AllFreeNovel
Share Us
This love was a double-sided coin, forged by sadness.
One side of the coin, love, longing, and hope. The other side, the keen edge of loss and the bitter taste of tears.
Oh she would shed tears. So many tears. When this ended. When she could never see Michel and Adele again. When she was banned from their sight. When he wed another.
She laid a hand on his arm. “I release you from any obligation. Now if you’ll just convey me to Cheapside, I’m late for an appointment with a lawyer.”
“I don’t want to be released from any obligations,” Edgar protested.
“I know what you’re thinking,” Mari said. “You’re wondering if everything Mrs. Trilby said about me is true. Well, it’s all true.”
Actually, Edgar had been thinking about how beautiful she was. About the way her skin glowed from within with a light that was all her own.
“I... deceived you,” said Mari. “I was going to tell you today, after my meeting with the lawyer. There are unknown circumstances about me and my life and I was hoping to find some answers before I had the conversation with you.”
The easy rapport they’d shared at the seashore was gone.
Forever? No, he refused to believe that.
“What are the unknown circumstances?” he asked.
“I never wanted to lie to you. Everything I’ve told you was as close to the truth as possible. I said that I never knew my mother and that my father was a distant figure. I’m an orphan, Edgar. Raised in a charity school.”
“Why didn’t you just tell me? Did you honestly think that I would have turned you out for being educated at a charity school?”
“The man I met in your library on that first day was looking for any excuse to throw me out.”
“Mari, I didn’t know you then. So much has happened. I’ve changed. You’ve changed me—”
“I lack the requirements for governess to a duke,” she interrupted, her tone formal and wooden. “I wasn’t educated in an elite school. I’m not of good family, I don’t even know my parentage.”
“But I don’t understand. How did you find out about the position if you didn’t possess the qualifications for it?”
“I came to London because I’d been promised a position as governess to a tradesperson with a large brood of children. My trunk was stolen at the coaching inn and I was fifteen minutes late for my appointment with Mrs. Trilby. She threw me out into the street and refused to offer any assistance. I was desperate. Alone and friendless in an unfamiliar city.”
“I’ll close down her agency,” Edgar promised. “She can’t get away with treating people like that.”
Mari placed a hand on his arm. “I’m the one who acted wrongly. I overheard Miss Dunkirk telling Mrs. Trilby that she’d left your household. I saw my opportunity and I seized it.”
He took a deep breath. “So you blustered your way into my house and you’re of uncertain parentage. As I’ve said before, you’re not a typical governess. Just as I’m not an ordinary duke. Don’t forget that I left the aristocracy for seven years and lived as a foundry worker.”
“I know, Edgar, I know. You’re nothing like I thought you would be. You’re not unyielding or arrogant. But right now, can you please take me to Cheapside? I’m already late for my appointment with the lawyer. I may learn the truth about my origins today. This could change everything. For better... or for worse.”
He’d take her anywhere she wanted to go. He’d take her to the Archbishop for a special license, if she’d let him. But the urgency in her voice made him realize that this appointment with the lawyer was extremely important to her.
He gave the instructions to the coachman and climbed into the carriage. They would sort everything out. This couldn’t be the way things ended.
As they neared the lawyer’s offices, Mari’s shoulders tensed.
“Are you anxious?” he asked.
“Terrified. I’ve thought about this moment for so many years. Imagined so many possibilities.”
He clasped her hand. “I’m here with you. We’ll face this together, whatever it turns out to be.”
Mari stared at the carpet. She hadn’t noticed it when she’d been here before, but now she stared at the pattern in a daze. Gold ornamental urns strung together with garlands of red and blue roses.Blueroses?
“What did you just say, Mr. Shadwell?” she asked.
