“I did not mean for that to happen. Daniel, I intended to raise you as my own, with my values, as a brother to Penelope. But the two of you were never going to be siblings. Even as children I could tell that your innocent attachment would one day turn into more. And I was right. Despite my best efforts you are married and as in love as you have always been.” He looked back at her. “Penny, I could not entertain the thought of losing my only daughter to the son of the man who took my wife. Can you blame me?” He shrugged in resignation. “I thought if I pretended to be ill and frail you would feel obligated to stay at my side. And you did. I know it was wrong but I was afraid of being lonely. And alone.”
“I cannot believe this of you, Papa. I trusted you. I would have done anything for you. And yet…”
The Duke reached out for her but she pulled her hands away and stepped back. She turned to Daniel, the only person she could trust.
“Take me away, please. I cannot be around them anymore.”
He nodded and took her by the hand, pulling her out of the room and away from the two people who’d given her life, who should have loved and protected her always, but instead had utterly betrayed her.
* * *
They sat together on the steps outside of Carlton Manor and she rested her head on his shoulder. Neither spoke, each occupied by their own thoughts. It didn’t matter, theirs was a comfortable silence now that they were united at last. After a few minutes, he turned and kissed the side of her head.
“I love you. Nothing has changed between us even though everything else has.”
“I suppose the one thing we can take away from this day is that you no longer have to worry about the madness in your family. Because there is none. It was all a fabrication of my father’s.”
“I suppose that is something to hold on to. But knowing they abandoned us, I do not know how we can ever overcome that. My father was alive all along. He never once visited or wrote or…”
She smiled at him. “It seems that is a habit that runs in the family.” They both grinned at the attempt at lightening the mood. “My mother. Alive. I do not even know what to make of it.”
“What do you think will happen now?”
She shrugged. “I am not sure. I’ve always wanted her to be in my life but now that she is—now that she could—I do not know that I want it. She could have always had a place in my life. And my father. To think of all the things he has done that have caused us such harm. I feel as though I gained a mother and lost her and my father in the same day.”
“I know how you feel. As happy as I am that there’s no danger of madness looming, I must now live with the fact that my father left my mother alone to die and that he could have kept me from making the mistakes I made simply by telling me the truth.”
Before they could converse any further, the neighing of a horse drew their attention. When they turned, the saw Mr. Percival riding up the long driveway. He came to a stop before them and dismounted.
“Mr. Percival, what brings you here?” Daniel asked. The man dismounted and bowed.
“An apology, My Lord. And a goodbye, My Lady.” Penelope frowned as she rose alongside Daniel. “Your father, I am afraid, is no longer in need of my services. I have been relieved of duty.”
“Mr. Percival, no!” Penelope gasped. She could hardly believe her father. “Was it because you brought my mother with you?”
He nodded. “Yes, it was. He did not appreciate my efforts at bringing the facts to light. However, I had expected this. Anyhow, the reason I came here was because I wanted you both to know that I was as shocked as you were to learn the truth. I did not want you to think that I kept anything from you.”
Daniel swallowed beside her. “I had wondered. Your comments before your departure to London, when you advised against marrying Miss Hughes, had me confused.”
“Ah, yes. I assumed they would. I had just discovered Mr. Scott’s letter the day prior, along with all the other notes I gave you. I must confess, I briefly considered telling you everything, but I felt it was not my place and thus, under the pretense of attending to business for His Grace, I traveled to seek out the Duchess. I thought it ought to be her who sets things right. I felt perhaps given your father’s recent death she might be inclined to. She was not.”
“She was not?” Penelope asked wide-eyed, this information shocking her further.
“I know the shock of the discovery of her existence and her actions is deep, but perhaps in time you might come to understand her better. She was a young woman, forced to marry a man she did not love while living only a short ride from the man she truly wanted. She chose to be with him at a cost far greater than she could anticipate. By the time she realized that the love they once had was no longer enough, it was too late to return. Your father is a powerful man who made their life difficult whenever he could. Their cottage, where I found her, was modest indeed. Two small rooms with hardly any belongings. I dare say, your mother and father lived in poverty. Everyone thought them dead and there was only so much Mr. Scott could send from the estate without suspicion arising.”
Penelope shrugged. She did not want to feel sympathy for the woman and yet, there was a small flicker of it in her heart.
“You said she did not want to come back with you. What made her change her mind?”
“It was you. Or rather your marriage. Word of it reached me while I was in Devon. I told her that the two of you had agreed on a formal arrangement despite the fact that I was sure you loved one another. I told her of My Lord’s worry regarding your father’s madness. Once she realized that without knowing the truth the two of you might be destined to repeat the mistakes of the past, she agreed to come.”
They two of them exchanged a glance before Penelope addressed the man again. “What will she do now?”
He shrugged. “I do not know. It will be difficult for her. Without the assistance Mr. Scott provided them, she has no income. I believe she was taking in clothing to mend to make ends meet but her situation in Devon is dire. I cannot imagine His Grace wanting to take her on, even though perhaps she is hoping he will.”
Mr. Percival looked at Daniel. “Perhaps with some financial assistance she might be able to sustain herself.”
Daniel swallowed. “Perhaps. It is not my decision to make. However, if you wish, she can stay here at Carlton for a while.” He glanced at Penelope.
