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Once she was gone, Augusta turned her attention to Gabe and said, “Clayton said you were aware our father had two wives.”
Gabe’s blood turned cold.
“My mother, Anne, was his first. And when I received a letter for her from Clayton, I was stunned to say the very least. My brother and I had always been told that our father died in South Carolina. If we hadn’t been captured by the Indians, I’m not certain I would have ever written Clayton back. But we were captured and I did write him, and he insisted that my girls and I come here to stay.”
Aurelie re-entered the sitting room at that moment, a little bundle of letters in her hands.
“You asked for proof, Gabriel.” She gestured to the bundle in her daughter’s hands. “And there you have it. Clayton saved it all. He said he thought you might be disbelieving.” She tipped her head toward her daughter and added, “Please give them to you uncle, sweetheart.”
Aurelie, who was a sweet looking girl, with dark brown hair and big brown eyes, crossed the room, her arm outstretched, offering Gabe the stack of letters. “Uncle.”
Uncle.So strange to be called that. “Thank you. Aurelie, is it?”
The girl nodded quickly and then stepped back toward her mother’s chair.
“They’re in order,” Augusta told him. “And I’ll be happy to answer any questions you may have.”
Gabe untied the blue ribbon that bound the letters, and Sophie slid closer to him on the settee. He opened the first letter which had been addressed to the Countess of Northwold at Hendley House in New York. It was in Clayton’s hand.
Anne Prideaux
Hendley House
Kings Bridge, New York
Lady Northwold,
I send my regards and hope this letter finds you in good health. In actuality, I hope this letter somehow manages to find its way to you as I am not at all certain if I am sending this correspondence to the proper place. However, after going through my late-father’s papers, this address in Kings Bridge is the only one I’ve been able to stumble upon. Until recently, neither my brother nor I had any knowledge of your existence or of your marriage to our father. I am not certain if you will find the news of his death to be welcome or otherwise, but it is news nonetheless.
On behalf of the Prideaux family and the Northwold earldom, I want to sincerely apologize for the treatment you received at the hands of my father and offer any assistance you may be in need of, late as it may be. I realize that my offer is decades later than you deserved, and can in no way diminish my father’s unfortunate actions, but I make the offer at this time just the same. I am not a perfect man, but I have tried to be a better one than my father. My offer is a sincere one, and I do hope you will allow me the chance to make the proper restitutions you are owed.
Sincerely,
Clayton Prideaux, Earl of Northwold
Gabe glanced up after finishing the letter and then handed it to Sophie to read. So Clayton had found Father’s first wife? And together they’d had a daughter? Father hadn’t only abandoned his wife, he’d abandoned a family. He felt more than ill at the thought. Beckbury must not have known that bit or Gabe was certain his now father-in-law would have said as much when he’d told Gabe about his father’s bigamy.
“My response is next,” Augusta said softly.
Gabe opened the next letter.
Clayton Prideaux, Earl of Northwold
5 Morwell Street
Fitzrovia, London
Dear Earl of Northwold,
You have no idea how surprised I was to receive your letter addressed to my mother and how confused it has made me these many months. I have read it a number of times since my aunt in New York forwarded it to me in the Michigan territory, but it does not make any more sense now than it did upon my first reading. The tone of your letter makes it sound as though my father – our father, by the sound of it - has recently passed away, though I have been under the impression that he died in the Battle of King’s Mountain. Have I been misinformed all this time? That hardly seems fathomable, however I do find myself in a desperate situation and willing to believe the unbelievable.
I do not understand how I have an earl for a brother, and I can assure you that no one in my family has ever been aware of our connection, if it is a true connection.
My mother died in child labor during the birth of my brother Charles, named after our father, whom I am told she deeply loved. I was so young myself at the time that I do not remember either of my parents, but my aunt has told me much about my mother which has kept her memory somewhat alive for me. Other than his name, I knew absolutely nothing else about Lieutenant Charles Prideaux, other than rumors of his death at King’s Mountain.
I have held onto your letter for some time, unsure if I should write you and if so, what I should say. However, I am now in need of assistance and you may be my only hope for salvation. You have offered restitution to my mother, but I do hope you will be willing to pass that restitution to me instead. My husband, my brother Charles, and my eldest daughter were massacred following a siege near our home in Frenchtown. It is a miracle that my surviving daughters and I managed to make it safely to Fort Malden as so many others did not, but we are now being held prisoners along with other survivors by General Proctor and his men. If you are able to use your title and influence to help us gain our freedom, we will be forever in your debt.
Your sister,
