Page 68 of The Earl's Disguised Governess
He shuddered above her at her use of his proper name. Not a lord, not an earl, simply a man who had once been a commoner and was forced into a noble life. But he was still himself underneath. To Claire, he was everything rolled into one man.
And together, there would be no further secrets, only a future where they both learned how to trust and begin anew.
Chapter 25
Happiness followed Ernest around over the remainder of the day and the rest of the week. He had done well to avoid his mother, for she was out in Society, chattering with anyone she could. Ernest knew she had heard of Graham’s proposal to Lady Samantha, for he had heard the commotion from the parlour upon her reading about it in the gossip sheets.
But he had his own engagement to tell her about.
The day they were due to depart London came swiftly, and Ernest knew that day was his best chance to tell her. He did not want his mother to be left in the dark about his life, but he also did not want to risk her retaliating against Claire.
“Will you truly not say goodbye to me, Mother?” he asked in the drawing room doorway. Lady Katherine sat alone, her armchair positioned by the window, where it had been ever since she realized her plans had begun to slip. “You will not say goodbye even to Lady Florence?”
“I do not care for goodbyes,” she said, her voice as cold as ever. “So simply leave me be, Ernest, and be on your way.”
“Do not pretend you are sad to see me go. You have only ever cared about reclaiming Little Harkwell, and now it is yours to manage for the next couple of months. You shall beable to do it alone and invite whomever you please without any interruptions. I should think you are glad.”
“Hmm.”
“Is that all you truly will say?”
“I have no more to say to you.”
She was angry at him for not pursuing Lady Samantha, for ruining her well-laid plans, and at Claire, for turning both Lord Simon and Magdalene away. Ernest knew his mother hated having no control, and knowing that was slipping from her would be a terrible ordeal to endure.
“Then, if that is the case, I have one last parting thing to say to you,” he told her. “I am to marry Claire Gundry.”
Lady Katherine went very still. Where she rested on the arms of the chair, her nails dug into the material as she looked around at him. “What did you say?”
“I am marrying Claire Gundry,” he told her. “And that is all I have to say on that matter.”
“Do not walk away from me, Ernest!”
“Did you not just tell me to?” he asked, raising his brows as if surprised at the contradiction.
“You are a fool. This whole family has bred fools! I tried to prevent it all from the start, Ernest, and I could have protected you. I tried to protect you—especially from that governess riddled with deceit. How could you marry her when you do not know her?”
“The only woman I do not know, Mother, is you!” he shot back. “Tell me the truth. All of it. About my father, your—your obsession with this legacy of the Bannerdown name. Tell me.”
An evil glint in her eye unnerved Ernest as she stood and stalked towards him. “I wanted everything for you, Ernest. I left your father behind because I knew we deserved more. I had been a lovestruck fool and left it behind when I was younger. But as soon as I held you in my arms, I knew I needed to achieve better for you.”
“I perfectly loved everything you gave me with my father,” he told her, anguished. “I did not need a title or an estate to love and appreciate.”
“Oh, but you did and look how much you have grown and achieved.”
“Mother, I am not a child anymore,” he argued. “I do not need to be spoken down to in such ways. I did not wish for this life. Tragedy befell your brother, yet you have not seemed to care at all. Lady Florence has craved a connection with us both, but due to your treatment of her, I also put up my walls. I wish I had not done so, Mother. This life fell into our lap, and sometimes, I wish it had not happened!
“It did not simply fall into our lap,” she sighed. “Do not belittle it so. Sometimes sacrifices are necessary for greatness.”
He paused. “What sacrifices? Do you mean leaving my father?”
Her eyes widened. “Y—yes, yes, of course I do.”
“Mother,” he warned. “Tell me what has happened. What happened to my uncle and cousin was an accident, was it not?”
“Of course, darling.”
“Mother.” His shout rolled through the room, catching her off-guard. “Tell me the truth once and for all.”
