Page 25 of Lady of Charade
“I just wish I could have done something more to help her.”
“If you were there with her,” he said gently, wanting to go to her, but sensing he should stay where he was at the edge of the bed and give her some space, “I am sure that was most important to her.”
“That’s what she said,” Miss Jones nodded.
“This search for your father…” he began, wishing desperately within himself for the ability to help her in some way but unsure exactly how to go about doing so, except perhaps, starting at the beginning. “Can I see the letter you mentioned?”
She nodded and walked over to a side table, finding the letter within a bag of her belongings. She passed it to him and he looked it over, but besides some spidery writing that suggested perhaps the writer was not someone who would have received a formal education, there was nothing else that provided him with any additional information.
“Perhaps I could better help you if you tell me of the relationship your parents had. How did they know one another? Why did it not work, Miss Jones?”
“Call me Sarah, please,” she implored. “I believe we are far past formalities, seeing as you have already spent multiple nights sleeping in my room.”
He chuckled, but nodded.
“Very well. I would prefer David, as it were.”
She smiled. “Very well, David.”
He loved the sound of his given name on her lips. Few ever used it, and the familiarity caused him to feel that, for once, someone was close enough to him to have cause to use it.
“As for my parents,” she said slowly. “To be honest, I do not know much. My mother hardly ever spoke of my father. She said it was too painful. From what I know, he was far above her in station. She was the daughter of a healer in the village near his family’s estate — as for where that was, I know you will ask and I sincerely have no idea. She never told me the name of it. He was the eldest son of a lord. From the way she did speak of him, I gathered that they were deeply in love — or, at least, she loved him very much. His father forbade their marriage, telling his son that he would lose everything if he chose my mother. He was torn. She didn’t allow him to make the choice, but left, not wanting to tear his entire family apart.”
“But in doing so,” he said, not wanting to offend her or her mother but unable to withhold his thoughts, “She tore apart your own family.”
Sarah sniffed, and it broke David’s heart that he had caused her pain to resurface. But if she wanted to determine the truth, she would have to face this.
“She thought she did what was best,” she said with a shrug as she blinked away tears that welled up within her eyes. “I just wish she had given me more in terms of memories… and family.”
David couldn’t keep himself away from her any longer. He crossed the room, scooped her up in his arms, and sat her down upon his lap. He held her against him, stroking her hair as she finally allowed the tears to fall. He felt a monster that he had caused such pain to come to the surface, but as she clutched the lapels of his jacket, he hoped that, at the very least, she could find some healing, giving some of her pain to him so that he could turn it into something positive.
He had a purpose now — to help her find what she was searching for. He could think of no greater result than bringing her peace.
“If the man turns out to be…” he wasn’t sure how to properly say it, but he was fearful that Sarah’s father would reject her, especially if he had found his way to another family, another life.
“If it turns out that he wants nothing to do with me?”
That wasn’t how he would have put it, but she had obviously determined that this was a possible outcome.
“I suppose you could say it that way,” he said slowly.
“I am not naive, David,” she said. “I am aware that this is likely the most probable outcome. And in that case… then so be it. I will have, at the very least, attempted to find him, to determine that familial connection. If he doesn’t want it, then I will return home and put this all behind me.”
He nodded, though the thought of her leaving created an ache within his heart.
“And just where, exactly, would home be?”
CHAPTER12
Sarah took a slow breath. What would he think of her, once she shared her home, her upbringing? She shouldn’t care. If he chose to leave, then so be it — nothing would have changed in her life.
Except she knew that was a lie. For in truth, everything had changed. She just didn’t want to admit it.
“America.”
His eyes widened as he sat back in the chair.
“You traveled here all the way from America?”
