“Among other things.”
He nodded. “I am both grateful and disappointed.”
Her mother leaned in slightly. “Then you know.”
Javenia looked between them, the conversation making little sense. What did he know? What did her mother know?
He nodded again.
Her mother sighed. “She loved your father, and I believe he loved her, too. I hope you can forgive them.”
“Her, yes. Him, I cannot.”
Javenia’s brow furrowed further as she tried to make sense of the conversation.
Her mother’s shoulders slumped. “I suppose I can understand. If only…” She trailed off and her finger ran over thebrown paper package in her hands. “Thank you for bringing this to me. I will cherish anything from Angela.”
“You are welcome.” Then he turned to Javenia and her heart stuttered.
Anguish like she’d never seen before pooled in his eyes, rimmed in dark circles. He searched her face as if hungry for something, but she knew not what.
“I will leave you two for a moment,” her mother said, then ducked from the room.
They continued to stare at one another for a moment before Javenia realized she still held the crumpled paper in her hand. Tucking her hands behind her back, she let it roll down the back of her dress and onto the floor, using a foot to sweep it under the table behind her.
“It is good to see you, Miss Harris,” Algenon said.
Her chest tightened. “Am I in your black books, then?” She tried to tease. He didn’t react right away, and a pit opened ready to swallow her heart whole. Would this strain between them be the new normal? Would they forever treat each other as indifferent strangers?
Then he smiled softly, his stiff posture relaxing ever so much. “No, but I thought I might be in yours.”
“I am the one who asked you to meet in the garden, so I should be the one to shoulder all the blame.”
His head fell and he shook it slowly. “No, no I am the one to blame. I could not resist your lips one moment longer, not after a lifetime of longing. And now I am the scum”—he paused, his throat bobbing as he swallowed—“that cannot even offer for you.”
The crack in his voice pushed her feet into motion, but she stopped herself just short of pulling him into her arms.
“What has happened, Algenon?”
“You should sit.” He stepped away from her as if fearful she might touch him.
She did as he asked and he moved to the small hearth, leaning an arm on the mantel as he stared down into it.
“I am going to divulge a secret that I wish never existed and which keeps me tied to my fath—Lord Roberts’s foolishness forever.” He turned and looked at her. “I am not Lord Roberts’s heir.”
“But you are Lord Roberts.” She attempted to stand, but he motioned for her to stay seated.
“Let me explain. The world sees me as his son, but truthfully, I am the son of his older brother, Mr. Solomon Roberts, and Miss Angela Stone. The man I knew as my father, Lord David Roberts, only married my mother to help her save face because my grandfather would have denied any claim she had to my parentage. By marrying my father’s younger brother, the world would receive me as a legitimate heir and not despise me.”
Javenia’s heart pounded, perspiration forming on her brow. “Why tell me this? You could have gone your whole life with no one knowing any different.”
“Nobody except your mother, who apparently knows.” He looked back at the fire. “And Lord Falcross, who my uncle told over a game of cards while inebriated. He and Lord Rupert blackmailed my father into accepting marriage contracts for myself and Phillipa.”
“No.” Javenia shot to her feet. Her hands trembled, as did her knees. Fear, confusion, and anger warred within her. No wonder Lord Roberts had been so insistent and at the same time apologetic.
Algenon’s voice cracked again. “I am so sorry, Javenia, but if I do not follow through and the rest of Society finds out, I’ll not have a living to support my sisters.”
Tears pooled in her eyes. The thought of Algenon being trapped in a life of misery was too much to bear. “Couldn’t you refute it? They have no real proof, just the words of a drunk man. Besides, doesn’t your mother’s marriage to your uncle make you legitimate according to law, no matter who your father is?”
