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Never had Eliza seen such a look of naked shock on someone’s face. His lips moved, but they were stiff and pale.
‘Parents?’
Eliza nodded. ‘It is obvious from the whispers of the entire Ton that all is not what it seems, and on balance, I have to concur. Lord Somersby seems set to start the rumour mill again as I turned him down, so I need to know the truth. I need to know what we might be facing, even if it is painful.’
He swallowed. ‘What do you mean?’
She cleared her throat and set her shoulders. ‘Well, I am much younger than you all. I have been kept very much in the background. I practically had to beg for a come out when my sisters all had theirs without question. My sisters are all styled as Lady, as is their right given their father is an earl. Yet I am Miss Eliza Courtney, not Lady Eliza Grey.’
‘But you have always been named thus. Why bring this up now?’
‘Because… deep down, I always feared that I might be a poor relation brought into the family to be looked after. I wanted to be part of the family so much I put it to the back of my mind and ignored it because that way it might not be true.’
She was shaking now and could not look at her brother, so she said the words quickly. ‘Charles, did Papa have an affair? Do I have a different mother to the rest of you? Is that what everyone is alluding to? Is this something that, if known, could affect us all? Papa is no longer with us, so I am hoping not. I just need to know,’ she finished on a whisper.
Silence ticked ominously between them. Charles froze. Absolutely. He raised an arm, then dropped it before putting a hand over his eyes, then moving it to his mouth.
‘It’s true, isn’t it?’
Charles swallowed and took a step closer. Again, he lifted an arm and let it fall.
‘Papa did not have an affair.’
‘Then what…’
‘I did. I had an affair. I… am your father.’
Chapter 59
ELIZA
London
Eliza stared at the man she had always thought of as her brother, unable to speak.
A tear escaped and rolled down his cheek. ‘Can you say something?’ he whispered, hope and fear warring in his face.
‘Who is my mother?’
Charles’s face was rigid. ‘Your mother was the Duchess of Devonshire.’
The words didn’t make sense. ‘The duchess? Haryo’s mama?’
He nodded.
‘You and the duchess? The duchess was my mother?’
He nodded again looking as though he might crumble at any moment. The words hammered around Eliza’s head as she tried to make sense of it. Tried to understand what it meant.
‘Does everyone know but me?’
‘Mama and Papa knew. They took you in as their own so that I could be near you.’
‘The Cavendishes?’
‘Lady Elizabeth and Lady Bessborough. They were with your mama when you were born in France.’
‘So, the reason Haryo’s mama left her… was to have me?’ It was too awful to contemplate. She knew how the duchess’s absence had affected Gee, Haryo and Hart. Knew how desperately they had missed her, knew how miserable they had been. And that was her fault.
