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She frowned. “What brings you to Hawthorne House, Lady Wilson?”
“We are here to pay our respects to Her Grace, of course.” A bevy of simpering curtseys followed, each more ridiculous than the last.
“This is a social call?” Anne queried.
“When Robert told us that dear, dear Miss Barrow was working for you, we told him we simply must pay a visit and catch up!”
Alarm bells were ringing in Letty’s belly. “How did you have Robert’s direction? We were forced to move after John’s death. I never updated any of you to our whereabouts.”
There was no doubt about it. Robert had a greenish tinge to his face.
“Why, Letitia Barrow!” Beth cried. “Do such old friends need a reason to visit? Remember when you thought we would besisters? Now look at you.” Her smile was pitying.
Letty raised a brow. “How long have you held onto that grudge? Have you come all this way to rub it in my face? I daresay I am far better off now than I ever would have been if we had called each other kin.”
“It isn’t a grudge.” She sniffed. “I wouldn’t have thought twice about you except that your son wrote to me.”
It felt like ice was running through Letty’s veins. She turned to stare at Robert. “Robert wrote to you?”
“Yes. He mentioned he needed help. I suppose you couldn’t provide.” Beth eyed her. “What could I expect, knowing of your poor circumstances and straightened means?”
A situation that she had helped to manufacture, of course.
“Miss Barrow is well on her way to becoming illustrious.” Anne’s voice was sharp.
“I’m sure,” she said in placating tones. “Your Grace does have excellent taste.”
“If the chit has wormed her way in here through some illicit means, Your Grace, do not hesitate at once to turn her over to the authorities,” Lady Wilson bellowed, striking her fan against the table with enough force that Letty wondered if the sticks would break. “I cannot expect that age would have changed her mercenary ways. She tried to embroil my son in her schemes.”
Letty sucked in a breath. She wanted to retort that she had gained this job through her talent and skill, neither of which any of the Wilsons would be capable of recognizing, but the words died on her tongue.
Because she hadn’t.
She had gained it through George’s help, and Hawthorne’s word, and Anne’s judgment of her talents to be so poor as to be unable to finish the job.
Every confidence that she had in her ability and in the hard work she had put into the estate felt like ashes where her heart should be. Her palms felt sweaty in her cotton gloves, and she wanted to tear her cravat away from her throat.
“You have quite some nerve to show up to my home uninvited, insult the décor and my esteemed guest, and then to expect niceties in return,” Anne said.
“Robert said this would all be quite all right!” Susan exclaimed.
All eyes turned to Robert, who smiled weakly.
“I do not presume to know what Mr. Barrow may have promised you in exchange for the currency of my favor, but I would wager it to be a pack of lies,” Anne announced. “I do not look kindly on people who treat their family in such manner.”
“Family?” Lady Wilson laughed. “Miss Barrow is nothing more than a cast-off courtesan, and her son is a bastard who can’t even get the lowliest solicitor to sponsor him. They are nothing to us. Why, my dear John always did used to call them his little burden, didn’t he? What was the phrase he would use? Off to London to take out the rubbish?”
Robert looked stricken.
Letty glared at her. “You dare to discredit your own son in front of your grandson? Robert has grown up to be a worthy, fine young man. You did yourselves a disservice by never owning up to the connection. You may condescend to look down your nose at him, but he’s thrice the man his father was.” Her heart might be breaking over Robert’s involvement with them, but she would protect her son to her dying breath.
“He is no grandson of mine.” Lady Wilson eyed him like he was a three-day-old cut of beef in her pantry.
Anne rose. “You have severely overstayed your welcome, Lady Wilson. My butler will show you out.”
Lady Wilson sniffed. “I thought to pay you a visit and give you a warning about Miss Barrow out of kindness, Your Grace. Your faultless reputation would indicate that you would welcome such news of poor behavior.”
“Perhaps my values have changed,” she snapped, “and I no longer look down on people as I once did.”
