“As your daughter, why would you wish to threaten me? I cannot believe you would wish me harm,” Violet said.
“I do not. And I have watched your rise through the Ton with no little pride. You are quite magnificent, Violet. Truly worthy of the Godstone name. When I saw that you had caught the eyeof the Earl of Munster, even consulting with Mary Wyndham on the arrangement of some of her social events…well, I almost burst with pride. I considered telling you there and then. But, a small voice told me to hold onto the information. That I may need to use it as leverage at some point. If there is one lesson I would give you about politics, it’s that you do not squander the advantage that privileged information gives you.”
“You speak as if this is some kind of game to you?” Violet said.
Something of her shock must have been evident in her voice or face. Ambrose threw back his head and laughed.
“Of course it’s a game. And one with the highest of stakes. I intend to be Prime Minister one day and must build a reputation for success within my party first. I had thought myself well along that path when your barbarous Scotch Duke raised his ugly head. The man was so ignorant, it was almost unfair to orchestrate his humiliation. It was ridiculously easy. Then you became involved.”
The expression on Ambrose’s face told Violet that she had been wayward, even naughty, that he was a displeased parent. She returned his stare with all the coolness she could muster, despite the turmoil within her.
I am not a wayward or willful child. He may have sired me but I am not answerable to him. Uncle George has been more of a parent to me than him.
At once, she regretted her insistence on calling him Uncle. On calling Lillian and Clara, cousin, and Charlotte, Aunt. George and Charlotte had been parents to her. Clara and Lillian had been sisters.
I was so vain to think that I could reject a lifetime of love simply because I did not consider the label I used for them to be correct. What does it matter if I call them Mother, Father, and Sister instead of Aunt, Uncle, and Cousin. It is still the same person inside.
She felt ashamed and looked away, blinking away tears.
What a fool I’ve been.
Ambrose seemed to misunderstand her distress. He chuckled, getting up and pouring himself another glass of wine. He offered her the decanter and she silently put her hand over her glass. Ambrose shrugged and replaced the stopper.
“I’m glad you have the humility to realize your mistakes. Even to feel guilt. I believe we can still have a relationship. Ravendel will know and even if it is kept from the younger women in your family, it will still allow us to behave as father and daughter in private.”
“Lillian will have to be told,” Violet said, feeling numb.
Ambrose sat and raised a questioning eyebrow.
“She thinks you a potential suitor. It would not be appropriate and I would not have her hate me, thinking that I am a rival,” Violet explained.
Ambrose shrugged with an insouciant smile. “It matters not to me. It is your secret to keep.”
“It is,” Violet agreed.
She was staring into space, comprehending the full enormity of the situation.
“What is it specifically that you would have me do?” she asked.
“Specifically, use your influence with Lorchester to persuade him to drop his support for the Bill. The best outcome would be that he retreats to his country estate and does not trouble the capital with his barbarism again. I would, however, settle for his presence in London as a thoroughly unreliable rogue who frequents dockside taverns and gambling dens. Let him go back to the man he was before he met you.”
The cruelty in Ambrose’s words was made worse by the slight smile he wore while speaking them. She could not believe that she shared the same blood as this man.
“Your threat depends on my willingness to spare my family the dishonor of your revelation. What if I care more for Alexander than I do for them?” Violet said.
“You do not. You cannot,” Ambrose said, his self-satisfied smile fading away.
Violet leaned forward in her seat. “But what if I do? What if I am as self-centered as you, caring only for my own interests.”
“May I remind you that your reputation will be dragged through the mud as well? Unjustly, but it will happen.”
“But Alexander will still triumph over you. I can distance myself from my family. Lillian already despises me, thinking that I am trying to rob her of the attention of a man she believed was interested in her. It will not be difficult to disown the Ravendels in order to minimize any impact upon them,” Violet said.
“Why on earth would you do that? When you can simply do as I ask?” Ambrose said, sounding genuinely perplexed, “He does not belong here and should not be here. His place is in Scotland where his habits and appearance will, doubtlessly, blend in. Follow my instructions and no-one is harmed except an upstart Scot who should not be here in the first place.”
“A man I believe I love,” Violet said.
It hurt to say those words as she did not know for certain how Alexander felt about her. He had walked away from her, after all. Perhaps he had decided that for all her tutoring, she had failed him. Perhaps, he was already complying with the instructions that Ambrose was trying to give to Violet, removing himself from London society and abandoning his political crusade.
