Harlowe took the hint, rising to close it. “That much I remember.”
“She was, in fact, my mistress before Lorelei and I married.”
Harlowe’s lips tightened, but he remained silent. He’d forgotten that as well. Part of the reason he’d hated Kimpton. The relationship had been common knowledge. Harlowe and his school mates at Eaton had talked of, made wagers on, created stratagems of stealing Rowena Hollerfield from Harlowe’s future brother-in-law.
“Don’t worry yourself, Harlowe.” Amusement gleamed in his eyes. “My association ended with Rowena Hollerfield the moment I met your sister. However, Rowena stopped me on the street one afternoon a little over a year ago. Said she was carrying my child.” This was said with a shot of disgust. “It wasn’t mine, of course. You can imagine my surprise when said child turned out to belong to you.”
Harlowe let out a long shaking breath as a flash of the girl in the picture he’d painted appeared in his head. Corinne. Young, clinging, pregnant. Anger. He’d been angry. And trapped. Somehow, he’d been trapped, though he failed to remember how or why.
“Rowena had plans on blackmailing me.”
That startled him. “Blackmail?”
“Yes. Of course, once I realized you were the father, I was obligated to assist her in any way possible. I sent her and Corinne to the hunter’s cottage at Kimpton. Your sister would have killed me had I not.”
“Mauds—”
“That’s where things gets complicated. Maudsley came looking for his wife, Ginny, whom he’d almost killed. Accused me of hiding her. Of course, everyone knows it’s illegal to keep a man’s wife from her husband, not to mention I was insanely in love with my own wife.” Kimpton spoke with a small smile. His smile disappeared and he grew serious, shaking his head. “He found Rowena and slammed her up against the wall, near as we could tell. No one saw him. It was a vicious attack. She wasn’t quite dead when Lorelei found her.”
Harlowe felt sick. “Lorelei found her?”
Kimpton’s lips compressed, and he gave a sharp nod.
On a hard swallow, Harlowe said, “I see.” But he didn’t see. “Did you ever learn why?”
“Temper, most likely. Maudsley had a horrendous temper. You might remember? He had three children.”
Harlowe nodded slowly, remembering what Maeve had told him about Corinne being Maudsley’s first child with Lady Hannah. “Yes, Corinne, Irene, and Celia.”
“We suspect he killed Hannah when he learned Corinne was not a boy.”
“Jesus.”
“So the man had had no heir. The closest conclusion Brock and I were able to ascertain was that when Maudsley learned Corinne hadn’t perished with her mother, he somehow discovered Rowena had run away with her as a newborn and raised her. We have no idea how he found out about Corinne. Hell, he was in the hunter’s cottage when Corinne was in labor. For all I know he could have learned the truth that night. As I said, no one saw him attack Rowena.
“In any event, Lorelei found Rowena in the drawing room. When Maudsley learned Corinne had borne a male child, it was clear he was determined to take the child.” The air around Kimpton grew dangerous. “He kidnapped Lorelei, Nathan, and Irene. We think he planned on petitioning Parliament in allowing him to make Nathaniel his heir.”
Harlowe shoved a hand through his hair. “Is that even possible?”
“It’s rare, but I believe it’s happened.”
None of this explained how Harlowe and Corinne had ended up married.Trapped.The word haunted him. He needed a look at Rowena Hollerfield’s lodgings. “I wonder if I can locate Rowena’s staff.” Perhaps he’d find his answers there.
Kimpton’s eyes narrowed on him. “What are you saying?”
“I’m not sure. Why would I have been associating withyourex-mistress? I can’t help but think I must have been there for reasons other than the obvious.”
Kimpton drummed his fingers atop the mahogany. “I’ll do some checking, but Harlowe—” he speared him with a hard glint— “if you disappear again, I’ll kill you myself. Lorelei was beside herself for over a year. I won’t have her upset like that again.”
Harlowe studied the man he’d hated as a child. Seeing Kimpton from an adult standpoint now was enlightening. This was a man who truly loved and cared for his sister. The insight put any remaining childhood fears to rest. He could trust Kimpton. “Understood.”
Maeve was a bluestocking through and through. Shopping wasnother forte. Lorelei and Ginny took advantage of the morning, refusing to let Maeve bow out of going to Bond Street when there was a good three hours before their promise to the children regarding their jaunt to the park.
All was not lost, however. Under Lorelei’s and Ginny’s urging, Maeve picked out her own gowns. Having control over the cut and depth of the bodices had her shaking her head. Her choices were a far cry from her mother’s, where the slightest turn on the dance floor could lead to scandal and instant nuptials.
Lady Ingleby’s master plan, no doubt, depending on her dance partner at the given moment.
For the first time Maeve could remember, her life was coming together. She had funds, say over her own wardrobe, and soon, her own dwellings. She had the oddest whim to throw her arms in the air and spin about like a child.
