Because he could never be worthy of her.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Ellen looked at Edmund enquiringly as the carriage pulled up to his house in Hanover Square.
"Are you sure you're well?" she asked a second time as they descended from the carriage.
"I'm fine," he replied in a clipped tone before handing his cane to the footman and striding ahead.
Ellen knitted her forehead into a worried frown. What had got into him? He'd been sullen and silent the entire trip.
Mr West greeted him inside. "I trust you had a pleasant stay, my lord. My lady." He bowed briefly.
"It was tolerable.” Edmund handed his hat to Jenkins.
"There are some pressing business matters we need to discuss." Mr West hesitated, glancing at Noni, who pushed past him and scampered up the stairs, followed by the nurse. His expression softened. "Regarding the little fellow, here."
"Noni? What about Noni?" Ellen asked.
"I think it would be best if we discussed this in my office. Before you meet—Lord Tennbury." Mr West frowned.
"Tennbury? Never heard of him," Edmund said, as they stepped into Mr West's office.
"He lives across the square. I have taken the liberty of enquiring with our solicitors about the guardianship of the child." Mr West raised both hands. "There is nothing. Not a single letter, no official statement, no contract, no agreement, nothing. All we have is this." He held up the letter Noni had arrived with at Miss Hilversham's seminary. "I studied the handwriting in great detail. I am afraid I have discovered something we have all overlooked."
"What?" Edmund barked.
Mr West pulled out the letter and showed it to them. "This is not number eleven, but seventy-seven. Seventy-seven Hanover Square, which is Lord Tennbury's residence. The hook at the top of the numbers is so narrow that they can be mistaken for number ones. The writer made no distinction between the number seven and the number one, which had misled everyone. And his signature is Tennbury, not Tewkbury. It is so similar to his lordship's signature that I didn't notice the difference at first. I am very sorry."
"Jove's beard, West, what is the meaning of all this?" Edmund snatched the letter from his hand.
"I am afraid we have made a terrible mistake. I contacted Lord Tennbury at seventy-seven Hanover Square, and he confirmed that he had a ward called Noni whom he had sent to the seminary in Bath." Mr West looked crushed. "I'm terribly sorry, sir, but you are not Noni's guardian, after all. And what is worse, his lordship is waiting in the drawing room to collect the child as we speak."
Ellen felt her legs buckle underneath her, and she sank into a chair. "No," she breathed.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Ellen walked into the drawing room as if in a bad dream.
Surely she couldn't have made such a colossal, terrible, unforgivable mistake?
An elderly gentleman with a shock of white hair rose from the sofa, leaning on an ivory cane.
He had a gaunt face with thin lips and white, bushy eyebrows.
"I do not understand." His voice sounded rusty and unamused. "I sent the child to be looked after in an exclusive school in Bath, and now I am told he is here, in the neighbourhood—in this house?"
Ellen felt like dropping to the floor. Tewkbury didn't answer at all. He stood frozen, statue-like.
"There has been an unfortunate mistake," Mr West stammered.
"Then enlighten me!" the man boomed.
"Forgive us, Your Lordship, but first we need to confirm that Noni is indeed your ward. Could you please sign this blank piece of paper so that we can compare signatures?" Mr West held out a sheet of paper.
"What for?" Tennbury barked. "I make it a rule not to sign anything that my lawyers haven't seen."
"It's just a blank sheet of paper, and you can burn it immediately afterwards. The purpose is to compare your signature with that on the letter. It would be proof that Noni is indeed your ward. Forgive me, sir, for inconveniencing you in this way, but surely you can see that this is in the best interests of the child, for you must understand that we can't just hand him over to anyone who claims to be his ward."
