Page 81 of The Dreaming Beauty
Lady Melbourne glanced at all of them. “May we speak downstairs? This might have started a little out of the ordinary, but we can still discuss this in a more appropriate setting.” She stood straighter and motioned to Marcus and then to Simon. “My sons and I will wait in that smallish drawing room while the rest of you ladies dress before joining us.” She marched from the room, her confidence back, as if she were the matron of the house.
Marcus stood from beside Tansy and gave her a reassuring gaze. He turned and silently followed Simon from the room. As soon as the last step creaked on the stairs, Tansy’s fingers went to her lips.
He had kissed her.
He had come back.
But for what reasons, she could not imagine.
“Tansy!” Iris hissed. “What the devil is going on?”
She shook her head. “I woke up, and they were all here.” It was better to leave out the kissing part. There was already an air of scandal in the room. If they hadn’t witnessed the gesture, why throw grease into a stoked fire?
“Oh, where is Betsy?” Aster whined. “Get dressed, Sisters. And hurry.” She fled the room with Iris on her heels.
A few minutes later, Betsy hurried up the stairs, but Tansy and Daisy had already assisted each other. A tired headache pulled at Tansy, but she did not slow for a minute. Her hair was wrapped and pinned to her head in record time, eager as she was to find out what was happening. Minutes later, they were all crowded in the drawing room—her family on the sofa, Lady Melbourne in the chair by the fire, and the men standing by the entrance to the room. Cook brought in a tray with tea and leftover scones and jam from yesterday.
“I think we are all ready for an explanation,” Marcus said, turning to his mother. “Where did you get a key to the cottage, and why did you break in?”
“The only ones who need an explanation are you, Simon, and Lady Tansy. The others already know.” Lady Melbourne pushed aside her teacup. “I am Tansy’s aunt, and these women are my sisters.”
Tansy’s mouth fell open. “You... you are Lily?”
When she nodded, Tansy could see what she had not before—the similarities in Lady Melbourne that traced back to her aunts, to her own mother.
“The spare key has been hidden in the same place as it was when I came here as a girl. It was not hard to locate.”
“I don’t believe it!” Simon repeated Tansy’s own incredulous thoughts. He had been leaning against the wall just inside the room, but he pushed away from it to stare at his mother. Marcus’s eyes were wide, and he had a hardened look about him that Tansy had not seen before.
“It is true,” Aster said. “She is our sister. She married a man of means and turned her back on our family. We were an embarrassment to her and likely still are.” It was not like Aster to speak so harshly.
Lady Melbourne smoothed her dress. “After Iris’s husband abandoned her, the family name was marred. There was not much of a choice to make.”
Tansy squeezed her eyes shut. No one spoke of Iris’s husband. He was dead to them. Lady Melbourne would not know about him unless she had been there herself. Tansy could only hope that Her Ladyship would keep this information to herself so Iris would not be further shamed.
“It wasn’t just Iris though. I worried about Aster as well,” Lady Melbourne added. “You couldn’t have children, and I did not want a man to think I would be barren too. I had to take the opportunities I had for the sake of Rosie and Daisy.”
“Not for their sake.” Iris huffed. “For your own. You swore you would make a name for yourself, and you did. But at what cost? We might not have much, but we have each other.” Iris’s voice cracked, and she brought her fist to her mouth.
Marcus cleared his throat. “Why did you come here tonight?”
Lady Melbourne’s eyes glassed over with moisture, but her voice was even. “I knew Aster and Iris would not welcome me, so there was no other way to see Daisy. I left when she was but a child, a girl who adored me and mimicked my dress and behavior.
“I was also immensely curious about Lady Tansy. I noticed her resemblance to Rosie, of course, but I did not think it possible because there was no record of Rosie ever having a child before her death. I rationalized that she might be a distant cousin. There was a time I even considered whether she was an orphan child my sisters had taken in and that my heart had drawn the similarities to my sister and deceived my eyes. I could not believe it until Simon came home from the Bellvues’ lawn party and relayed the true story of Rosie’s death and of the child she left behind. The more I look upon her, the less I can deceive myself. There is no doubt in my mind of Lady Tansy’s parentage.”
Lady Melbourne’s voice wavered, and she dug in her reticule until she pulled out her handkerchief. She held it up to her nose briefly. “Rosie and I were close in age, and she didn’t want me to marry and leave her. She begged me to change my mind. When I heard of her death, a part of me died too. A woman’s duty is to marry and cleave to her husband, but I should have been there with my sister in her final years.”
“You should have been,” Iris said. “A family should stand together in times of hardship and tragedy.”
“You are right, Iris,” Lady Melbourne said, remorse coating her words. “You had each other, and I had no one. I lost my family and everything else too. My regret has been great indeed. When my first husband died, I was in desperate straits. He squandered his inheritance, but I was unaware of his steep gambling debts until after his death. I had no one to turn to and no money to my name. It was just me and my baby.”
“So you married again,” Marcus prompted.
“Yes, I was fortunate to find a man desperately lonely after the death of his wife. We needed each other.”
“He came with a title too, and a great deal of money.” Marcus folded his arms and raised his chin a notch.
His leading comments made Lady Melbourne pause. “I cannot deny that the financial and social stability appealed to me. I could never have predicted that he too would die, leaving me alone to raise not just my son but his as well.”
