such appeal. Oh, she told me why she had jilted me, of course, but that was all. The rest—what her life was like after her marriage, the threats against her son—I discovered only gradually, after inadvertent comments prompted me to make more pointed enquiries. She never could tell a lie, you know.’
‘Nor even a convincing evasion,’ his mother agreed, looking troubled. ‘I do remember.’
‘I know the story must seem fantastical to you. At first, I didn’t believe her account either. But as I spent time with her, dredging out the facts bit by bit, I gradually came to accept it was true. Oh, Mama, can you imagine—Diana without paints, without books, without music? It makes my heart ache to envisage it. And so isolated. Alone, with no one to call upon for sympathy or protection.’
‘So how does this lead to that great scandal you mentioned?’
‘I told you that, wanting to get a sense of whether there was in fact a danger to the boy or not, I decided to call upon the Duke. At the conclusion of a rather unpleasant conversation, during which he refused to acknowledge that Diana, as his father’s widow, was entitled to support from the estate and expressed his desire to punish her son, he boasted that he intends to accuse Diana of hastening his father’s death. If I persist in championing her, he threatened to allege that I encouraged Diana to do away with her husband, in revenge for his father stealing her away from me years ago.’
‘What?’ His mother gasped again. ‘But that’s outrageous!’
‘True. But since she did come to Bath immediately after his death, and we did...establish a relationship, the bare facts make such an accusation plausible.’
‘But it’s absurd! No one who knows you would believe such a calumny. I may hold Diana responsible for many sins, but murder? Surely Graveston isn’t seriously going to try to implicate her in his father’s death!’
‘Diana seems to think he will at least make the attempt. Pointing the finger of suspicion upon her, as she well understands, would do enough damage to her reputation that she will have more difficulty accessing the funds due her from the estate, and would almost certainly induce the Court of Chancery to take away her son.’
‘Being implicated as a widow’s lover who persuaded her to murder won’t do much for your reputation either,’ his mother noted tartly.
‘Which is why you might want to decamp to Jane’s.’
‘Surely you don’t intend to let the wretch get away with this!’ she said indignantly.
Alastair’s face hardened. ‘When it comes to Diana, I think the Dukes of Graveston have got away with quite enough already. The enmity between her and her late husband might have been well known, but so was the break between the former Duke and his heir. Fortunately, Will is back from Paris. I’m going to ask him to slink around Graveston Court and see what he can dig up. I’m betting he can gather enough counter-testimony that I can persuade Blankford to refrain from making any accusations, honour the estate’s responsibilities to Diana and leave the boy where he is.’
His mother chuckled. ‘If anyone can do so, Will can, the rascal. And love it, I’ll wager. Last time he and Elodie visited, he admitted that all that respectability, as a trader and Crown representative, was getting a bit dull.’
‘So he told me as well,’ Alastair agreed, smiling. ‘In the meantime, I want Diana and James here, where the Duke cannot bully or intimidate them. Frankly, it would be helpful to our cause if you would remain, so we can put it about that you invited Diana, an old family friend, to spend some time at Barton Abbey during her mourning period. Society would never believe you would countenance a murder plot, nor that I would dare to install a mistress under your roof.’
His mother raised an eyebrow. ‘Are you trying to install a mistress under my roof?’
Alastair felt his face flush again. ‘Whatever our relations might have been elsewhere, I would never insult you by attempting such a thing here.’
‘Good,’ his mother said, then surprised him by adding, ‘Whatever my opinion of Diana, she deserves better.’
‘Still, I have to warn you that though I am hopeful of resolving this without scandal, it might come to that. If you’d rather distance yourself, I’ll understand. As long as you understand that, regardless of what happens, I will not desert Diana.’
‘What, let my son oppose a child-threatening autocrat alone? I’m not such a pudding-heart!’
Love and gratitude warmed Alastair like the blaze of a welcoming fire after a long winter journey. He leaned over to give his mother a fierce hug, rattling her teacup in the process.
‘Thank you, Mama. I knew I could count on you.’
‘I should hope so. Heavens, if you can’t trust in your mother’s support, who can you trust? Just promise me, Alastair, you’ll be...careful. I cannot bear to think of you suffering again as you suffered before.’
