behaved.”
Genie was relieved, until he added with a wink, as if he was reading her mind again, “Or else I’ll make her a love potion.”
With a watercress sandwich in one hand, a lemon tart in the other, and half a slice of poppy seed cake in her mouth, Lady Cormack was ready to go on the attack.
“My poor little lamb. How could you shame our family name that way? And him.”
Genie tried to stay calm and not lose her temper. After all, the woman had suffered a loss, even if she seemed to care more about her social standing than about her son. “I had no choice but to accept his lordship’s generous offer. Please understand, I had no way to live, no funds, nowhere to go.” When Lady Cormack simply crammed another bite of poppy seed cake into her mouth, Genie asked, “Would you have taken me in?”
Lady Cormack must have swallowed a seed wrong. She coughed.
“You never replied when I wrote you from Portugal, in desperation.”
Now the dowager was turning purple. Genie handed Ardeth a cup of tea to bring her.
After a gulp and a demand for more sugar, which did not sweeten her tongue, Lady Cormack said, “You abandoned him, shameless adventuress that you are! Why should I consider you part of my family?”
Genie was shaking her head. “You know that is not the case. After we returned from the posting to Canada, Elgin abandoned me in Portugal when the first peace was declared. I wrote to you several times when he went alone to Vienna for the Peace Congress. If I had not found a position with a wealthy Portuguese family, teaching English to their sons and drawing to their daughters, I would have starved. You did not answer. For four years of our marriage, you did not once write.”
Ardeth was looking furious. “You never said the dastard did that.”
“There was no need to bring out all the skeletons from the closet.”
No, Ardeth thought, skeletons did not like being disturbed.
“He was your husband,” Lady Cormack insisted. “It was his right to leave you where you would be safe, instead of carrying you off to some heathenish country.”
“Was it his right to go on to Brussels without me, still claiming to be a bachelor?”
Steam was coming from the tea, and from Ardeth, Genie swore. She quickly added, “One of the army wives who had befriended me sent a message that they were all going to the Netherlands. My employers graciously arranged for me to follow. I had no way of knowing Bonaparte was going to raise his army again and confront the allies there. I simply wanted Elgin to acknowledge our marriage, to make provision for me. He promised to, after the battle, but he never did.”
Ardeth was up and pacing, reminding Genie of a hungry black panther she’d seen once at the Royal Menagerie. “I am sorry for his death,” she told Elgin’s mother, “and sorry I had no time to pay respect to his memory. But I had no choice. No one offered to help me except Lord Ardeth. Thank heaven for him.”
She might thank Hell, instead. The earl had had enough. “Her rightful protectors had deserted Mrs. Macklin: her husband, her family, and you, it appears.” He glared at Lady Cormack, who tried to shrink in her chair. “It was my duty as a gentleman to see your daughter-in-law to safety. Marriage was the easiest and quickest way.”
“They say she is with child.” The baroness tried to squint at the front of Genie’s gown. “With my grandchild.”
Genie said nothing.
“If you had told me that, Imogene, I would have sent funds. The barony needs a second heir. The boy your sister birthed is sick and puny. They doubt he’ll live to succeed, and she is lax in producing another.”
“I am sorry. About the boy’s health, that is. I never knew any of that. My sister and I are not in communication. She returned my pleas for assistance unopened.”
Lady Cormack ignored the fact that she had actually read the letters—sniveling rubbish, she’d considered Genie’s difficulties, no more than the
Genie was relieved, until he added with a wink, as if he was reading her mind again, “Or else I’ll make her a love potion.”
With a watercress sandwich in one hand, a lemon tart in the other, and half a slice of poppy seed cake in her mouth, Lady Cormack was ready to go on the attack.
“My poor little lamb. How could you shame our family name that way? And him.”
Genie tried to stay calm and not lose her temper. After all, the woman had suffered a loss, even if she seemed to care more about her social standing than about her son. “I had no choice but to accept his lordship’s generous offer. Please understand, I had no way to live, no funds, nowhere to go.” When Lady Cormack simply crammed another bite of poppy seed cake into her mouth, Genie asked, “Would you have taken me in?”
Lady Cormack must have swallowed a seed wrong. She coughed.
“You never replied when I wrote you from Portugal, in desperation.”
Now the dowager was turning purple. Genie handed Ardeth a cup of tea to bring her.
After a gulp and a demand for more sugar, which did not sweeten her tongue, Lady Cormack said, “You abandoned him, shameless adventuress that you are! Why should I consider you part of my family?”
Genie was shaking her head. “You know that is not the case. After we returned from the posting to Canada, Elgin abandoned me in Portugal when the first peace was declared. I wrote to you several times when he went alone to Vienna for the Peace Congress. If I had not found a position with a wealthy Portuguese family, teaching English to their sons and drawing to their daughters, I would have starved. You did not answer. For four years of our marriage, you did not once write.”
Ardeth was looking furious. “You never said the dastard did that.”
“There was no need to bring out all the skeletons from the closet.”
No, Ardeth thought, skeletons did not like being disturbed.
“He was your husband,” Lady Cormack insisted. “It was his right to leave you where you would be safe, instead of carrying you off to some heathenish country.”
“Was it his right to go on to Brussels without me, still claiming to be a bachelor?”
Steam was coming from the tea, and from Ardeth, Genie swore. She quickly added, “One of the army wives who had befriended me sent a message that they were all going to the Netherlands. My employers graciously arranged for me to follow. I had no way of knowing Bonaparte was going to raise his army again and confront the allies there. I simply wanted Elgin to acknowledge our marriage, to make provision for me. He promised to, after the battle, but he never did.”
Ardeth was up and pacing, reminding Genie of a hungry black panther she’d seen once at the Royal Menagerie. “I am sorry for his death,” she told Elgin’s mother, “and sorry I had no time to pay respect to his memory. But I had no choice. No one offered to help me except Lord Ardeth. Thank heaven for him.”
She might thank Hell, instead. The earl had had enough. “Her rightful protectors had deserted Mrs. Macklin: her husband, her family, and you, it appears.” He glared at Lady Cormack, who tried to shrink in her chair. “It was my duty as a gentleman to see your daughter-in-law to safety. Marriage was the easiest and quickest way.”
“They say she is with child.” The baroness tried to squint at the front of Genie’s gown. “With my grandchild.”
Genie said nothing.
“If you had told me that, Imogene, I would have sent funds. The barony needs a second heir. The boy your sister birthed is sick and puny. They doubt he’ll live to succeed, and she is lax in producing another.”
“I am sorry. About the boy’s health, that is. I never knew any of that. My sister and I are not in communication. She returned my pleas for assistance unopened.”
Lady Cormack ignored the fact that she had actually read the letters—sniveling rubbish, she’d considered Genie’s difficulties, no more than the
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