by Wendy Bayne
We stayed in Paris long enough to attend the Granville’s dinner party on Friday and for my mother and aunts to do some shopping. Miles and I only wanted to return to the chateau or to go home to England, but my father insisted that there was much that he and Samuel needed to take care of here in France before we could return home. But I was hardly in a party mood especially after Miles insisted that he wasn’t going to attend. His decision was supported by my mother and Dr Jefferson much to my chagrin and despite my attempts to beg off, I was not given a reprieve. It was made clear that I was expected to attend, even Miles was against me in this.
Aunt Mary had insisted that I dress in my best finery and had her new lady’s maid Adele dress my hair in the latest Parisian fashion. She also insisted that I wear her pearls to complement my pale sherry gown, but I refused. Instead I wore Mile’s locket as my only decoration on a ribbon identical to the one woven through my hair just a shade darker than my dress. I went to Miles’ room, knocked and entered. I found my father with him, they both looked worried but neither had looked up as I came in. “Excuse me, I only came to say goodnight before we left.” Then I saw that Miles was dressed for an evening out. It was thrilling to see him in his evening kit again and I suddenly forgot about their stressed expressions. “Miles, are you coming after all?!”
Father inhaled deeply arching his brow at Miles as if he could see but Miles merely nodded. So, my father explained. “It seems that a couple of surprise visitors will be at the dinner tonight. It was therefore prudent that Miles attend.”
I gasped. “Father, how could you insist that Miles attend this evening when he has no desire to! And who are these new arrivals that would require his presence?”
Father cleared his throat. “They’re not exactly new arrivals if my information is correct.”
I was disappointed having hoped for some excitement. “Oh… I was looking forward to some new conversation from home.”
Miles stepped forward reaching for my hand. “Tired of me already, poppet?”
I sighed. “That’s not what I meant, and you know it, Miles. But the Granville’s entertainments tend to be boring after a while with the same people always in attendance.”
Father laughed. “Lissa, the Granville dinner parties are the talk of Paris; you’re too young to have become so jaded, my dear!”
Then he bit his lower lip, “The newcomers are Miles’ brother Edward and his friend Julian Browne, Randal’s younger brother.”
I held on tightly to the back of the chair in front of me and asked, “Why are they here?” I was concerned for Miles, I knew that his brother held no love for him and Julian Browne had every reason to hate both of us.
Father stood up and straightened his waistcoat. “We have no idea, Lissa, but with Browne here it can’t be good. Miles feels that his presence will rattle them enough that we may find out. Therefore, he will be seated beside you and across from those two gentlemen at dinner.”
I looked at them both thinking about how difficult this might be, “But Miles?” I sighed taking in his look of resignation, “All right then but I don’t think you should wear the bandage. The scars are barely noticeable, and your eyes are as clear as ever. Let them guess how much of your vision has returned.”
Father took my hand, drawing me around to sit beside Miles as he explained, “There is more to this, Lissa, than just unsettling them by Miles’ appearance. It was Julian Browne who brought the charge of murder against Miles on behalf of his father, he came here for the trial and Edward is reportedly lending his support to Julian. They were old school chums who seemed to have renewed their friendship considering what they see as a common enemy…Miles. I find it strange since from all reports there had been a significant falling out between them after school. I might add that Edward’s coming here was unbeknownst to Miles’ father so I’m not sure where Edward fits into all of this and until we do find out we cannot trust him.”
Miles laughed. “My poor brother has been robbed of his entertainment. I’m sure he would have loved to have seen me swing but I can assure you he is here for himself as much as for Browne.”
There was a knock at the door and two older gentlemen entered. One was a startling older version of Miles and must be his father. The only exception to his looks were the shape and colour of their eyes. His were bright blue while Miles’ were grey. His dark curly hair was as thick as Miles but was laced with shots of pure white. Beside him was a gentleman that bore no resemblance to either man except for the eyes, they were the exact shape and colour as Miles.
Both men were smiling as the Earl came forward, taking my hand in his, he bowed over it. “It’s an immense pleasure to finally meet you, Miss Turner, I am Miles’ father.”
I curtsied saying, “It’s a pleasure to finally meet you, Lord Shellard.”
I looked at Miles, but he didn’t seem the least surprised at his father’s presence. The Earl turned to the other gentleman and introduce him. “May I present to you the Marquis Du Quenoy.” He then said in a much softer voice looking only at his son. “He’s your uncle, Miles, your mother’s brother.”
Miles jerked his hand out of mine and went white as sheet. “What game are you playing, father! Mother told me that all her family were dead.” Father showed the Marquis to a chair directly across from Miles. The Marquis was still smiling, and he couldn’t take his eyes off his nephew.
The Earl however looked angry and sad at the same time, “You were very young, Miles, and misunderstood what your mother said. She told you that she was dead to her family. I assure you that Charles is your uncle,” and the look on his face would brook no argument. “Mr Turner has apprised me thoroughly of everything that you have been through. As to why you did not see fit to contact me for help, we will discuss at another time.” He paused clasping his hands in front of him. “I came here to aid you with the charges against you but instead I found that Mr Turner had already taken care of that. It was my good fortune to run across Charles when I arrived and together we have implemented a plan that I hope will right an old wrong.”
Miles looked confused as did we all. “Father, there is nothing you can do, you can’t roll back time.”
The Earl sat down beside the Marquis. “Please son, this has nothing to do with your incarceration. I must confess a truth that I have kept from you for far too long. You have been the innocent victim of a cruel plan that was perpetrated by my father and my previous wife’s father.” Miles sat stoic and showed no sign of emotion.
As the story unfolded I was amazed and horrified that people could be so calculating and cruel. Miles’ paternal grandfather had agreed to an arranged marriage of his son to his best friend’s only child. It would unite two old and powerful houses with connecting properties leaving a good portion of the Devon and Somerset borderlands in their combined control. But Miles’ father had begged to go on the grand tour after finishing Cambridge and before committing to marriage. It was the habit in his day that wealthy young Englishman would take a tour of the continent to sow their wild oats. However, he never made it further than Paris, having been caught up first in the electricity of the city and then in the urgency to get out after the French Directory had been overthrown by Bonaparte. People were afraid…they still remembered four years prior the mass executions ordered by Robespierre and coupled with the fact that the economy was in a shamble, the country was ripe for another revolution…Bonaparte on the rise and no one knew what to expect from the new order.
“I had met your mother during that time, we fell in love and married against our families’ wishes. Your Uncle Charles was the one exception but then he is a romantic at heart, so he helped us to wed and was the only family member present at our nuptials.” He looked at his friend who was still drinking in Miles. “When I was finally able to bring my bride home to England, we were already expecting your arrival. My father was furious when he heard of my marriage and even before we had reached London, he had spread a vicious lie that your mother was my French mistre
ss and that I was still destined to marry Carolyn. He was a cruel greedy man who was not about to lose the power that would come to him through my marriage to Carolyn…and I was a young fool.”
He sighed looking at Miles as if for absolution but since Miles couldn’t see him he sat there expressionless as if carved from stone. His father looked down to his clasped hands and continued, “When you were born, your mother and I were so very happy.” Thankfully, Mrs Spencer and your mother had become friends and I appealed to her to watch over the both of you while I returned to Paris to obtain the proof of our marriage. By then the war between our two countries had escalated and I was detained as a foreign national suspected of all sorts of crimes against the people of France and espionage. I would have appealed to Charles for help but by then his father the Marquis had been imprisoned and the rest of the family had disappeared. I was finally released and given three days to leave the country, barely enough time to make it to the coast."
The Earl impressed me with the control he showed while telling his story, but he was detached, living outside of himself as he relived the events that had declared Miles a bastard. “But I didn’t leave, I searched for the priest who had married us, but he’d died in a riot that had destroyed his church and the church records were nowhere to be found. The new priest said that someone who helped to fight the fire that had destroyed the church had taken them, but he didn’t know who he was. My time was running out and I was just able to escape back to England by bribing a fisherman to take me across the channel before the French authorities caught up with me. When I got home I wrote to everyone, friends, diplomats, anyone I could think of to help me locate Madeline’s family. I had heard rumours while in Paris that they had gone to Italy, but they seemed to have disappeared and no one knew if they had even reached their destination.”
He bit his lower lip and glanced at Miles. “When I returned home, my father threatened to cut me off if I didn’t marry Carolyn. I didn’t care about the money or title, I was already married, and I loved your mother and you more than anything. God, I would have lived in a hovel with your mother and grown turnips, I didn’t care. Your mother did care for my sake and yours, she felt that a half-life with me was better than nothing, that we had to think about your welfare. She knew that I would always love you both even if I could not give you my name. you would at least have everything else that I could give you.” He coughed to clear his throat. “Maria insisted that in France bastard sons were often raised in the home of their father right beside their legitimate children. Frankly I was appalled and refused to even contemplate it, but your mother was just as headstrong as she was beautiful and fragile; she had such strong pure soul. The fact that she had been estranged from her family weighed heavily on her, especially living in a foreign country with only one loyal friend. Your mother decided that she would not see me likewise estranged from my family, as if I cared.” Tears welled up in his eyes. “But family was very important to her and she still loved hers very much. When we received news that her father had been executed, she became deeply depressed. The only person that could rally her was you, Miles.” He stopped looking at his son and concentrated only on his clenched hands. “I remember she would sit with you in the house or the garden just watching you play and telling you stories only in French. But time was running out for us, between your mother and my father I was being pressured to marry Carolyn. I continued to put them off…the last thing I wanted was to marry her. She was a few years older than I and I had hoped that her father would grow impatient for her to marry and produce grandchildren. But greed motivated both of the old bastards.” He glanced up at me. “I beg your pardon, Miss Turner, what I meant was that they held fast to their contract with each other. Your mother tried everything she could to convince me to marry Carolyn, but I continued to refuse.”
He sighed, and I could hear the pain in that one breath. “Finally, my father cut off my allowance. I had to borrow heavily on my name alone and the prospect of my future inheritance. But we were deeply in debt and my creditors were pressuring me at the bidding of my father. Finally, I had to go to London to see to my affairs, it was about the time of your fourth birthday. It was then that Maria went to see Carolyn without my knowledge. The weather was miserable the day she ventured out, it was very cold and rained constantly. On the journey back from seeing Carolyn your mother took chill and fell ill. When I found out what she had done, I was furious. She never told me exactly what was said between her and Carolyn except that Carolyn had agreed for you to be raised as one of the family and that she would recognise you as my natural son.”
His voice shook with emotion, he paused trying to control himself. “Your mother never recovered from her illness and she died a few weeks later.” He was so overcome I didn’t think he would be able to continue but he did, “Carolyn and I were married six months later. Surprisingly she never went back on her word. I brought you home with me and she never said a word of reproach nor of love. However, when Edward was born, she did everything she could to poison his mind against you and me. She refused me her bed after his birth which was the kindest thing she had ever done for me.” It was incredible how much these men had endured, and it had all been motivated by greed and revenge. “Believe me, Miles, I have grieved the loss of your mother every day since she passed away. And even though I care deeply for Jane, it has never been the same for me. Jane and I are more companions and friends than lovers. The children she has given me are a joy but not to the degree that you have been, Miles. Edward on the other hand is Carolyn’s son, even though he is of my body he has never been mine.”
Miles sat with his head in his hands I could tell by the tension in his shoulders that he was furious. “I am your legitimate son and heir and, yet, you never saw fit to tell me!”
The Earl was decidedly uncomfortable. “I’m sorry, Miles, I should have told you when you were older but I had no proof to legitimize you. I thought it would cause you unnecessary pain. That is, I had no proof till now.”
Miles head snapped up. “Proof.” He swung his head from side to side like he was trying to see the people seated across from him. “What proof?”
The Earl leaned forward as if to touch his son but sensing it Miles sat back out of reach and the Earl withdrew his hand. “From Charles, he was a witness at our wedding and is more than happy to provide affidavits as to the legality of my marriage to your mother.”
Miles in a temper barely controlled his response as he turned on his uncle. “Why wait so long to contact my father, sir?”
I was ashamed of Miles for being so abrupt. “Miles!”
The Marquis bristled slightly then relaxed. “No, mademoiselle, I understand his anger.” He looked at Miles with the same steely grey eyes but there was still a softness in them. “I had no reason to think that my sister was not happily married and living in England. I was angry that I’d no word from Maria since the day she had kissed me goodbye in the church and left with your father as a married woman. I wrote to her in England, I sent my letters to your father’s ancestral home, but she never wrote back. I had no idea that she didn’t live there. Your father assumes his father destroyed them.”
The Marquis’ demeanour relaxed somewhat. “Then my father was executed, and our family barely escaped with our lives. Suddenly I was the head of the house with bigger problems than corresponding with what I thought was an indifferent sister. Thankfully my father had seen the unrest developing in France and had transferred most of our fortune to Switzerland. We had very little of value with us when we left France and instead of heading to Italy as we had told people we went to Switzerland to stay out of the grasp of Bonaparte. Once there we had only our French papers to prove our identity and to access our money. We couldn’t travel as French citizens, or we would have been arrested by Napoleon’s troops so once I could gain access to our money we adopted Swiss identities. It was not an easy task to establish our family there. I had to find a way to maintain and if possible to increase our fortune. I h
ad been raised to the life of a Marquis, to manage a vast estate.” He chuckled and looked at his browned hands. "Fortunately, I’m a quick learner and there were opportunities in the vineyards that surrounded the village where we lived. Now I am now a successful vintner and wine merchant.
“Since the defeat of Napoleon, I have ventured back into France to find new markets. It was here in Paris that I heard amongst my colleagues that there was an English wine connoisseur who had just arrived in Paris on family business. I always thought England could be a lucrative market, so I decided to ask for an introduction with the idea to beat out my competition and perhaps establish my son in London. When I found out this connoisseur was William, I rejoiced hoping to be reunited with my sister. I was saddened and shocked to hear what had befallen her and you.” He glared at the Earl as if it was all his fault then he relaxed, and his eyes were a soft dove grey once more. “I have promised to provide affidavits and to help him find additional evidence to support your legitimization. We intend to appeal to the French courts before moving onto the English courts.”
The Earl jumped in. “This will take time, son, but I will see that you are made my heir before I leave this world, of that I have no doubt.”
Chapter 24
Deadly Dinner
When we were ready to leave, I walked down the stairs with Miles while my father, the Earl and Marquis Came down behind us. I whispered to Miles as we descended, “You don’t have to do this. You’ve had a lot happen today so if would you rather not go you can stay here, I’ll even stay with you.”
Miles chuckled before saying, “Technically, poppet, I am still an agent of the Crown, so I can’t allow personal issues to distract me. Whatever happens in that regard to my father’s machinations is out of my control, but I dearly hope that I have my sight back if the old man ever has to tell my beloved brother he’s been deposed as heir and is now the spare.” He sounded a tad bitter though he tried to make it sound light and laughable.