“I will,” Hera promised. “Will—will the knowledge that he and I...” She shrugged balefully. “Will this affair affect your character reference?”
The duchess jerked back as if completely surprised. “Why should it? I am to report on the care of my children. For which I have not a single complaint.”
“But you are also to reassure them I have,” she sobbed, “reformed.”
“Reformed.” The duchesses face pinched. “As far as I’m concerned, your character is sterling. Perfection is unachievable, no matter what the moralists would have us all believe.”
“You cannot mean that.”
“I should know.” The duchess sat down beside her on the bed. “I performed the part of the perfect, long-suffering lady while my first husband fell madly in love with the world’s most famous actress.”
Hera sniffed. “EvenI’veheard of the affair between Captain Stone and the countess.” She frowned. “Don’t you mean infamous?”
“No, actually. The countess was—andis—exceptionally charming. Admirable in many ways...”
“Howcouldyou not hate the woman?”
The duchess shrugged. “...She catapulted her way through society from the lowest to the highest. There were plenty of men who were willing to take advantage of her until she found the one man who loved her truly. Unfortunately, he happened to be my husband.”
“But did they not take advantage of you?
“Certainly. Though I doubt either spared a thought for me at all. Anyone witnessing what was between them would testify to the sincerity of their affection. In truth, I was not jealous. But Iwasdeeply envious. I’d never loved Octavius in quite that way, but I wanted what they had. I wanted someone to look at me with wonder in their eyes.”
“And now you have found that person.”
“Yes.” She hesitated. “I’m not saying there shouldn’t beanymoral standards.Of course, we should all strive to be kind. And faithful. And just. I’m only observing that…well, the heart doesn’t always listen to reason. And the truth is complicated.” She patted Hera’s knee. “The duke looks at you with that same kind of wonder, you know.”
Hera closed her eyes. Hedid.
But once he learned the truth—would that wonder last?
“I will consider your counsel.” She wiped her eyes. “But now, please tell me what happened in my absence? Have you found out if the Runner was sent by Karl?”
“I’ve wonderful news! The Runner wasnotsent by Karl.”
Not Karl?“I don’t understand.”
“We wanted to tell you as soon as we arrived, but Ash reminded us not to assume you’d taken Hurtheven into your confidence.”
“Ash?”
“I think,” the duchess replied carefully, “I had better begin from the start. The Runner came to question us just after you left—and despite Ash’s threats, he refused to divulge the purpose of his visit or provide the name of his employer. But he did give Ash the direction of the law office where he was to send his report. Ash refused to allow me to hunt down the office without his assistance, so we—Chev, Ash, Pen, and I—decided to travel to London together.”
“I know,” the duchess continued, “you did not wish me to reveal the whole to my husband. And, in truth, I was not the one who did. The Runner’s report traced you as far as the foundling hospital—Ash guessed the rest. My dear Miss Bythesea, I have something rather shocking to reveal to you. Something that happily changeseverything.”
ChapterEleven
At dinner, the Duchess of Ashbey—Alicia, on her renewed insistence—had suggestedshewould be forever inHera’sdebt. Even then, Hera felt quite the opposite to be true. Now, after what Alicia had just revealed, Hera was certain she’d the greater obligation.
She’d never be able to repay the duchess for all she’d done.
On visiting the address the Runner provided, Ashbey and Chev combined their talents to persuade the solicitor to furnish both the Runner’s report and the reason the office had been asked to find Hera. Eventually, the solicitor revealed he’d been charged by the executor of a Mrs. Francis Grant—Hera’s grandmother—to find her daughter’s daughter.
While that lady’s husband lived, he’d refused to acknowledge they’d ever had a child, let alone a granddaughter. But on his death, Mrs. Grant named Hera Bythesea—or, if Miss Bythesea was no longer living, any of her issue—as sole beneficiary of her will.
Hera had never known her grandmother, of course.
Nor had she known much about the family that had refused to see her mother after they learned she was with child. The solicitor had not felt revealing the exact amount bequeathed to Hera in his power, but had said the number would, when the estate was fully settled, be a sizable enough sum to be considered an independence. Additionally, Hera’s inheritance was to include a London boarding house her grandmother had run.
