Page 10 of The Heiress in Disguise
“Everyone tells me that Angelique is gone,” Antoine said. “And I’m inclined to believe them, because why would anyone lie about it? But when I went to Darlington House, I saw a girl who could have been her sister.”
“Did she have a sister?”
“She didn’t. That’s what makes it so odd. She had two female cousins, and I might have believed I was looking at one of them,if it weren’t for the fact that the girl I saw identified herself as Ella, and told me she was a servant.”
“Perhaps she is,” George suggested. “It sounds as if the simplest explanation might be the true one—you met a servant named Ella. Couldn’t that be the case?”
“Well, of course itcouldbe,” Antoine agreed. “But that wasn’t how it seemed to me.”
“Why not?”
“It’s difficult to explain…” He took a sip of his drink. “The circumstances are already quite suspicious, aren’t they? Angelique disappears and no one knows where she’s gone? After all these years, she’s simply missing? How can that be?”
“The fact that we don’t know where she is doesn’t mean that she’smissing,” George said reasonably. “There are plenty of people who must know exactly where she is. You’ve been away in France, so it stands to reason that you wouldn’t know, but that doesn’t mean nobody knows.”
“No, it doesn’t,” Antoine agreed. “But then how can I explain it?”
“Explain what?”
“Howfamiliarshe looked. This girl, this Ella—I felt as if Iknewher, George.”
“Will you permit me to speak openly?”
“Of course, George. You know I value your thoughts. I want to know what your perspective is on all of this. Could it have been her?”
“I think you would have liked it to be her,” George said. His voice was gentle. “I think you went over there looking for her. You hoped you’d find her—an old friend from your childhood who you fear you’ve lost, a lady who causes you to feel some guilt because you were absent during a trying time in her life. I think you want it to have been her.
When you went over there, you saw a girl of a similar age, and of course your first thought was that perhaps she could be the one you were looking for. It only stands to reason that you would think such a thing,”
“You think I imagined it.”
“I think you saw what you wanted to see,” George said kindly. “And I think it’s perfectly understandable. It would be strange if you saw a girl, the age of the one you’re looking for, anddidn’twonder for a moment whether it might not be her. But just thinkhow unlikely it is. You’re looking for the daughter of a marquess, and you found a servant. How could the two ever be mistaken for one another?”
“I don’t know,” Antoine said. “I admit it sounds unlikely. But you didn’t see her, George, and you didn’t know Angelique, so even if you had seen her, you couldn’t have seen what I saw. You couldn’t have seen how alike they really were.
This servant girl had the same freckle by the side of her mouth that Angelique had. Her mother had it too. It was one of the most distinctive things about either of them. It really set them apart. I can’t imagine looking at a mark like that and not being reminded of the two of them.”
“So you were reminded of them by that freckle,” George said. “That makes perfect sense to me. That doesn’t mean it was her.”
“But I’ve never seen anybody else with a freckle like that,” Antoine said. “Not in all my life. I’m not saying it’s impossible that someone else could have one, but doesn’t it seem a bit unlikely that when I do see it again, it should be on a servant in the very house Angelique is missing from?”
“I’m not sure a freckle is very much to go on,” George said doubtfully. “I wish I could feel more confident about it. I can see that you would like to believe it was her. But I don’t know if I can honestly say that the idea makes sense, Lord Exeter. Why would the lady pretend she was a servant?”
“She may have had her reasons,” Antoine said, though he knew he was beginning to sound desperate, and possibly even foolish. “I was pretending I was a servant, so who’s to say she couldn’t have done the same thing?”
“Indeed, I suppose she could have,” George agreed. “I simply wonder why she would. You had a very good reason for your pretense. What would hers have been?”
“I couldn’t say,” Antoine said. “But those relatives of hers—I don’t trust their motives one bit. It wouldn’t surprise me at all to learn that they had forced her into it somehow.”
“You can’t think that they made their own niece pose as a servant! For what reason? Besides, she gave you her name, didn’t she?”
“Ella, she said.”
“Ella. Not Angelique.”
“Yes, I know,” Antoine sighed. “I know I’m likely being ridiculous. I don’t know how to explain it. It was just that when I saw her face, I felt it must be her. I know how irrational it sounds.”
“Not irrational,” George said. “Optimistic, maybe.”
