Page 47 of The Viscount's Diamond Bride
Georgie pursed her lips, pausing with just enough hesitation. At last she sighed, scurrying over to sit between Charlotte and Ursula on the sofa.
“I didn’t mean to tell you, but I did believe that you already knew. Well, no matter, you would find out anyway. The Dowager Lady Sinclair isnotLord Sinclair’s true mother.”
Ursula’s eyes bulged. “What? She is his stepmother? But he treats her as if she was his own mother.”
Georgie shrugged. “Yes, well, she is the only mother he has ever known. The thing is, the old Lord Sinclair was quite a vile man. A real beast, Mama told me once. He had wedded a rich woman for convenience, and took all of her money for himself, as men generally do. They did not like each other, and their matrimony was atrocious. As you are very well aware that in society a matrimony which is not so well is thoroughly commented upon. I know dozens of couples who dislike each other, but they are not described as having a bad matrimony.”
“I am not sure that this is helpful, Georgie,” Charlotte said tightly, gripping her teacup a fraction too tightly. “That’s quite enough.”
“No, go on, please,” Ursula begged. “Tell me more.”
Georgie sniffed. “Well, the first Lady Sinclair made no secret of her hatred for her husband. She fell pregnant, of course, and gave birth to a boy.”
Graham,Ursula thought, heart pounding. “What happened next?”
Georgie leanedforward;eyes alight.
She is enjoying this,Ursula thought.
“She took the baby andfled,” Georgie breathed. “Can you imagine? Well, Lord Sinclair trawled the country for her and eventually found her. He took the baby from her and had her thrown into an asylum a fairly nasty one, from what I have heard. She died less than a year later, and there were hints that Lord Sinclair had had her…”
“Enough, Georgie,” Charlotte interrupted sharply. “This is hearsay and nothing more.”
“No, it isn’t. Lady Sinclair the first one, that is really did take her baby and run. Lord Sinclair did find her, and threw her in asylum, where she left her final dying breath. That part is all true. He had wedded the current Dowager Lady Sinclair only a few months later. Quite scandalously soon, andtheyhad a horrid matrimony, as well.”
“What an awful man,” Ursula breathed, leaning back in her seat.
Georgie sniffed. “Well, the first Lady Sinclair shouldn’t have taken the baby, should she? It was all her fault.”
“She must have been at her wit’s end, with nowhere else to go,” Ursula murmured, frowning. In her mind’s eye, she could see a young woman, wearing a fine silk dress hidden by a black cloak, running across a wind-swept field with a baby in her arms.
She must have been terrified.
“Well, that’s the story,” Georgie shrugged, jumping to her feet again. “I shouldn’t worry if I were you. The old Lord Sinclair is deceased, and I’m sureyourhusband is entirely different.”
“He is different,” Ursula said firmly. “He could notbemore different.”
“There you are, then,” Georgie responded with a wry smile. “You’re terribly lucky, Ursula. Everybody knows that. Youalwaysland on your feet, like a cat.”
Ursula offered a faint, wry smile. Her heart thudded in her chest.
What sort of upbringing has Graham had? Is there a reason he holds me at arm’s length? What cruelties has he endured? What shocking things has he been exposed to?
Is he his father’s son?
Suddenly there was a distant bang somewhere in the house, making all three of them flinch. A moment later, Margaret’s voice came drifting through the halls, giving imperious orders. Setting her teacup aside, Ursula rose and went over to the window.
Below was a fashionable carriage, covered in boxes and suitcases which footmen were laboriously carrying inside. Margaret appeared, briefly lecturing and scolding the footmen on how to correctly carry boxes, and then disappeared inside once more.
Ursula bit her lower lip, hard.
“Good gracious me!” Georgie remarked, appearing at Ursula’s shoulder. “I don’t envy you at all, after a week or two withher. I imagine she’ll stay longer than that, if she can.”
“If she stays too long, I’ll simply ask her to leave,” Ursula responded firmly.
“Hm. And what if she says no? You cannot force her out of doors. She’ll apply to Lord Sinclair.”
“Then I shall askhimto send her away.”
