*
“Will cook behorrified to delay dinner? This story is best told before we eat so I can enjoy the meal,” Maddy asked after David insisted they all sit.As if I’ll be able to eat after thinking about Glenmoor.
David had a word with Harris about dinner and came to sit near her. His alert curiosity gave her no surprise. She had spoken little about her marriage in the years since her widowhood, and she suspected he must bristle with questions. Jessop’s appearance had forced her hand. She had to tell them about Gideon at least, but the intimate details of her marriage would go with her to her grave.
She drew breath for strength. Lucy’s hand, clutching hers, and Rob’s gentle concern eased her somewhat. The intensity in Brynn Morgan’s gaze both thrilled and agitated her. She kept her eyes on her brother.
“Is it Glenmoor’s visit?” David asked when she hesitated.
“Yes and no. Recall I told you he was a boy of fourteen when I went to Woodglen as a bride? He was—and I believe is—a sweet, gentle soul.”Not the brightest of men but a good one in spite of his horrific parent.
“There was another man there,” she went on. “Phillip’s visit brought him to mind. Gideon Jessop might have been a tall man if an accident of birth hadn’t cursed him with a twisted spine and crooked leg. He managed well enough, spending more time in the stables than the house, yet he had a room in the guest wing and took morning repast in the breakfast room, though he rarely ate dinner with us. Rarely but not never.”
She darted an apologetic glance at Rob. “Our upbringing prepared me to recognize a family bastard if nothing else, and indeed, I eventually found out he was my husband Randolph’s son.”
“But what brought him to your mind today, Maddy?” Rob asked.
“Let me finish my story so you understand. Gideon was older, six or more years older than Phillip, older even than me. We hardly spoke. I found him sullen and angry and believed he resented my presence at Woodglen. He watched me constantly. But Randolph could be cruel. He called him a ‘half-wit cripple’ to his face. That’s enough to anger any man.”
She blinked up to see Brynn hand her a glass of water. At his touch, a wave of warmth passed from his hand to hers to settle near her heart. She murmured thanks and sipped gratefully, glad he sat quietly nearby.
“Six months after I arrived, Randolph sent him away. Phillip objected, and his father took a birch to him and told him to forget about ‘the base-born bastard.’ We never heard from him again. At least I didn’t. Randolph told Phillip and me sometime later that he had died. That was the end of it.”
“But it wasn’t.” Brynn Morgan’s knowing gaze made her drop her eyes to her lap before she could go on.
“I believed so, but no. Glenmoor came here two days ago because he had a visitor, a man from Charleston in South Carolina, claiming to be Gideon’s uncle. The visitor gave his name as Isaiah Jessop. He came looking for Gideon. Randolph told us that his mother had been a tavern worker there during the rebellion, so his story fit.” She didn’t repeat her late husband’s actual words for the poor woman.
“That distressed Glenmoor so much he came here to speak with a stepmother he hadn’t spoken to in several years?” Clarion’s face pinched as if he was trying to unwind a puzzle.
“Not just the visit. Jessop called Gideon the duke. He was astonished to find Phillip had that privilege. Phillip came to see me to be reassured about Gideon’s illegitimacy and inability to inherit. He might have simply brushed it aside, but he is ready to offer marriage to a young lady. Skeletons in the family closet might not help his case.”
“The man’s a duke. Any papa in London would be happy to keep those closets locked,” Rob muttered.
“Are you saying he has doubts about his title? Absurd. Glenmoor was confirmed in his rank by the Crown nine years ago. The Committee for Privileges will not rescind that decision no matter what. It just isn’t done. In any case this Gideon is dead, correct?” David glanced around the room, greeted by Lucy’s nod, Rob’s shrug, and Morgan’s withdrawn frown.
“We have only Randolph’s word for that, but yes,” she said.
Morgan raised his head. “Do you believe him?”
“I do. I did. I had no reason not to.” Except the man lied whenever it suited him.
“Why was he sent away?”
Maddy’s cheeks burned. Trust Colonel Morgan to burrow beneath the skin. David peered at him as if he found the question important. Between them, they were likely to wiggle it out of her eventually. She sighed and spoke. “He was caught in my room at night.”
Lucy’s gasp upset her less than David’s obvious horror. Morgan, worst of all, looked ready to do murder. She thanked God for Rob, who asked her gently, “Were you harmed?”
“No! He brought a candle and tried to speak to me. He sometimes had trouble getting the words out. In any case he was only in my room moments before Randolph burst in, followed by one of his more abhorrent friends, who’d been drinking with him all evening. I have no idea how they knew he was there. They dragged him out. He was gone the next day.” She had watched from her bedroom window when they had tossed his battered body in a carriage. “He didn’t hurt me.”
She felt sick at the memory but forced the rest of it out. “I hadn’t thought of him in years.”At least not often. “Glenmoor brought him to mind, and then today—”
“Today? What happened today?” David demanded.
“Harris told me Isaiah Jessop called for me while I was out. I don’t have his direction. Harris told me he didn’t leave a calling card and probably didn’t possess one.”
“You can’t mean to speak to the man.” David sounded adamant. “I’ll have him refused if he comes back.” The phalanx of Morgan and Rob appeared to agree.
Maddy started to argue, but guilt crept up her throat. She would like to question Jessop, but she had Phillip to consider—Phillip and the letter resting in the strong room at Clarion Hall that could upend his life. David insisted the Committee for Privileges would never rescind the title. What good would it do to question legitimacy now?Gideon is dead.She needed time to think, and she needed to refresh her memory about Gideon’s departure and the letter before she spoke to this stranger.
