“No, you are not. Your mother is here, and your father died in France, and they were married to each other. Even I know that.”
“That is not the whole truth. My mother married a man who was not my father. Before that, she became pregnant by my real father, who was not her husband. So, yes, I am a natural child every bit as much as you, although nobody knows because Maman had a husband by the time she gave birth to me.”
He looked at her then. His eyes were red from crying, and apple cake crumbs dusted his shirt and waistcoat. “When did you find out about your real father?”
“When I was eighteen. It was hard to hear the truth.”
He nodded. “I don’t like that Lily woman.”
“Neither do I.”
He scowled. “I don’t want her to be my mother.”
She chose her words carefully. “The woman you knew as your mother chose you to be her son, even though you were really her grandson. She did that out of love, because you were so special to her and because your real father was in France against his will. And your real mother, Lily, agreed to the countess’s scheme out of love, too.”
She reached up to stroke his hair, as straight and thick as Heath’s. “They did not want you to live the life of a bastard. People can be very cruel about children born or conceived out of wedlock. So, if you want Lady Heathbrook to be your mother, then you can choose her to be your mother. Lily will understand. She wanted that for you, after all. That is one of the nice things about being a natural child. I got to choose the father I liked best, and you can choose the mother you like best, as long as you do not tell anyone that you’re a—”
“Bâtard,” he said woefully.
“Natural child,” she corrected him gently. “Through no fault of your own.”
He seemed to consider that a moment. “Do my brothers know?”
“No one, not even Maman, knows. Just you, me, Heath, and Lily. And your late grandparents, of course.”
“And Lily’s parents?”
“Yes.” She winced. “I suppose a few people know.”
“And Cousin Yates.”
She sighed. “Apparently so. And Heath and I just found out ourselves. It came as a great shock to both of us. But I assure you, Heath is delighted to have you be his son.”
“He ran away to avoid being around me,” he grumbled.
He ran away because he is afraid to love me.No, she could hardly tell the lad that. “He did not run away. He went to confirm everything with Cousin Yates. Only so that Heath will know how to make matters easiest for you. And he left this for me to give you.”
She handed the note to Zack, who read it, looked as if he might cry, then tucked it carefully into his pocket and thrust out his lower lip. “It’s not fair. I’m being punished even though I didn’t do anything wrong.”
“That is true. Sometimes society punishes the wrong people for the wrong things.” She put her arm about his shoulders. “But Heath and I want you to be happy, so you should think about what would make you happiest—letting things stand as they are or having your father claim you, which means the world will know the truth. I know Heath will do whatever you want.”
“I don’t want either of those. I want Heath to tell people he’s my father, and I wantyouto be my mother.”
Tears stung her eyes. “I would consider it a great honor to be your mother. But if you do not want people to know you are a natural child, you might have to choose me to be your sister-in-law instead.” Assuming she married Heath, that is.
“But Heath isn’t my brother.”
“No, of course not.”And he should be the one here telling you this.She swallowed down the lump in her throat. “Unfortunately, you cannot tell anyone that, or, once again, they will know you are a natural child. So, while you are trying to decide, this conversation should remain between me, you, and your father. Do youthink you can keep that secret from everyone, even your friends and brothers?”
“I guess.” He stared out over the estate, then frowned. “Someone is coming up the drive to Longmead in a carriage.”
She had a moment of panic, wondering if Jones had managed to elude the footmen stationed at the head of the drive and was even now coming after her and Maman. Then she saw the carriage Zack was speaking of, and relief gushed through her as she recognized it. Relief and a few tears. It was so good to see her family here just when she needed them.
She rubbed the tears from her eyes. “That is one of Heath’s best friends in the whole world—the Duke of Falconridge. And his wife is my … closest friend.” No point in giving Zack another secret to keep. That was why she had not revealed the name of her real father in the first place. “Come, you must meet them.”
She took his hand, relieved that he let her lead him through the treacherous path she had come. By the time she and Zack got to the bottom of the tower, Evan and Kit were there.
They both hugged Zack, then chided him for scaring the wits out of them. “You can’t keep going up there,” Evan said.