Page 81 of The Heiress in Disguise
Or rather… not Philip. For if this was Lady Exeter’s son, that meant…
“Antoine?” she breathed.
He nodded. “I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you,” he said. “They wouldn’t have let me anywhere near you if they’d known who I was, Angelique. I had to assume these false identities if I was to get close to you, and all I wanted was to find a way to help you out of your current predicament. I lied about who I was in hopes of saving you from this life. If you’re angry with me, I understand, of course. But I hope you can forgive me, and that we can move on.”
“I’m not angry,” she managed. “But why have you chosen to reveal yourself now? I don’t understand. What’s changed?”
“Everything has changed,” he said. “I kept my identity a secret so that I could get the information I needed in order to help you, and now—”
“Excuse me.” The voice belonged to Aunt Wilhelmina. “What is going on here? Is this man bothering you, Lady Exeter? I apologize for his presence—we’re trying to have him removed, but unfortunately, he’s been making things rather difficult for us.”
“And why would you have my son removed from the party?” Lady Exeter demanded.
Aunt Wilhelmina’s jaw dropped. “Your—yourson? No—this is a servant from next door…”
“Mother, stop it,” Gwyneth hissed. “We didn’t know his true identity, remember?” She stepped forward. “I beg your pardon, My Lord—you must admit that we had no way of knowing who you really were.”
“And yet, your ignorance didn’t stop you from trying to remove me from your home,” Antoine said sharply. “You were more than happy to get rid of me, even though you were aware that you might not have all the information. I know that you knew I wasn’t who I appeared to be.
You all understood that there was more to me than just Philip the valet. You knew that I was also the gentleman in the mask who hadn’t revealed his identity to you. I know some of you suspected that I was a gentleman. You decided you wanted me out of the house anyway. Admit that.”
“Well—My Lord, you must understand that theonlything we knew about you was that you had assisted our maid, Ella, in violating the rules of the household,” Aunt Wilhelmina said.
“And I’m sure you couldn’t have known this, but she’s recently been discovered in possession of stolen items. If she’s been thieving, we must be careful about restricting who she spends her time with. Really, it’s for your own protection that we’re eager to separate you from her. You realize that, I’m sure.”
“I don’t realize it at all,” Antoine said. “And I’ll tell you something else, Lady Leicester. If someone is to leave this property, it’s going to be you, not me.”
“Me?” Aunt Wilhelmina sputtered. “I don’t know how you can request such a thing. This is my family’s home.”
“No, it isn’t,” Antoine said. “You have no claim to this place, and I can prove it.”
“Well, really, I don’t know what you think you’re talking about,” Aunt Wilhelmina said. “If you’re going to make such wild accusations, I think perhaps youshouldleave, even if you didn’t know what Ella was involved in. I can’t have a guest at my party who’s going to make such wild accusations against myself and my family.”
“I won’t be leaving,” Antoine said. “You’ve made false claims to this home for far too long, Lady Leicester, and your time here is done.” He cleared his throat. “Lady Grace?”
Now Grace stepped forward. Angelique saw that her hands were shaking, but her chin was held high, and she held out a hand and passed a sheaf of papers to Antoine. “I think I got everything you asked for,” she said.
“Grace, what are you doing?” her mother demanded. “What is this? Are you in league with this man?”
“Yes, Mother,” Grace said in a ringing voice. “He’s quite right to do the things he’s doing.”
“You would side with a stranger against your own family?”
“In this case, I certainly will,” Grace said. “I haven’t been a good cousin to Angelique.”
“What?” Aunt Wilhelmina hissed. “Grace—what are you saying?”
“I know you don’t want me to speak her name, Mother, but I’m finished with that. She deserves to have her name said aloud.”
“Even if that’s so, what difference can it make? She can’t hear you now, so why would you deliberately go against what I’ve asked of you—”
“Oh, stop it, Mother,” Grace said. “We’re not going to go on pretending that Angelique is off in France. Everyone standing here knows that it isn’t the truth.”
“What are you saying?”
Grace turned to Angelique. “You may as well take that mask off,” she said. “Everyone knows now except Mother, and now that I’ve gotten these papers to—toAntoine—there isn’t anything Mother can do about it.”
“Grace, I don’t want to make trouble for you,” Angelique whispered.
