Harper nodded. “I’m his aunt. His mother’s sister.”
Why was she telling Aria this? Hadn’t she refused to speak to Aria about it because of Will Gable? Now, here they were before a roaring fire like two besties and Will waiting for her. “Does the marquess know you’re his aunt?”
“Not yet, but I’ll make sure he knows everything.”
“What else is there?” Why was she sitting here finding out the family secrets of some magical family? She had nothing to do with it. She had her reality, which was responsibility and dependability.
“Do you want the short version? I know Mr. Gable is waiting for you.”
Her family was waiting for her. “Yes, the short version is fine.”
Harper wiggled in her seat, getting settled in. “When Grayson’s last son is born, he’ll break the curse placed on the Ashmore sons. Josiah Ashmore’s six brothers were all killed in one night, but my grandmother and her sister figured out how to reset time and the brothers all lived again. But the curse remained, and they all died violent deaths. Grayson is the last male. He shares the same fate if he doesn’t have those sons. When the last male dies, no more will be born and the Ashmore/Blagden name will cease. But the last son—Grayson—if he lives—will have a son who will break the curse.
“Why were they cursed and who did it?” Aria asked, immersed in the story.
“They were cursed by a higher force than we understand. It was placed on them when their mother took the lives of seven others.
“Because the Ashmores share Blagden blood, my family—Grayson’s family, will see that the Ashmore name lives on. Grayson needs to have sons. Elizabeth Black, my great aunt, give or take six greats, is a seer and when she looked for Grayson’s sons, she found three possible mothers. You’re one of them. You could give him seven sons. Lady Rose Planc de’Vere—”
“What?” Aria gaped at her. “Seven?Sevensons. Are you insane? You are! You must be if you think I’d have seven kids in 1795. Sure.” She laughed, but she felt like throwing up.
“Then there’s Sarah Gable—”
“Hmm? Sarah Gable?” For a moment, Aria was happy for Sarah. For a moment. In the next, she glared at the door separating her from the hall, and his room, somewhere out there. That rat! She’d been right about him. He was a pretty boy playboy! Sarah? Seven sons with Sarah? Aria’s blood boiled. It was going to happen. Sarah would be up for it for sure. She was in love with him. If Aria left, it was going to happen.
“That’s…that’s not my concern,” Aria managed. She had to go home. She had to go home. “I’m sure Sarah will be very happy.”
“Yes,” Harper agreed, “but what about Grayson? He won’t be happy.”
“That’s not my—”
“My grandmother gave you the key. That means itisyour concern, Miss Darling. He’s happy with you. He hasn’t left your side since you came to the castle. I know you both spent some time together before that. You must understand, Grayson has never—since before I ever got here—spent more than an hour with anyone. He’s untrusting, unfriendly, and uncooperative. But he seems different when he’s with you. I’ve seen him smile.”
Yes, he smiled, crinkling nose smiles, genuine amusement that even made him laugh. No. It was better not to think of it.
“I came here to help raise him and over the years I’ve come to love him as my own child. I’m not still here because of his future sons. I’m here because I can’t leave until he’s happy.”
Aria had to be strong. Yes, she liked the marquess. She thought he was the most talented dancer she’d seen in years…but to abandon her family to stay and have seven sons with a man she barely knew. She stood from her seat. “I’m sorry. I can’t stay, so it’s better if I go now. Do you know where my door is?”
Harper looked up at her with a somber gaze. “I really have no idea. I was told nothing about you.”
Aria nodded and started to leave but then turned back to Harper. “You’ll look after him, won’t you?”
“Of course.” Harper offered her a kind smile. “That’s what I’m trying to do.”
She didn’t try to stop Aria when she left. Aria was glad. She hurried to the main sitting room, where she found Will and apologized for taking so long.
“Is everything well?” he asked, concern marring his brow.
“Yes, of course,” she assured him, but she felt anything but okay. She might find the door that leads back to her family, her future—and never see Grayson Barrington again. She would never see him dance again. It stunned her to imagine that she was regretful of never being able to dance with him. She remembered his promise, his voice while he spoke it.I’ll catch you.After a broken tibia and a couple of bones she broke again by landing from a grand jeté, she wasn’t about to go leaping and let just anyone catch her. Would Grayson Barrington catch her? She would never know.
“Which door should we begin with?”
Aria blinked and turned to Will. She’d forgotten he was there. “I’m not sure,” she told him. “I don’t know all the doors here.”
“Are you feeling poorly?” Will asked her. “You seem distracted, and you are a bit pale.”
She brought her palm to her forehead and patted it. She felt clammy to her own hand and scowled. Maybe she shouldn’t have gone to Will’s in the cold. She did have a headache that was threatening to become something to write home about. If she could write home. All at once, she felt the need to cry. She’d lost everything. Well, she didn’t have much. She lost her family.