“I cannot marry a man who is to be an earl one day. Surely you see that?” Tilly protested.
“I’ve always believed him a man of outstanding character and have heard nothing nefarious in connection with his name. So why can you not marry him?”
“Father, you cannot be serious. You know why.”
“Tell him the truth, Tilly. He may surprise you, and if he doesn’t, then he is not the man for you,” her mother said.
Now it was Tilly who looked shocked. “I can’t believe you said that. We have hidden my identity for years, and now you want to trust a man with the knowledge. A man who couldruin us if he told anyone.” Her voice was now high-pitched and panicky.
“Do you believe he would?” her father asked.
“No.” The word was more a sigh. “He is a good man.”
“Do you care about Lord Talbot, Tilly?”
She remained silent.
“I’ve watched you with him over the past few years. When you and Violet are talking, he always joins you, as if he wants to be close to you both—or just you.”
She stared at her mother.Could she be right?
“There is an awareness between you, Tilly, that is undeniable to anyone looking,” her mother added.
“Do you love that man, daughter?” her father asked.
“Yes,” Tilly whispered. “But I have refused his offer, and that is that. So I will leave London for your country estate, Father. I must of course ensure The Iris is running smoothly and does not need my assistance before I do so, but I wish to retire from society.”
“No, Tilly. Talk to Lord Talbot,” her mother said. “You owe him that.”
“I can’t,” she said, regaining her feet. “This is for the best. I should never have entered society?—”
“No,” her father argued, denying her words. “You’ve enjoyed being part of it.”
“But I was never going to marry, and you both knew that.” But then she looked at them and saw the truth. “All this time, you both wanted me to marry?”
“We saw no reason for you not to, Tilly,” her mother said.
“My birth?—”
“Would not matter to a man who loves you.”
“But this world we live in does not work that way. It is all about bloodlines and appearances.”
“True,” her father agreed. “But love changes everything, and our hope for you has always been a love match.”
She couldn’t believe what they were saying, but one thing she did know was that they were wrong. Even love could not change what she knew to be true. She was the baseborn daughter of a maid.
“I need to go to The Iris. We shall talk more about this later.” That would definitely not be happening, but it would appease them for now.
“Very well, but think about what we’ve said, Tilly,” her mother conceded.
“Tilly.”
She stopped walking away and looked at her father.
“We love you very much, and not a day goes by that we are not proud of you. Never, not once, have we doubted the decision we made to keep you.”
She managed to nod through the tears and then left, closing the door softly behind her. Running down the stairs, she reached the front entrance to find Verity and a young footman, Heath, waiting for her.
