Though it might seem that her behavior contradicted this on occasion, Caroline did have her scruples. She knew that following people about and listening to their private conversations was not strictly upright behavior. And using the information gleaned in those conversations was obviously not particularly moral either.
But at this point, she simply couldn’t help herself.
She had attempted to charm every man at this gathering, and they all seemed to be laughing at her behind her back—or even in front of her face. She had become a joke to everyone, and she attempted to smooth this over by being as complimentary as she possibly could to everyone, but this only seemed to make it worse. The minute she gave out one compliment, men started leering and snickering. They tried to hide it, but she could see it. She had seen it with Mr. Houseman and now they were all behaving the same way.
Mr. Houseman would not have been Caroline’s first choice as a husband, but he would do, she thought. He didn’t seem to like her, of course, however, which was rather a barrier to the entire idea of it all.
At any rate, Caroline was looking for a distraction from the desperate and pathetic reality of her life when she saw Miss Darcy go upstairs, sobbing, and then she saw Elizabeth, only a few moments later, dash up the stairs as if she was in a state of some anxiety also.
Caroline watched Elizabeth’s door and saw her maid bring her rags for her bleeding, which explained it all and in such a way that Caroline was about to go and spy on Miss Darcyinstead, but then a servant came and went in and spoke to Elizabeth.
Then Elizabeth left the room, looked about as if worried someone might see her, and crept off all alone on a walk. Caroline could not help but follow her.
Then, she heard the entire conversation with Neithern.
Most of it made little sense to her, but she heard that the duke was illegitimate and that Elizabeth was… well, she was struggling to make sense of it, but Elizabeth was the daughter of the late Duke of Neithern? That was maddening, of course, because Caroline did not wish this woman to have any more advantages in life. It seemed that Elizabeth had more than her fair share.
At any rate, Caroline could not help but come to spy again the next morning. She hid herself behind several trees, off the path, and she listened and watched and none of the three parties there even noticed her.
When they all approached, the first thing that happened was that Neithern and Houseman shook hands. Then Houseman seemed to break and he pulled Neithern into an embrace. “I hear you know the truth now, little brother,” he whispered.
Wait, what?
Caroline was quite beside herself. Certainly, everyone had noticed the resemblance between Neithern and Houseman, but no one knew what to make of it. She had heard some theories that Houseman must be the by-blow of Neithern’s father, but no one had suspected this—that Neithern was not really of the blood of the Neithern family.
Neithern pulled back, eyes shining. “Youaremy brother?”
“I am,” said Houseman. “I remember when you were born. I was older and I did not think I could care for a baby, not all by myself, not without our mother. I was still grieving her whenthe Frenchman came and said he would take you off to live some grand and beautiful life as the heir to a dukedom.”
Elizabeth spoke up. “So Larilane knew you were there, that you were left behind as well?”
“I don’t know if he knew I was the older brother,” said Houseman. “He wanted the baby. I did not know what to do, so I let him take you.” He shook his head at Neithern. “I have never known if I did the right thing. But I have always known where you were, and I have always missed you and wished that I had something—anything—left of our mother, and you were all that was left.”
“What was she like?” said Neithern, his lower lip trembling.
“She was beautiful,” said Houseman, and his eyes were shining, too. “She had a voice like a songbird. She would sing me to sleep at night, and she would always make sure I had enough to eat, even if she had to go without. She was kind and sweet and good, but she was small, delicate. It isn’t surprising she didn’t survive bringing you into the world, I think. She and I, we were both hungry at that point.”
“Oh, God, I am sorry,” said Neithern.
“It’s not your fault.”
“I think I killed her.”
“No, no,” said Houseman. “She would have died a thousand times if she would have known it would give her boys a better life, and it did, I suppose.”
“How for you?” said Neithern. “How have you become this?”
“I ended up getting a job as a chimney sweep,” said Houseman, “and I got lucky, I suppose. Some woman one day saw three of us there, all walking together, covered in soot, and she insisted that she be allowed to send us all to school instead.”
“A woman?” said Elizabeth. “What woman?”
“She was a courtesan, as it turned out,” said Houseman. “She was, however, associated at that time with a very wealthyman, and she was quite independent, having invested widely in a number of various businesses with what money she had. She also owned an inn in London, though this wasn’t common knowledge, it seemed, or the place would have been considered something of a place of ill repute. At any rate, she took the three of us in, sent us to school, and she taught us about money, about how to make it and how to keep it and how to behave as if we belonged amongst people of the upper classes.”
“That is incredibly kind,” said Elizabeth.
“Yes,” said Houseman, “but it turns out it was a bet she had going with her paramour at the time. He believed that there was something in the blood, that you could not take urchins off the street and turn them into respectable men.”
“And you proved them wrong,” whispered Neithern.
