“I beg your pardon,” the young woman said curtly. “Who the deuceareyou people?”
“Mother, wait,” Brooke cautioned. “This is Ella Wolfe, the child’s mother.”
The amber eyes were quite angry now. “No, I am not! Please leave.”
Brooke quickly said, “I’m Dominic’s—was Dominic’s fiancée, but I hope to be that again. I love your brother. He still loves you very much and is deeply pained by the loss of you. Your mother still grieves and misses you terribly. The circumstances of your death are what stand between your brother and me. But once he knows that you’re alive—”
“You can’t tell him!” Ella actually looked appalled, but then tears began streaming down her face.
Harriet was obviously disappointed that she wouldn’t be taking a baby home today as she’d hoped, but her words weren’t accusing, merely curious, when she asked, “D’you know you havetwograves?”
Ella swiped the tears off her cheeks. “I should hope so, I arranged for both.”
“May we see the child?” Harriet asked hopefully.
“No,” Ella said protectively. “I don’t even know who you are or how you found me when I took such extreme measures to make sure no one ever would.”
Brooke explained, “We didn’t know we would find you, not when you wrote in your diary that the baby left you no choice but to take your own life.”
“No, I didn’t. It left me no choice but to go away to have her. I never considered killing myself and my baby.”
“But Dominic said you wrote that you were going to seek ‘peace and solace in the sea.’?”
“That I wished I could, not that I would, but that was at my lowest point of heartbreak, just a brief tearful thought. But I had to keep the truth from Dominic to keep him from committing murder and ending up in prison for the rest of his life. And the only way to do that was to disappear. I didn’t think to pretend to be lost at sea until I sailed past the body of that poor woman on the beach. It was my maid, Bertha, who pointed it out. We stopped to investigate, and that’s when the idea occurred to me, to fake my death. I asked Bertha to put my locket on the corpse. You should have heard her complaints, I’m sure they heard them back in Scarborough. So I did the deed, as distasteful as it was, and sent her back on foot to fetch my jewelry so we’d have money to support us, since I couldn’t withdraw money from my bank, not after I was ‘dead.’
“I intended to give my baby to the foundling house, but once I had it, well, it was love at first sight. The Turrils were disappointed that I’d changed my mind, but they offered me an alternative, to come live with them and raise my child here. It was a satisfactory arrangement for me, since I hadn’t really decided where to go after the birth. And they’ve been wonderful surrogate grandparents. Now I insist you tell me how you found me. The abbess swore—”
“It wasn’t her. She even denied writing that letter I found of hers in your fan. But one of the nuns confided a lady had come to them during the fall of that year. I only hoped it had been you, but the nun was sure you didn’t survive the complications of the birth.”
“I nearly didn’t. It was ghastly.” Ella shuddered.
“The nun implied you and the child might have died that night, but since she wasn’t certain, my mother was determined to look around every last corner, so we came here with high hopes to at least find your baby if it did somehow survive, so we could bring it home where it belongs.”
“It belongs with me.”
“Yes, of course it does. There’s no question about that now. We mean you no harm, I promise you.”
Some of the stiffness went out of Ella’s shoulders, enough for her to admit, “I knew what the consequences would be for my foolish actions and reckless heart, but I was in love. I even knew his faults, but I was sure I could help him to overcome them. We met secretly so often, I expected I’d get pregnant, so it was no surprise when I did and I was thrilled. I thought it would get us to the altar sooner. More fool me. But even so, I couldn’t bear the thought of him dying at my brother’s hands, or what would happen to Dominic because of it. I feel terrible about the pain I’ve caused my mother and my brother, it troubles me deeply, but the alternative would have been much worse.”
“But what you feared would happen did happen. There were three duels fought over your death, though neither opponent died. But the Prince Regent intervened and your brother has signed a pledge to give up his vendetta for good. I’m sorry that my brother refused to marry you. He’s such a cad. But truly, there’s no longer a reason for you to stay here. Go back to your family, Ella. It will be a dream come true for them.”
But Ella was suddenly frowning. “I didn’t know Benton had a sister, in fact, I’m sure he doesn’t. Who are you really?”
Chapter Fifty-Six
BROOKE WAS MORE NERVOUSthan she let on as she waited in the parlor to see if Dominic would even receive her. But she knew he was back in London. Alfreda had a note from Gabriel waiting on her when they got home last night, telling her he and Dominic had returned from Yorkshire yesterday.
So much depended on this meeting, her future, Ella’s future, even Dominic’s own happiness. And if she didn’t do this just right, if she couldn’t give him back his sister, then he might hate her even more.
Why couldn’t this be simple? Why did Ella still even want to protect a man who had betrayed not just her trust but also Dominic’s—his ownfriend? But the wolf that entered the parlor a few moments later wasn’t the one she was expecting to see.
“Storm!” Brooke cried in delight, jumping up and putting her arms around the dog and burying her face in Storm’s soft white hair.
“You’re kissing the wrong wolf,” Dominic said as he walked straight to her. He didn’t look angry; in fact, he was smiling. Had Ella changed her mind and was already home?
But Dominic was suddenly kissing her and her thoughts scattered every which way. She wrapped her arms around him. She hadn’t forgotten the strength beneath her hands, the earthy smell of him, the tantalizing taste. But the thrill was new; it included such relief she could barely contain it. He wanted her!
He picked her up, moved to the sofa, where he sat down to cradle her on his lap, but not before kissing her again and again. Her bonnet fell back on the seat behind her, her hair came loose and tumbled over his arm. Someone closed the door for them. It still wasn’t locked, but she was too happy to care.
