been…many years since you spent time here.’
‘Yes.’ His expression grew suddenly remote, his eyesshadowed, as though in pain. ‘I’d forgotten how lovely it was, and how much I enjoyed being a boy here.’
Hannah looked out over the fields, seeing the majestic stand of trees away in the distance, and the clear blue lake in the foreground. ‘It is the most beautiful place I know,’ she whispered. ‘Strange, though I was born in Scotland, it is here I feel the most at home. Perhaps because this is where I was first conceived.’
She heard Robert’s sharply indrawn breath and knew that she had surprised him. But then, it was only to be expected. Ladies seldom talked about conception or birth, and certainly not in the presence of gentlemen. But Robert was her brother, after all, and if she could not speak plainly to him, to whom could she speak?
Besides, she rather liked saying things that shocked him—since she doubted there was very much that could.
Robert watched his sister—or Hannah, as he must now think of her—walk back up the path to the house, and marvelled at the conversation they had just had. She was a surprising young woman to be sure.
But in spite of his reservations, he found himself coming to like her. He appreciated her predilection for speaking her mind. She didn’t dither as did so many pampered society chits. She spoke clearly and without artifice. She’d told him they weren’t close, because she believed it to be true, but she made no apology to him for it. Nor had she expected him to deny it.
And yet, for all that, she wanted to be close to him. Her words and expressions had convinced him of that. She wanted there to exist between them the kind of love and respect that was normally to be found between a brother and sister.
But what she’d said about his mother’s comments toher on the night of her death had definitely struck a nerve, Robert admitted. It seemed that his mother had indeed been about to tell Hannah that she was not her daughter. What else could she have said that would have had more effect on Hannah’s life than whether or not she spent a Season in London?
But where did that leave him? Should he now be the one to tell Hannah the facts of life? If he did, what did he do after he’d made her aware of the situation, because there was no doubt in his mind that that’s when their problems would really begin. Hannah would be devastated. She would be left feeling as though her very world had been turned upside down, because Hannah believed she was the Honourable Hannah Winthrop. Just like she believed that Lady Winthrop had been her mother, and that she’d had every right to grow up at Gillingdon Park. Which made it all the more difficult to gauge how she would react when she learned the truth.
What would she say in response to his words, Robert wondered. Would she claim it was all lies? Would she accuse him of doing this to be purposely cruel to her? Or would she accept the shocking realisation that she had no more right to live at Gillingdon than did a pauper in a king’s court?
Lady MacInnes sought him out shortly after he returned to the house.
‘Robert, I was hoping to speak to you,’ she said, drawing him aside. ‘I saw you and Hannah walking in the garden. Have you decided what you are going to do?’
Robert ran his hand through his hair, hopelessly dishevelling it. ‘I haven’t. But Hannah did tell me that Mama had been about to tell her something of great import the night she died.’
Lady MacInnes gasped. ‘Do you think she planned on telling Hannah the truth?’
‘I think it likely. Apparently, Mama said it was something she should have told Hannah and myself years ago, but that she hadn’t because she’d never found the right time.’
Lady MacInnes nodded. ‘I can understand her feeling that way. Who can say when the time would be right for such a difficult disclosure.’
‘Indeed. But given that Mama knew her health was failing,
‘Yes.’ His expression grew suddenly remote, his eyesshadowed, as though in pain. ‘I’d forgotten how lovely it was, and how much I enjoyed being a boy here.’
Hannah looked out over the fields, seeing the majestic stand of trees away in the distance, and the clear blue lake in the foreground. ‘It is the most beautiful place I know,’ she whispered. ‘Strange, though I was born in Scotland, it is here I feel the most at home. Perhaps because this is where I was first conceived.’
She heard Robert’s sharply indrawn breath and knew that she had surprised him. But then, it was only to be expected. Ladies seldom talked about conception or birth, and certainly not in the presence of gentlemen. But Robert was her brother, after all, and if she could not speak plainly to him, to whom could she speak?
Besides, she rather liked saying things that shocked him—since she doubted there was very much that could.
Robert watched his sister—or Hannah, as he must now think of her—walk back up the path to the house, and marvelled at the conversation they had just had. She was a surprising young woman to be sure.
But in spite of his reservations, he found himself coming to like her. He appreciated her predilection for speaking her mind. She didn’t dither as did so many pampered society chits. She spoke clearly and without artifice. She’d told him they weren’t close, because she believed it to be true, but she made no apology to him for it. Nor had she expected him to deny it.
And yet, for all that, she wanted to be close to him. Her words and expressions had convinced him of that. She wanted there to exist between them the kind of love and respect that was normally to be found between a brother and sister.
But what she’d said about his mother’s comments toher on the night of her death had definitely struck a nerve, Robert admitted. It seemed that his mother had indeed been about to tell Hannah that she was not her daughter. What else could she have said that would have had more effect on Hannah’s life than whether or not she spent a Season in London?
But where did that leave him? Should he now be the one to tell Hannah the facts of life? If he did, what did he do after he’d made her aware of the situation, because there was no doubt in his mind that that’s when their problems would really begin. Hannah would be devastated. She would be left feeling as though her very world had been turned upside down, because Hannah believed she was the Honourable Hannah Winthrop. Just like she believed that Lady Winthrop had been her mother, and that she’d had every right to grow up at Gillingdon Park. Which made it all the more difficult to gauge how she would react when she learned the truth.
What would she say in response to his words, Robert wondered. Would she claim it was all lies? Would she accuse him of doing this to be purposely cruel to her? Or would she accept the shocking realisation that she had no more right to live at Gillingdon than did a pauper in a king’s court?
Lady MacInnes sought him out shortly after he returned to the house.
‘Robert, I was hoping to speak to you,’ she said, drawing him aside. ‘I saw you and Hannah walking in the garden. Have you decided what you are going to do?’
Robert ran his hand through his hair, hopelessly dishevelling it. ‘I haven’t. But Hannah did tell me that Mama had been about to tell her something of great import the night she died.’
Lady MacInnes gasped. ‘Do you think she planned on telling Hannah the truth?’
‘I think it likely. Apparently, Mama said it was something she should have told Hannah and myself years ago, but that she hadn’t because she’d never found the right time.’
Lady MacInnes nodded. ‘I can understand her feeling that way. Who can say when the time would be right for such a difficult disclosure.’
‘Indeed. But given that Mama knew her health was failing,
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