“Why can’t anyone know? What would it hurt ifIknew?”
“It would hurt him and his family. They didn’t know about you.”
“Did he?”
She let out a sigh. “Yes.”
“And he didn’t want me, either?”
“He wanted you, very much. But we were not married and his family had plans for his life that did not include a young Irish actress. The whole affair was devastating for his family, even without knowing about the baby. The only way I could make things better was to send you away and disappear.”
“You didn’t go far.”
“I returned to Ireland, but by that time, I already had an admirer, Mr. Farmington, my husband. He persuaded me to return several years later, after the scandal died down, and he married me and gave me a new name, so no one had to know who I was.” She frowned and I could see that her next words pained her. “I didn’t want to let you go, Keira, but I had little choice. When my brother Charlie decided to move to America, and he was willing to take you with him, I saw no other option. I didn’t want to send you to an orphanage, and I couldn’t care for you on my own. I hoped it was a good life for you in America—and looking at you today, I can see it was.”
I thought of the poverty we had lived in, and I shook my head. But what good would it do to tell her how horrible my life had been before meeting Alec and Aunt Maude?
She turned to Alec. “How do you know Keira?”
He looked at me, a question in his eyes. How much did I want her to know?
“Alec’s aunt adopted me,” I said, drawing her attention back to me. “Just this year. And she’s brought me here to make an advantageous match.”
My mother studied me for a moment, a slight frown on her face. “How odd to be adopted as an adult.”
“I’m her heir—one of them. Mr. Paxton-Hill is the other.”
“Then you’re planning to stay in England?”
“If all goes as Aunt Maude hopes.”
“And she wants you to marry into the nobility?”
I nodded.
Concern deepened her brow. “Be very careful, Keira. There are secrets among the nobility that could hurt you.”
Frowning, I took a step closer to her. “What secrets?”
“It’s best if you don’t know.”
“How can I protect myself if I don’t know what to look for?”
“Perhaps you should leave.” She walked toward the door. “I cannot afford to have anyone asking questions about you or telling my husband you visited.”
“Is that why you didn’t try to find me when you were in New York?”
She paused. “How did you know I was in New York?”
I motioned toward the painting on her wall. “They sell those near Central Park.”
“I had no idea where to even look for you, Keira—and how would I have explained it to Freddie if I had found you?”
“Freddie?”
“My husband. For all intents and purposes, you became Charlie and Orla’s child the moment they took you out of my arms. I didn’t want to disrupt the life you were living. It wouldn’t have been fair to you.”
I frowned. “I don’t think you were worried about me. I think you were more worried about yourself.”
