Page 136 of The Governess of My Heart
“Yes, I settled enough moneyas she demanded. She wanted nothing to do with me, and I never knew until today that she birthed you, nor did I know that she…she died,” he said with pain, and Darcy could not doubt the emotion in his voice.
Elizabeth looked at him, horrified at the accusation. She replayed everything she remembered from the letter she possessed.
This cannot be true. My mother would have never done that.
“Lord Anderson, I still do not understand your relationship with Elizabeth’s mother. How come no one was aware of your identity?”
Lord Anderson was silent. He pursed his lips, unable to reveal all the details about the relationship he fought to forget every second of his life.
“Will you not answer me? You do not know how much Elizabeth has suffered since she learned the truth. The reason why she is here as Miss Smith is because the people who raised her wanted to ruin her life and force her to marry some scoundrel of their choice. She had to run away from home and employ herself as a governess.”
Lord Anderson stared at him with agony because nothing made sense to him, and he was unable to understand Elizabeth’s situation. With every passing second, Elizabeth felt agonized by his silence.
“I do not expect any sympathy from you. All I need to know is why you abandoned my mother. She is dead, and I can never know her side of the story, but you have the responsibility toconvey the reason why you chose the world to disgrace her, and to date, anytime anyone mentions my mother, all I hear is how she had a child out of wedlock. I do not care what anyone says; I will never disgrace her. If there is someone who needs to be disgraced, it is you. You seemed a man of standards with rank and status, but the truth is all that is a disguise.”
She watched his jaw tighten, unable to bear her words.
“How could you ruin a woman in the name of love? For all I knew, she was not even twenty; you took away her life and happiness from her. I have never seen her face because of you, and now you stand here in silence with no sense of guilt? Are you not ashamed of cheating her and ruining her? How could you do this?”
“Enough!” Lord Anderson cried, his voice echoing around the library.
“I did not ruin her, nor were you born out of wedlock. We were married.”
Elizabeth could not bear the shock this time and fainted in Darcy’s arms.
“Elizabeth!” Darcy cried as he carried her to the sofa and frantically tried to wake her up. Lord Anderson took a pitcher of water and handed it over to Darcy. He dabbed her face with water, and within a few seconds, she opened her eyes.
She was in extreme distress and confusion, and tears poured down her eyes. She looked at Lord Anderson and wept in agony.
As much as she could not believe his words, she could not bear the revelation that her mother was married to him.
Why did she hide the truth? Why did she allow people to call her characterless when she was married?
She had many questions, but she could not speak, and Darcy had had enough, and he did not want to cause her any more distress.
“Lord Anderson, she needs to rest. I will take her upstairs now; I suggest you wait here as we need to talk.”
“I am not going anywhere. I need to know what he meant by saying he married my mother. Then why did she live in London, and why did anyone not know about her marriage? I cannot believe…”
She was interrupted by Lady Martha’s arrival along with Georgiana and Mr. Anderson. Darcy left Elizabeth and spoke with Georgiana.
“Have all the guests left?” he asked as it was past midnight.
“Yes, but there are a few tenants in the ballroom.”
“Listen to me, inform Mrs. Reynolds to handle everything, and tell her we are retiring. Elizabeth will sleep in your room tonight, so please wait there for us. We will join you as soon as we can.”
Georgiana did not know what to make of the situation as she looked at Elizabeth, still crying on the couch.
“Is she well?” Georgiana asked with concern. Inwardly, Darcy knew she was far from being well. He nodded and asked his sister to leave, and Georgiana left them reluctantly. Once Lord Anderson saw his brother and sister, he turned around and faced the fireplace. Elizabeth was livid with anger, seeing his behavior.
“Mr. Darcy, what happened?” Mr. Anderson inquired with worry as he was pretty fond of Elizabeth. Lady Martha sat beside her, assuming she had fallen ill or something had happened after the ball to cause her worry.
“Elizabeth, what happened? Did someone say anything? Trust me, we will not allow anything or anyone to hinder your marriage with Fitzwilliam,” Lady Martha said with worry, not understanding the reality.
Elizabeth looked at Lady Martha with a strange sense of understanding.
If whatever he states is true, then she is my aunt.
