“She would have died,” Samantha reminded him.
“Yes, and had I done nothing, I would not have my sister, but there came a time that Nina risked her very life to be free of the Sacred Grove.”
“What happened?”
The corner of his lips twitched. “She met Orion.”
“How? I thought men were not allowed in the Sacred Grove.”
“Men can go into the Sacred Grove so long as they have permission from the Dryads.”
“So, Nina left and she survived,” Samantha clarified.
“Do you know that dead tree that is in the middle of the wildflowers?”
Samantha nodded.
“That was hers. The tree that she was connected to. Once she was free of it, it died.”
“But you leave it anyway?”
“Yes. It was her tree and it will always remain.”
“You suffered guilt for…how many years?”
“I did not suffer at first because I had not understood. My younger sister was alive, she was all that I had, and that was all that mattered. There was a caretaker in the grove who acted as her governess and I convinced myself that she was well. But when I returned from Eton, I noticed how lonely she was. I refused to return to school and was going to live in the cottage all the time but she insisted that I go back, study very hard, and bring her the knowledge of everything that I learned.” He shook his head. “I always knew that I would never abandon my sister so there truly was no future to plan for.”
“Guilt would have kept you in the grove.”
“And my sister, but yes. I would not abandon her after I was the one who sentenced her in the first place.” Cassian took a sip of his tea. “But, even if I had known as a child what the future would be, I would have made the same choice. I had just lost my mother and was not prepared to lose my sister too.”
Samantha’s heart ached for the little boy who had lost so much and almost his sister. For the boy and man who realized that his sister was confined to a small piece of land.
“The entire time that I was addressing you as Mr. Jourdain and then Cassian, you never corrected me. My address of you was disrespectful as you should have been addressed as Lord de Rohan.”
Cassian chuckled. “I have not been called that in a very long time.”
“Not since you were studying very hard in school?”
“When someone addressed me as Mr. Jourdain at Eton, I did not correct him, and it freed me.”
“How so?”
“When one learns you are a comte and who my parents were, a lot of intrusive questions are asked. I understand it is their curiosity, but I did not want to discuss how my father likely met his end at the guillotine and that my mother had been escaping with me and my sister, the shipwreck, etcetera. However, a Mr. Jourdain, an orphan taken in by Lord and Lady St. Alban, was not titillating enough for anyone to pry further.”
“Certainly, your instructors addressed you properly.”
Any other lord would demand to be addressed by their title and be insulted if they were not. A simple de Rohan would have been sufficient for some because it was still a title, not a surname.
“Not after I asked them not to and explained my reasons. That past and title served no purpose and I would rather be left alone instead of having to answer questions about a painful time in my life.”
“I am sorry,” she quickly offered. “If you do not want to tell me any more, I understand.”
“That was then, when I was still a boy and grappling with the loss of both parents, and not able to visit my sister as often as I would like. Much time has passed since then and much has changed.”
“Why do you want to return to France?”
“I intend to look for any members of my father’s family, if they still live, and lay claim to the estate that had been in my father’s family for generations. The chateau still stands, and I am certain the fields are fertile. The estate once produced a fine wine and I would hope that it would again one day.”
