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“He has left town,” Henry announced flatly. “Your prince charming found the gossips too much for him. He has abandoned you. That’s what the note is about. I have asked the few friends of mine who are still talking to me to find out what they could about him. News is that this charlatan has appeared out of nowhere. He has been asking questions about Bingham, and his sister, Estelle, and several other people. There are rumours that he has been watching people but nobody knows why. He certainly doesn’t seem to have many connections, if any. This man could be a fraudster straight out of the slums for all I know.”
“He told me he lived in London,” Tahlia whispered.
She had no intention of trying to defend Connor. She just didn’t want her uncle to think her a complete fool.
Henry snorted. “You thought he was ‘nice’. You sacrificed everything for a tussle with him without any idea of his connections. Well, the man is a liar and a fraud, and a scoundrel of the worst kind. As far as I can tell, he doesn’t even have accommodation in London.”
“I am sorry,” Tahlia whispered. “I had no reason to believe he could be like that. He said he had to go away for a while, but would return as soon as he was able.”
Henry spun to face her. “Did he tell you when?” His voice lashed across the room.
“His manner was most determined,” Tahlia declared honestly. “But, no, he didn’t say when.”
“I am sure he was determined,” Henry spat. “He was determined to get under your skirts before he left.”
Tahlia felt sick. She stared blankly at the carpet as her uncle’s harsh words swept over her. A feeling of complete abandonment swept over her that was so strong for a moment she considered herself to the only person in the world. It was terrifying. To consider the future all alone was something she had never thought possible. But there it was, staring her in the face; a future living in a place she had never been before with nobody around to guide her.
When she turned to look at her uncle it was to find him shaking his head with his back toward her. It felt as though he had already closed her out of his life.
“Well, I will pack then,” she whispered, but hesitated.
Again, she willed him to object, or suggest an alternative.
Instead, Henry nodded. “You have your inheritance. It is only a couple of weeks until your birthday, so I don’t mind if the lodge is transferred to you before you go. Given you are not likely to return, we need to finalise the details now. I shall make the necessary arrangements tomorrow.”
Aware that these were her marching orders, Tahlia nodded but Henry was already on his way to the door.
“Thank you.” There was nothing else she could say. Her uncle had been generous given the circumstances.
Henry paused with one hand on the door knob. He stared down at his hand for several moments and then turned toward her. His mouth opened, but whatever he intended to say remained unsaid. Instead, he rather stiffly nodded once and yanked the door open.
Tahlia listened to the door thump behind him and knew now that she was completely on her own.
Tahlia sighed and studied the faint lines around her eyes and mouth which hadn’t been there three years ago. Thankfully, they were the result of laughter and not stress, fear, or worry.
Those damning days before she had left London all seemed like a lifetime away now. Although time had healed the wounds, the ghosts of the past still lingered like a dark shadow over her. She suspected they would remain with her for the rest of her life. Now, though, they couldn’t hurt her anymore and hadn’t since Joseph had entered her life. He made everything she had endured back then worthwhile. In fact, she was now glad that events had turned out as they had.
The consequence of all the upset; the move to the country, the anxiety, the heartbreak, had been that she had found freedom, independence, and one very special burden she wouldn’t change for the entire world.
Her son: Joseph.
She lovingly fingered the locket at her throat which contained a lock of his silken hair. A soft smile curled her lips as the memory of his precious face eased her discontent with the past and her current circumstance. Whatever anyone said about her, she had no regrets about the brief tryst she had shared with Connor Humphries. In fact, she was glad of it. He had, albeit unwittingly, given her something she had never expected to have; a family of her own.
“I will be home soon, Poppet,” she whispered with a sigh. “As soon as I can get things here finalised, I will be back.”
She couldn’t stop herself from talking out loud. Maybe because saying the words made her feel as though she was talking to her son. The yearning she had to be at home with him was strong enough to force her away from the dressing table and prepare for the day. The sooner she started to wade her way through her tasks, the more she could get done, and the quicker she would be on her way back to Rutland.
“And not a day too soon,” she muttered as she went in search of her shawl.
CHAPTER TWO
An hour later, Tahlia sat in the chair behind her uncle’s desk and stared at the papers strewn across its surface. It was going to take her days to plough through everything; days she didn’t want to spend in London.
“Why did you do it, Henry?” she whispered aloud. “You know I hate London.”
Of course, she received no answer. She might never find out why her uncle had left her his entire estate. He could have bequeathed it to a distant male relation given there were no closer relatives still alive, but he hadn’t. He had shunned tradition and left everything to his disgraced niece instead. It still amazed her and, if she was honest, left her a little stymied to know what to do about it. He knew she had no intention of living in London, so why leave her such a huge house in the last place she wanted to be?
Whatever the reason, there is a lot of work to do, she thought morosely as she studied the mess that awaited her attention.
