Aunt Maude motioned to the table between the sofas. There were three newspapers lying there.
“It’s all over the newspapers. A copy ofTown Topicsjust arrived from New York this morning, but it must have arrived at the London offices ofThe Morning PostandThe Worldyesterday, because they covered it in their editions this morning.”
I picked up the copy ofTown Topics. It was a salacious New York newspaper Aunt Maude subscribed to that was notorious for sharing gossip about the wealthy social class without directly naming the parties involved.
There, on the front page, was a headline that made me feel weak.
Hotel Widow Adopts Tenement Girl to Pass Her Off as a Niece to Capture a Duke.
Below the headline were all the sordid details about how I had grown up in Five Points. They didn’t mention Aunt Maude’s name, nor mine, but they didn’t need to. Everyone would know who we were.
“How?” I asked, looking at the other two newspapers that shared all the same information. “Who would have toldTown Topics?”
Aunt Maude’s lips were grim as she stared at me. “Your dear old Uncle Charlie and Aunt Orla.”
“What?” I frowned. “How do you know?”
“They tried to blackmail me right before we left New York, but I ignored their threat.” She rose and paced again. “I should have just paid them what they asked for.”
“They wanted money for their silence?” Betrayal sliced through me. How could my uncle and aunt hurt me this way? Did they want to remove everything good from my life? Was that it?
“I’m sureTown Topicspaid them well for their story.” Aunt Maude shook her head. “And just when everything was going as we planned. What will we do now? Will the prince even want to come for a dinner party? And what of the duke? When he hears that you are not my niece, will he continue to pursue you?”
I caught Alec’s eye, and he looked just as disappointed as I felt. Even though I suspected it was hard for him to watch me with the duke, he truly wanted me to be happy.
“What will we do?” I asked.
Aunt Maude stopped pacing and set her shoulders. “We will continue as we have been. As soon as Lady Mandeville arrives in her carriage, we will go riding in Hyde Park. If she does not come, then we will rent a carriage and go on our own. I will not kowtow to anyone. We all have a right to be here. My money is just as good as anyone else’s. If the Duke of Severton doesn’t want it, then we’ll find another aristocrat that does. And if the Prince of Wales doesn’t want to come for supper, we’ll get along without his approval.” She nodded once, as if the matter were settled.
I’d learned that once Aunt Maude set her mind to something, she was almost guaranteed success.
I hoped this time was no exception.
At the appointed hour, Aunt Maude, Alec, and I were back in the front drawing room, ready and waiting for Lady Mandeville to arrive. Gallagher had helped me into a white day dress with a black belt and a black, wide-brimmed hat with white ostrich feathers tucked into the crown. I held a white parasol, closed at the moment, and white kid gloves, which I would put on before we left the house.
None of us spoke as the clock ticked by. Lady Mandeville was ten minutes late.
Alec stood near the window, looking out onto Buckingham Palace Road. He was wearing a black riding suit, with a cutaway jacket and a green waistcoat underneath. His hat was beneath his arm as he stared out the window.
“How long will we wait before we accept that Lady Mandeville isn’t coming?” he asked the room at large.
Aunt Maude sat in her wingback chair in a beautiful gown, staring at the door. “We will wait one hour.”
The next fifty minutes would be excruciating.
I stood from the sofa and paced to the window to join Alec.
Lady Mandeville’s carriage rounded the corner and came to a stop in front of the house.
“She’s here!” I said to Aunt Maude.
“I knew she would come.” Aunt Maude slowly rose from her chair. “She has too much at stake if we’re not successful. I told her I would only pay her once an engagement was announced.”
“Really, Aunt,” Alec said as he moved away from the window. “Please don’t discuss the financial implications of all of this with Clara around. It only causes her undue stress.”
“She’ll benefit the most from it,” Aunt Maude said with no regret.
“Still.” Alec glanced at me with an apologetic smile.
