Page 200 of The Governess of My Heart
“In my room, why do you ask?”
“You did not hear your mother cry for help?”
“I did not. She asked me to leave, yelled at me in front of your newfound daughter, and I left. I did not see anything.”
Lady Anderson stood, walked up to her daughter, and shocked everyone by slapping her hard.
“You did it, so do not lie. No one else could have latched the shed because the fire started as soon as you left. How could you? Did I raise you to be a murderer?”
“Yes, I did it. Why do you act as though you are not pleased? You hate her as much as I do.”
The room stared at her in astonishment.
“Don’t look at me like that, all of you; I was angry. I was angry with her as she took my father away from me, and Mamma insulted me in front of her. I did it in the heat of the moment,” she said, recollecting her actions as she had thrown the oil lamp on the pile of hay before leaving the shed.
“I accept that I hated her but did not want her to die. I could never wish that on anyone. But you, the daughter I raised, wanted to kill her and your own mother because of rage.”
“Nobody died, Mamma! I knew you could get out of there unharmed.”
“How could you be so cruel? It is all my fault for feeding you this hatred.”
Lord Anderson grabbed his daughter by the arm.
“What had gotten into you, Beatrice? You seem to have no guilt in confessing to this crime?”
“What about you? You had no guilt in hiding your past from me. You have wounded me beyond measure and are still trying new ways to kill my soul. You plan to announce to the world that she is your daughter, then what about me?”
“I always assumed you lacked maturity, but you have proved me wrong today. I never expected you to be this devious. You could have killed both of them. Can you even understand the seriousness of your crime?” Lady Martha cried with pain.
“Nobody cares about me in this house; why should I care about anyone else?”
“See Augusta, what you have done to her. Had you accepted Elizabeth, everything would have been different. That poor girl cared about your welfare since the day she became aware of the truth.”
“She saved my life despite all the horrible things I said to her; she saved me today when my own daughter wanted to burn me alive,” Lady Anderson said with remorse.
Darcy felt uncontrollable rage upon hearing Miss Anderson’s words.
“Lord Anderson, I am sorry to say this. If you are not inclined to take the necessary action now, I will be forced to do what is needed. I suggest we get the authorities involved,” Darcy said, and Lord Anderson stayed silent.
“Papa! This man is threatening me now, and you will not say a word in my support? Am I not your blood?” Miss Anderson asked with despair.
“Yes, you are not!” her mother yelled, stunning the room into silence.
“What are you doing?” Lord Anderson asked, horrified at the confession.
“Do not stop me; Beatrice look here, this is the truth. He is not your father, although all these years, he has been nothing but everything a father should be towards a daughter. I was ruined by a man who promised me that he loved me. Everything you accused Elizabeth’s mother of today applies to me. I was a fallen woman, and this man here married me to save me from disgrace. So, you are right in one way or the other; you are not his daughter, but Elizabeth is,” she said.
“What have you done, Augusta?” Lord Anderson cried in horror.
“It is my fault; what she did was because of what I fed her mind. I wish I had died today instead of enduring this pain. You cannot imagine the kind of hatred we spurred towards the poor girl. Despite everything, she wanted me to live, she has put me to shame with her actions. I slandered her mother while my own character was questionable. I need to apologize to her; I must do it right away.”
Lord Anderson looked at his wife with guilt.
“She knows,” he said bluntly as his wife watched him stone-faced.
Everyone in the room was speechless after Lady Anderson’s declaration, and Darcy had to reconsider his decision to get Miss Anderson arrested after the outburst by her mother.
“She knows? Since when?” Lady Anderson asked her husband in shock.
