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* * *
The next morning, Robert came to breakfast fresh and rested. He was resolute not to let the past stand between him and his wife anymore. He could mistrust her and be jealous of her all his life, and it wouldn’t bring him either happiness or peace. It was time to let go of the hurt and the bitterness and try to live freely and openly.
Nobody was at the table when he got to the dining room. He put the selection of foods onto his plate and sat at his usual place, perusing the paper. He turned the page, and his eyes widened as he saw the article written in bold font with his family’s caricature in the paper. He shot off the chair as his wife entered the room.
“What’s wrong?” she asked, looking at his stricken face.
“I need to—” he battled with whether to tell her the truth now or to weigh the damage first, but he remembered his earlier resolution.
No holding back. No matter how pure his intent, things never seemed to go right when he withheld something from his wife. So, he slowly extended his hand and handed her the paper.
“You might want to sit down before you read this,” he said carefully.
Julie took the paper from him and did as he asked. She sat in the chair held out by a footman and read the article. Her eyes widening with every word she read. He knew what she was reading and wanted to shield her from it, but she needed to know to fight it later. It was an unflattering recital of events that had happened to Mary during the asylum days. It was not kind to the asylum, but it was equally unkind to Mary.
“That’s—That’s—what is it?” Julie asked when she finally raised her head.
“Somebody must have gotten hold of the letter I prepared per Tule’s instruction. They’ve twisted what I’ve written and posted it to the papers. That is the only explanation I could gouge. I will have to figure out what has happened, but—” he paused as he saw a strange expression on his wife’s face.
She stood from the table, turned, and left the room without another word. He followed her out and into her room. She walked into her dressing room and rummaged through the pockets of her gowns before she finally found what she was looking for. She slowly turned to him and extended an envelope. Robert took it into his hand and took a deep breath. He recognized his seal at once.
“It is the letter,” he said, his voice hoarse. “Where did you get it?”
Julie grimaced before turning away from him. “I met your mistress at the modiste’s yesterday. She handed this letter to me as proof that you’d spent the night with her.” She paused. “I haven’t opened it. I forgot about it till just now.”
“I didn’t lie to you—” Robert started, but she waved her hand, stopping him.
“It doesn’t matter. She wouldn’t have posted it in the papers if you were still together, would she?” she said quietly.
“I went to her that night to break off our arrangement. I fell ill after freezing at the marina and spent nights senseless and in a high fever. I swear to you, I have never been unfaithful to you.”
Julie kept silent. Robert raked his hand through his hair.
“We don’t have to talk about this now, but I promise we can talk about everything later. It is better if neither you nor Mary goes out today. And probably not for the next several days,” Robert added after a pause of uncertainty.
“Or weeks,” Julie finished his thought. “This is outrageous. The way they presented this—It’s as if she is to blame for being born the way she was. And more importantly, as if all the hurt she’s been through was her fault too.”
Julie raised pleading eyes to him. His heart nearly broke for the sorrow in them. And it was all his fault.
“We should have sent the letter earlier. We should have —” She shook her head. “What are we to do?”
“Nothing. I will try to minimize Mary’s damage, but the cat is out of the bag. We have to proceed with our allegations toward York Asylum. I will have to go to Doncaster and discuss the strategy with Mr. Tule. We’ll come back to London to present our case to the guardians’ committee, but you and Mary should probably leave the city. I have an estate close by, in Bromley, about five hours’ drive from London. You can go there, so you don’t have to suffer the long travel,” he paused, waiting for her reaction. Still, she lowered her gaze to the paper and was staring at it with a glass-like look, clearly not listening to him anymore. “Everything will be all right,” he said not convincingly.
“All I wanted was for her to have a season in London,” she said meekly.
“She had,” he said quietly. He laid his hand on her shoulder lightly as he walked past her on the way out of her rooms.
* * *
Robert entered the house a little after supper, tired and winded. The day had been long and difficult. Things were much worse than he anticipated, and he needed to leave for Doncaster first thing in the morning. He was surprised to see the visitor in the hall having an argument with his butler. Robert moved closer to the young man as he took off his hat and gloves.
“I need to see Lady Julie Weston; it is urgent,” the young man said emphatically.
“There’s no one by that name,” came butler’s even reply.
Lady Julie Weston.Unlike the servant of his household, Robert knew exactly who the young man had been referring to. Julie Weston was his wife’s maiden name. Robert made a few steps before he was facing the guest. He was a young man of middle height, about Julie’s age. His light brown hair was mussed, his features troubled. He kept folding his hat in his hands as he talked to the butler. Despite his anxious façade, he held himself with grace and apparent aristocratic poise, but his stance was that of a war-weary soldier. Robert immediately realized who stumbled into his townhouse.
“You can go, Hudgins,” Robert said with all the authority he could muster. “I can take it from here.”
The butler bowed slowly and walked out of the hall. Robert turned back to the young man in question.
“Julie Weston is mywife’smaiden name.” Robert placed a significant emphasis on the word wife. He watched in bittersweet satisfaction as his young guest flinched at the word. “You are inquiring a rather late audience with Lady Clydesdale.” He said in the same harsh tone.
“John,” Julie’s soft, wondering voice sounded behind Robert before the man could respond.
He saw his guest’s eyes move up as he beheld his wife’s figure on the top stairs. He saw how his features lightened, and the smile appeared, taking years off the young man’s face. His eyes shone with something akin to the beginnings of the tears. Robert felt as if a heavy rock has been placed upon his shoulders. He almost didn’t want to turn and look at his wife’s face, in fear of seeing the answering gaze full of yearning. He backed a few steps toward the stairs before turning toward Julie.
Julie made a few steps before slowly sinking down.
