“To give birth tome?”
He nodded.“Sadly, she died shortly thereafter.You’d have to ask Mathieson for the details, though I doubt he’d admit the truth.Such arrangements happen all the time, and more often than society cares to admit.All that matters is that he never acknowledged you—which he ought to have done.”
It was a cruel blow, and she ducked her head to absorb it.“If Lord Mathieson does not want me, then I don’t want his money.I will leave my legacy to a lying-in hospital for…unwed mothers and their babies.”
“That’s admirable, but how will you live?”
“I shall work,” she said, meeting his eyes at last.“I’m educated, intelligent.I was brought up expecting to be a duchess, so surely I can manage as a governess or a paid companion.I might even seek employment at Ladies College.”
Selwyn understood her need to distance herself from the man who’d wronged her.She would want to give the money away and to break free from a life that had suddenly turned shallow and false.Yet he owed her some friendly advice.It was in Selwyn’s nature to urge caution.
“Don’t be hasty, Miss Goldsworthy, I beg you.There’s no reason to upend your life simply because you found out who your father is.”
Mathieson wasn’t worth a second thought.The fellow deserved his shunning.He was owed a horsewhipping.If there was any justice in the world, he ought to have been called before the courts for his misconduct, but as in so many things, it fell upon the woman to shoulder the blame.
“Does he know who I am?”she wondered.“Do you think he recognized me last night, and that is why he acted strangely?”
“I suspect so.”Mathieson had followed the progress of her life.He’d paid for her education at one of the finest girls’ schools in Britain and provided her with the means to live independently.“Now that you know the truth, what do you wish to do about it?”
“I want to hear these words from his mouth.”She set her lips into a grim line—an embittered look he’d never before seen on her pretty, freckled face.“I want him to confess what he’s done to me.Will you take me to see him, Your Grace?”
Selwyn feared that he’d stirred the pot.Honor demanded that he tell her what he knew, but what good could come from embroiling either her or his family in that old scandal?Yet he was a gentleman, and he held Aurelia Goldsworthy in the highest esteem.
“I will take you,” he vowed, “though I cannot guarantee you’ll receive any closure on the matter.Mathieson is a snake and a villain who cast out his young wife and newborn daughter.He’ll not look kindly on you now.”
Selwyn had promised her protection and support, and as the Duke of Brantingham, he was capable of sheltering her from the very worst slander.Yet the last thing she needed was another man making decisions about her life.
She was strong enough to stand on her own, but he would be there for her as a stalwart advocate.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Lord Mathieson lived off Grosvenor Square, a five-minute walk from Park Lane.Aurelia would’ve crawled there if it meant that she could confront the man who had forsaken her—as well as her mother—but the Duke of Brantingham insisted that they go in the landau together.
It felt right to have him with her.If nothing else, she was grateful to have a friend.He held her hand as the carriage’s wheels clattered over the cobblestones, and Aurelia knew that His Grace was deeply, emotionally involved in the drama of her life.
Last night, they had kissed while seated upon these very same squabs.She knew the feel of his lips against hers, the taste of his tongue, the softness of his skin.He was attracted to her.Hewantedher, but dukes did not marry illegitimate women.
Even if Lord Mathieson was her father, the man refused to claim her.He’d cast her mother out and had brought shame upon society, which did not easily forgive such betrayals.Like electric candles banishing the shadows that had remained so carefully hidden by gaslight and gilding, he’d illuminated the rot within the upper class.
The Duke of Brantingham would never align his beloved noble family with such tainted blood.Margie, Fannie, and Perry would suffer from their connection.It was why the Duke’s late mother had banished Lord Mathieson from her presence, for he was a blackguard, a coward, and a pathetically weak man.
They still did not know who was behind the false engagement scheme, and Aurelia shuddered to suspect that it too had been a part of Lord Mathieson’s plan.With every secret she uncovered, she drew further and further from the one man shedidwant in her life—Selwyn Charlton.
“How can I help you, Miss Goldsworthy?”he asked as they passed through Mayfair.They would not have much time to form a plan.“What do you want me to do?”
More than anything, she wanted him to love her, but that was far too much to expect.
“Do you think I’ll be safe meeting Lord Mathieson alone?I am the daughter he never wanted, a painful reminder of the past.Surely, he hates me…but would he hurt me?”
His Grace contemplated that fact for a moment before answering, “I don’t imagine he means you any physical harm.If he kept an eye on your progress in life, he must’ve suspected that you would turn up someday.”
Was it a coincidence that Lord Mathieson had stalked the outskirts of the Victoria Embankment on that very night Aurelia and the Charltons had gone to see the switching on?She dreaded to contemplate whether he’d been lurking in the background of her existence all along, pulling strings and pushing buttons.
They reached Grosvenor Square, which teemed with traffic.Carriages and carts circled the garden, and pedestrians strolled along the pavements.Servants and shopkeepers cleaned windows, swept stairs, and hung wreaths upon doors.Much like the rest of London, lampposts were looped with greenery, and spear-tipped railings were swagged with garland.Almost every façade stood decorated in reds, greens, and golds to usher in the festive season, for Christmas Eve was almost upon them.
A plodding poulterer’s wagon made a delivery of turkey and geese, stopping every few houses to distribute a bird.The Duke’s landau waited in the street for a space at the kerb.Aurelia watched the hustle and bustle from the window at his side, still clutching his large, warm hand and desperately clinging to the memory of his words from the night before.
‘Don’t worry, you’re safe with me.’
