Page 137 of The Governess of My Heart
The realization shocked her, and she was beyond belief at how fate had brought her to Derbyshire and made her part of the Ashton family. She did not reply to Lady Martha and looked at Lord Anderson, who stood facing away from them.
Lady Martha could not make anything of her silence.
“Will anyone here answer me? What is going on?” Lady Martha demanded. Sensing that neither Lord Anderson nor Elizabeth were willing to relate the details, Darcy went ahead and briefly explained what had transpired between them.
He witnessed Lady Martha’s shock as he declared the connection between Elizabeth and her brother.
“From what we understand, Lord Anderson is Elizabeth’s father, even though he states that Sarah Gardiner had married Mr. Bennet and refused any relationship with him.”
Lady Martha stood in shock. It took her some time to comprehend what she had heard. She slowly walked towards her brother, and turned him to face her.
“Mark, what is the meaning of this? How could this be true? I knew you loved someone before marrying Augusta. But I did not know you married her and left her with a child,” she said, fuming.
Lord Anderson did not reply.
“Maybe he is lying because I accused him of ruining my mother. Why would she not disclose that to the world if she ever married him?” Elizabeth cried.
“He is not lying; I was present for their wedding, and I stand here as the proof,” Mr. Anderson replied, to everyone’s shock.
Lady Martha was devastated to understand that her brothers held such a secret between themselves.
“Francis, what are you saying? When did this happen? This poor girl here has suffered so much in life because of what happened to her mother. Good Lord, I cannot believe our family is capable of such an act.”
“I am telling you all, it was her choice. She did not want to wait for me; all she wanted was money. Martha, I was not even aware that she was pregnant; she wrote to me that she was going to marry Thomas Bennet and just wanted me to send her money to end the relationship,” Lord Anderson said.
“You are lying, and my mother would never do that,” Elizabeth cried in anger.
“I have proof. I have all the letters she sent me from London.”
“Where did you marry her?” Elizabeth demanded.
“In Scotland, none of my family knew except for Francis. He was present for the wedding, and Sa… your mother had a companion, and her name was Mrs. Lewis, she was also present. After that, she returned to London, and I could not leave as planned because of pressing circumstances. I needed time to sort everything out here, as my father still did not approve of the match, and then I received letters stating that she did not want to wait for me anymore and did not care whether we were married. All the while, my father stated that she was behind my wealth and nothing else, and his words proved true.”
His words tortured her, but in her heart, Elizabeth knew that her mother was not at fault. She suddenly got up and walked closer to Lord Anderson.
“Did you love her?” she asked.
“Yes!” he replied without hesitance.
“And you still believed the woman you loved, who married and trusted you, was behind your money?”
“Yes, as she claimed the same in all her letters.”
“So, you did as she asked, sent her money, and stayed in Scotland for the rest of your life?”
Lord Anderson was silent.
“I am sorry to say, sir, you have no idea what love is. If you had truly loved her, you would not have sent her the money if she had demanded it. You would have sought her out, as she wasyour wife, and understood her situation. You left her to die as a fallen woman. Imagine how she must have felt having the baby in her arms and knowing that she was going to die orphaning the child. She loved you, which is why she never married anyone else, nor did she reveal your identity to anyone, wanting to save your face.”
Lord Anderson clenched his fists as each word she uttered pricked his conscience.
“Look at you standing in front of us, Lord Anderson, a much-respected man in society with status and rank, happily married. Look at me, born in the world as a result of a woman who truly believed in love, passing every moment in agony, not knowing what my mother went through. If you state that she wanted money to end your relationship, she must be well settled in life like you, married to someone or Thomas Bennet, as you state. But where is she? She is dead, and all people have ever told me was that she was a fallen woman. I cannot blame fate for what happened; I can only blame you. I know you do not want anything to do with me and trust me, I feel the same way; that is the only way I can honor my mother.”
Lastly, she asked, “Did you give this to her?” holding the chain on her neck.
Lord Anderson did not reply and looked anguished. Elizabeth pulled the chain from her neck and threw it at him, running out of the room, not wanting to spend another second in his presence. Darcy hurried after her. Meanwhile, the three siblings stared at each other in the library in torment.
Lord Anderson and his brother knew they owed Lady Martha an explanation and the details of which, neither wanted to revisit.
