“I assume she’s yours,” Raphe’s mother said to Warwick before addressing Raphe with a smirk. “You’ve certainly set your sights high. I do commend you for that.”
“Nobody cares about your opinion,” Raphe told her darkly.
“You might when I tell you why I’ve come.” Glancing at each of them in turn, Raphe’s mother paused before saying, “I simply couldn’t stay away when I discovered what great heights my son has risen to.”
“You’re a beast,” Amelia said, speaking for the first time.
“And I’d watch that tongue, if I were you,” her mother replied. “Gentlemen don’t appreciate opinionated women with feisty temperaments. You’ll do well to remember that if you want to marry.”
“How could you abandon us? Your own children?” Juliette asked in barely a whisper. “What sort of person does that?”
“Taking you with me would not have been possible, and besides, there was no chance of you ending up in debtors’ prison. The worst outcome might have been a workhouse for Raphe, but I was confident that someone would step in and save you all if it came to that.”
“You. Were. Confident.” Raphe stared at her while imagining what it might feel like to wring her neck. “You—” He was finding it difficult to breathe. Gabriella’s hand squeezed his. “You are a vile woman.”
She didn’t even blink. “Do try to understand the situation I was in. My husband stood to lose everything. We were in dire straits, and Captain Tremaine—”
“That’s who you ran away with?” Raphe gaped at her in shock. He hadn’t known. His father had never divulged that much, but it was clear now that the betrayal had been worse than he’d ever imagined. “He and Papa were friends.”
His mother shrugged. “He offered escape—the chance to travel the world.”
“Did you ruin him, as well?”
Her mouth twisted. “Not exactly.”
“Don’t tell me.” Raphe studied her closely. There was something about her expression—a reluctance to tell him everything. “He left you.” If there was any sort of justice in the world, this still wouldn’t be enough, but it would be a start.
“In a manner of speaking.” She made an odd little wriggling movement, straightening her posture. “The specifics don’t matter. What’s important is that I’m here now, ready to resume my motherly role.”
A hush fell over the room. Raphe became acutely aware that all eyes were on him—Warwick’s, Amelia’s, Juliette’s, and Gabriella’s—all seemingly holding their breaths with the expectation of what he might say to that. Pulling himself up to his full height, he squared his shoulders and gave his mother the most deadly glower he could manage. “Are you out of your bloody mind?” His tone would cut steel. “How dare you!”
Shockingly, she did not back down, her righteous posture and upturned nose reminding him of everything he’d ever hated about the aristocracy. But it had always been her. She’d been the source of every negative thought he’d ever had. Because really, who else had he known as a boy? He hadn’t gone out in high society, had never spoken to another peer. She’d set the standard by which he’d measured the entire ton, ingraining in him a disdain that had magnified his own negative experience on account of his preconceived certainty that no aristocrat could ever be a decent person.
“Think carefully before you decide to toss me out,” she warned. “Consider the scandal.”
“It will hardly be any worse than the one you’ve just caused with your return. Everyone thought you were dead.”
“A mistake that was never rectified.”
Raphe shook his head. “No. I won’t have it. You’re not welcome here.”
A shrewd look of determination sprang to life in his mother’s eyes. “If you prefer, you may offer me a comfortable stipend, in which case I’ll happily disappear from public view to live a quiet life in the country. I’m sure you have a lovely estate just waiting to be inhabited.”
“I’m not giving you a penny,” Raphe told her harshly. “Not after what you’ve done. You don’t deserve it.”
“You’ll regret that decision,” she warned.
“No, he won’t,” Gabriella told her firmly. “You may think you can threaten him with scandal, but you can’t, not as long as he’s unafraid to face it.”
“And not as long as he has my family’s support,” Warwick chimed in.
A deep burn clasped at Raphe’s chest. Knowing that Warwick was willing to help him in this, that Gabriella would not abandon him because of it all but rather stand by his side, was incredibly moving. “What I will offer,” he managed, speaking past the knot in his throat, “is passage to America, with enough to get by on for the next year. After that, you’ll have to manage on your own.”
“Raphe,” she pleaded. “You cannot mean that. I’m your mother, after all, and—”
“My mother left us fifteen years ago. Records show that she died at sea, so as far as I know, you’re an imposter trying to take advantage. Unless you can prove your identity without question, I suggest you take the offer and leave before I decide to call the magistrate.”
“You’re making a grave mistake,” she said.
