She continued, “By that time—this would have been May, I suppose—the baby had just arrived. Their visit took me completely by surprise.”
She glanced up, hoping for reaction. Of course he had not yet inquired about the baby, about her lying or her life as a mother. He hadn’t asked anything about her except how he might dock his brig.
She went on, “My parents were... shocked to discover a grandchild so soon after my marriage. As you know, you left the country within days of the wedding. It took very little time for them to count the months and conclude that there was no way that you could be the baby’s father.”
And now he gave some reaction. It was not a generous reaction, no concern revealed, but at least the blank stoicism fell away. He had the look of a horseman who had come upon a dead tree in the road.Jump over it or rein in?Panic mingled with indecision. Finally, he said hoarsely, “What happened?”
“I’ve been disowned,” she said. “That’s what happened. I’ve been evicted from the family.”
“I beg your pardon?”
She shook her head. “I wish there was a more pleasant way to say it, but ‘disowned’ seems to sum things up nicely. They will not receive me, support me, or acknowledge me. Or my son.” She took a deep breath. “Now will you sit down?”
Chapter Nine
Tessa’s parents’ rejection drained Joseph’s righteous indignation. It was the very last thing he expected her to say. She was meant to be cool and calculating. She was meant to be happily carrying on with her life, using his name. She was meant to be... if nothing else... well. Happy.
Fine.
He took a step back, trying to reconcile this news. Tessa’s face tightened.
She said, “You’ve made it clear that you are a busy man, but I believe this conversation warrants at least five minutes of your time.”
“Of course,” he said. “I didn’t mean to retreat, merely—” He paused, searching for what he meant. “I don’t know what to say, Tessa. I’m stunned.”
He was also angry, confused, and... sorry. So terribly sorry.
However, he wasn’t prepared to say those things yet.
“I endeavored to put it all down in a letter,” she told him. “I even managed to get some version of it off, but obviously the note has missed you.”
“Obviously,” he repeated, and then he winced. He didn’t care about the damned letter. He also cared far less about the brig and the cargo and the missing slip, but it was all he could think to say at the moment. Before he’d fully considered his words, he said, “So, yourfathercanceled the slip?”
“No, I did it,” she said. “A preventative measure. When my parents disowned me, they vowed to separate themselves from you, too.”
“They believe the child is—” He stopped himself and frowned. It wasn’t important what they thought of him.
Her voice was sharp. “I told them you were not the father. I’ve sworn off dishonesty, if you can believe it.”
“I do,” he said. They hovered in the doorway, half in the corridor, half in the parlor. His world shrank to her. “I believe you,” he repeated, and he realized that this was true.
Tessa turned away and began to pace the parlor. “After my parents discovered the truth, they looked more closely into your life and business. They had been wholly won over by you, and they couldn’t understand why a man of your accomplishments would help me and my fatherless baby.” She turned back to him.
“You didn’t ask for my help, did you?” he asked. “You simply pushed things through.”
She nodded and looked at the floor. “Regardless, they soon turned up the details of your boyhood in service, and they had their answer. After that, they wanted nothing to do with you.”
“The feeling is mutual,” Joseph scoffed.
Tessa finished, “I am truly sorry, as I know you valued my father’s mentorship. It is another casualty of my... situation, I’m afraid.”
“I’ve no further need of your father,” he said, and he meant it.
Tessa stared at him. Her expression was confused and cautious and something else he could not name.
Finally, she took a deep breath and said, “Andthatis the reason I canceled your slip at the West India Docks. My father’s position on the West India board gives him the power to block you from the docks forever, and I assure you, he harbors quite enough outrage and ill will to do it. In order to salvage what I could of your Barbadoes venture, I saw no choice but to seek out the dock house myself, learn the system in the mooring office, and cancel your previous contract. I’m sorry you arrived with no warning about the change. It was done only to prevent him from taking some other action. He can be very rash and destructive when he feels betrayed. I felt it would be best that all trace of your business had been removed from the records.”
“Forgive me,” he said, following her into the parlor, “my mind has not moved on from this treatment by your parents, I cannot think about the dock. I don’t understand why you cannot...? That is—”
