Aidan was not certain the blackness rushing in had anything to do with the tunnel’s lack of light. “Why would my father and mother perpetrate a lie upon me?” he said weakly. His mind raced with the possibilities. He shut his eyes to shore up his barriers, but Aidan knew the dam had been breached, and there was no turning back.
Hill confided, “You may read Lady Cassandra’s confession to learn your mother’s motivations, but put simply, when the previous Lady Lexford did not conceive early on in the marriage, your father suggested a replacement. Mrs. Babcock had been brought to Lexington Arms before your parents’ wedding, and she was with child. Many servants were dismissed so no one would know of the deception. Lady Cassandra was made to accept the falsehood, and Andrew became the heir. It was eight years before Aylene was born and ten before your birth. By then, no one could deny the lies they had set in motion.”
“Did Andrew know?” Aidan entreated. Anger mixed with the churning in his gut. Could the untruths have driven his brother to issue a foolish challenge over a woman for which Andrew did not affect?
Hill explained, “If Lord Andrew held such knowledge, Lady Cassandra never spoke of it.”
Swenton glanced to the grieving valet before reminding them. “This is beyond anything you have faced previously, and we have much to untangle. Are you able to continue, Lexford?”
Aidan gave himself a good mental shake. He had much to absorb, but to find all the answers to the myriad of questions flooding his chest he knew he must take one step at a time. “Please assume the lead.”
Unable to respond on his own, Aidan would unquestioningly follow the baron and Hill. His mind raced with the scantily clad possibilities. Lucifer bent to lift Mrs. Babcock’s body to him while Aidan looked on in dismay. He wished for the luxury of returning to Lexington Arms immediately to read his mother’s journal. Perhaps then Aidan could comprehend what had occurred so many years prior. He foolishly thought he should feel different; after all, if what Hill said was true, and Aidan held no doubt otherwise, he was the rightful viscount, but somehow his clothes seemed to fit him the same as they had always done. Should not lightning have struck, even in a tunnel? Like with a magic spell? Should not the world have shifted? Everything being turned aright? He held the lantern higher so Hill could see his way; yet, he could not seem to concentrate on the task at hand.
Aidan dredged up an image of his late housekeeper, and his lips curled in distaste. He could not fathom the woman as possessing anything but a sour expression. How could his father have preferred Mrs. Babcock to Aidan’s mother? Certainly, Lady Cassandra Kimbolt outshone Beatrice Babcock in beauty and grace. “Damn!” he groused as he stumbled to a halt and then rushed to catch up to Hill’s straining steps. Although he followed dutifully behind the others, his thoughts had remained on his father and Mrs. Babcock. An image of the two in a sweaty embrace caused the bile to clog Aidan’s throat. The previous viscount had likely shared a bed with the woman while his wife, Aidan’s mother, rested alone in her quarters. Had Arlen Kimbolt brought Mrs. Babcock to the master’s chamber while Lady Cassandra remained in the adjoining suite? The thought of the degradation his mother had suffered caused Aidan to see red.
“Could you hold the lady while I fit through the space?” Aidan looked up to find their group preparing to slip through the opening’s entrance. Hill rested against the wall, his bundle held low against his middle. Swenton had sent Poley through the opening first to wait on the other side of the waterfall.
Aidan’s eyes darted to the narrow opening between the sandstone pillars; yet, he did not move to assist Hill. He shook his head adamantly in the negative. A blistering determination rose quickly. “No!” The word ricocheted off the tunnel walls. “No,” he said angrily. “I will not touch my father’s whore.” He stiffened in open rejection.
Swenton swung around. Gingerly, the baron touched Aidan’s arm to curtail Aidan’s ire. “You must hold your temper, Lexford. Do not play this hand too early,” he cautioned.
“Do you not understand what this woman did to my mother?” Aidan hissed. He pointed an accusatory finger at the housekeeper’s body.
The baron backed Aidan up against the opposing wall. “Now, listen to me. You have a right to despise what happened. You can own indignation. But it will not change a thing. Trust me, Lexford; I know scandal’s foul tongue first hand. You must come to terms with actions put in place years before you were born or your anger will eat away your soul. Tell me what good it will do to make Hill’s assertions known. You will ruin your good name for the vindictive pleasure of calling a dead woman a ‘harlot.’ Is it worth the shame you will bring to your threshold to have Mrs. Babcock labeled as such? Will you have your servants and your tenants know your dishonor? And what of Aaron? If the child’s father was a by-blow, what does that do to the boy’s place in this world? Would you destroy an innocent’s future?”
Aidan jammed his fingers into his hair. Begrudgingly cold, he declared, “I cannot permit Aaron to inherit.”
Swenton nodded his understanding. “You are the child’s uncle and guardian, which means you must protect the boy, even from yourself. See to Aaron’s safety, but meanwhile, marry and produce your own heirs. No one needs to know Andrew’s parentage.”
Aidan stared into the baron’s serious expression. “You wish me to perpetuate another lie,” he said in disbelief.
“No, Lexford.” Swenton’s features twisted in mock amusement, and Aidan became uncomfortable with the intensity of the baron’s gaze. “I wish you to live a happy life, one that sings the praises of your viscountship.” With that bit of advice, the baron stepped away. “I will take Mrs. Babcock, Hill. You have done more than enough.” Swenton placed Mrs. Babcock over his shoulder, like a heavy sack of flour. Aidan watched as the baron worked his way carefully through the narrow opening.
“Are you coming?” Hill gestured toward the exit.
Aidan swallowed hard. Swenton knew much of the devastation of scandal upon a title. The baron’s mother had brought deceit to Swenton’s door, but somehow the baron had risen above the ballyhoo. Aidan thought of Aaron, the boy so like his father. He could not in all conscience harm the child. Such a petty act would give Aidan no satisfaction. Permitting hurt and loss to coat every facet of the boy’s life could not be part of his legacy. He made his feet take a few tentative steps. “You go first,” he said half-heartedly. “I will see to the lanterns.”
*
Swenton sent Hill to retrieve the magistrate and the village physician. He appreciated the way the baron had taken control of the situation. Aidan’s mind could not concentrate on any one point for very long. He insisted upon Swenton using Valí to transport Mrs. Babcock’s body the short distance to the house. “Valí does not care for others to sit upon his back, but he will tolerate Mrs. Babcock’s weight,” he had said as he held the horse’s reins while his friend and Poley laid the housekeeper across the saddle and tied her body about the horse. Swenton had given him an odd look, but despite the baron’s earlier warnings, Aidan could not bring himself to touch the woman. The situation might require him to keep a tight lip, but Aidan would not grieve the housekeeper’s passing.
As Swenton rode away with Valí on a lead string, Aidan and Poley began a slow trudge to Lexington Arms on foot. He had to remind himself not to permit his valet to know he had learned of how Mrs. Babcock had come to the manor. As an alternative, he focused on a subject most dear to him: Miss Nelson. “Poley, I must know what became of the letters Mrs. Babcock recovered from Millie,” Aidan said evenly. The calm demeanor he managed to assume surprised him. Thank Heaven for my Realm training, he thought.
The valet did not turn his head. Instead, Poley kept his eyes on Lexington Arms’ chimney spouts, barely visible above the distant tree line. Aidan finally understood why his father had tolerated Poley’s dim-wittiness and the valet’s singularity. “Beatrice hid them under the stone hearth in her sitting room,” the man said matter-of-factly.
Aidan hesitated before
asking, “Did you read them?”
Poley paused, and Aidan patiently waited for the man’s response. His man glanced to Aidan’s home with a narrowed, speculative gaze. Finally, the valet said, “I did not, but my sister took the liberty to read Miss Purefoy’s words; Beatrice apprised me of their contents.”
“And?” Aidan encouraged.
“And Beatrice determined it was best to keep Miss Purefoy’s letters from your notice. The lady had departed, and that fact served Beatrice’s purposes.”
Aidan determinedly set his feet in motion again, and Poley fell in beside him. He purposely waited before asking his next question: “Why would your sister desire Miss Purefoy’s departure?”
The valet’s shoulders rose in a protective slant. “Beatrice has spent the last thirty years protecting the viscountcy, and from the time of Miss Purefoy’s arrival, Beatrice recognized the lady’s perfidy for what it was. My sister’s every thought has been to protect Arlen Kimbolt’s name.” Aidan quickly understood the housekeeper would have intimate knowledge that Mr. Hill’s deception held no basis. Mrs. Babcock would know Miss Purefoy could not be Arlen Kimbolt’s by-blow.
Aidan bit back his reprimand. Mr. Poley would never comprehend how Beatrice Babcock had brought shame to the viscountship. The woman had, obviously, captained the lives of her siblings and to a certain extent Aidan’s life, as well. As the current viscount, the woman’s loyalty should have been to him, but Mrs. Babcock was a superb chess player, and they were all her pawns. Cautiously, he asked, “How was Miss Purefoy a threat to the Lexford title?”
Poley’s long silence had Aidan thinking the man had not heard him. Finally, the valet said, “I loved my sister. Beatrice was the only one to see me as a competent man. I was never very strong, and with my small stature, I could not aspire to be a footman. But Beatrice made certain my shortcomings did not set my feet on the path to failure. She managed to protect both Sophia and me from the world’s evils. When Lord Lexford bestowed a housekeeping position upon her, Beatrice convinced the late viscount to bring me along.” Like no housekeeping position of which Aidan was aware! Somehow, Aidan doubted Poley would recognize his eldest sister’s shortcomings.
“I worked diligently to prove myself worthy of your father’s trust. When Jonathan Rhodes took a liking to Sophia, Beatrice said we must divorce ourselves from a close relationship with our younger sister so Sophia might assume the role of the landed gentry. Beatrice even managed a dowry of a thousand pounds.”
Aidan assumed his father had provided the dowry. Likely as some form of blackmail. No woman of Mrs. Babcock’s background could rally such funds. He remained silent to permit the valet his confession, but it took every ounce of control Aidan could muster.
“Beatrice adored Lord Andrew.” Aidan bit his tongue to stop the words begging to escape his lips. “When your brother passed too early, Beatrice transferred her admiration to the child.”
Aidan asked, “Did you and Mrs. Babcock conspire to steal Master Aaron away?”
Poley protested, “Oh, no, my Lord! That was all Sophia’s doing!” The valet hesitated. “You injured Sophia in your scuffle. She came to Bea’s quarters afterwards. While you and the others saved the boy and Miss Purefoy, I drew attention away from the scene by going into the village. When everything was clear, Beatrice saw Sophia home. It was Rhodes’s idea that I should claim a bad tooth.”
“Did Mrs. Rhodes not realize she could not keep the boy from me?” Aidan said with a bit more terseness than he intended.
His valet blinked in surprise with the question–as if Aidan should have known the answer. “Sophia meant only to love her daughter’s child. Aaron has always called his grandmother, ‘Mama.’ She was quite distraught when she discovered Jonathan had sent the boy away.”
When the valet offered no more, Aidan ventured, “Did Mrs. Babcock wish to remove Miss Purefoy because of my attentions to the lady?”
Poley glanced to Aidan before saying, “If you marry, your son would displace Lord Andrew’s.”
Aidan’s fists clenched and unclenched. Those under his roof had meant to sabotage his happiness. How long had it been so? Had Mrs. Babcock prayed for Aidan’s early demise so no one would suspect her deceptions? Had the woman’s hopes switched to Aaron when Andrew had died so senselessly? What would have happened to the title if Aidan had met his death on the Continent before Andrew’s demise? Would Mrs. Babcock and Jonathan Rhodes have demanded the right to guide Aaron’s youth? It was not uncommon for trusted servants to tend to a child’s values and care while solicitors and men of business saw to a young heir’s finances. Would the viscountcy have survived their exploitation?
*
He and Swenton had accompanied Squire Holton to Rhodes Hall. Jonathan Rhodes greeted them with a bit of caution. “How kind of you to make a social call. Please sit. I will send for refreshments.”
Although generally an easy-going man, when it came to his position as the local magistrate, Holton took his responsibilities seriously. “Refreshments will not be necessary, Rhodes. We have come on a matter of great importance.”
Rhodes folded his hands across his lap. “How may I be of service, Holton?”
Aidan examined Rhodes’s countenance carefully. The man’s voice might display his congeniality, but the slant of his shoulder and the twitch of his left eye said Susan’s father had something to hide.
Holton pulled notes from his pocket. With Aidan and Swenton’s guidance, the magistrate had question Mr. Poley for over an hour regarding the man’s belief that his youngest sister poisoned the elder of the siblings. “We have come on a complaint regarding an early morning visit by Mr. Poley and Mrs. Babcock.”
“Why would two of the viscount’s servants call upon my household unless Lord Lexford had sent them on an errand?” Rhodes took the offensive.
Aidan would have ordinarily pitied the man, but not under these circumstances. A smart opponent knew when to attack and when to hold his ground. “I assure you, Father Rhodes, I would never disturb your household.” Not the way your wife has disturbed mine, he thought.
“What are you saying?” Rhodes demanded indignantly before the accusations arrived. Perhaps Rhodes was wilier than Aidan had first anticipated.
Aidan smiled with a smirk. “We are well aware of the relationship between my servants and Mrs. Rhodes, as well as the reason for the Poleys’ call upon your household this morning.”
Rhodes did not respond for many minutes. Surprisingly, Susan’s father dropped his head in defeat. “I have spoken to you previously regarding Sophia’s health,” he said quietly.
Holton asked, “Did Mrs. Rhodes serve her siblings tea this morning?”
Rhodes looked up quickly. “Why would you ask?”
“On her return to Lexington Arms, Mrs. Babcock collapsed,” Swenton explained. “The lady has passed.”
Rhodes was on his feet immediately. “You are saying Sophia purposely killed her sister!” he exclaimed. “Mrs. Rhodes does not possess the guile to execute such a foul act. I have never heard of anything so foolish. My wife is barely knowledgeable of my existence.”
Holton offered professional comfort. “It is a charge of grave importance, Rhodes. The village physician assures me there is no doubt Mrs. Babcock was given arsenic. Whether it was enough to bring about her demise is the question. Despite your objection, as the local magistrate, I must speak to Mrs. Rhodes. I would prefer to do so in the comfort of your home rather than to transport your wife to the nearest gaol. Yet, either way, I mean to meet my duty.”
Rhodes quickly assessed the situation. He begrudgingly rang for a servant to escort Holton to Mrs. Rhodes’s sitting room and dispatched a maid to her mistress’s quarters to inform Sophia Rhodes of the magistrate’s presence. With Holton’s exit, the man turned his anger upon Aidan. “I suppose the squire’s sudden interest in my wife is at your hand. You mean to ruin my wife the way your father and brother ruined Susan.” Rhodes pointed an angry finger at Aidan. “God! I wish never to ha
ve known the Kimbolts!” Aidan could say the same of the Rhodeses. Rhodes’s venom grew. “You Kimbolts are all of the same ilk. A path of destruction wherever you go.”
It was Aidan’s turn to rant. “I had thought upon coming to Rhodes End to conceal part of what I know of your family’s deceptions to protect the memory of those who have gone before, but I assure you, Father Rhodes, I want the bloody truth for a change!”
Rhodes’s countenance flushed in anger. “I suppose Poley told you of Arlen Kimbolt’s interest in Susan. That brother of Sophia’s could never keep his mouth tight. So, you mean to know it all do you.” Rhodes paced in agitation. “Well, I tell you, it was none of my doing. It was Beatrice’s idea. The seduction. The title. It was Beatrice’s passion. She meant for one of her family to marry into the aristocracy. My wealth meant nothing without a title, and whatever Beatrice Babcock set as her goal became an absolute truth.”
Aidan was thankful still to be seated for the air had rushed from his lungs. Rhodes unknowingly had opened the door to his family’s deepest secrets. Aidan shot a quick glance to the baron. He hoped he did not appear as bewildered as Swenton. He cleared his throat before saying what he prayed would make sense to Rhodes, “My father’s attentions drove Susan to destruction.”
“My darling girl never recovered,” Rhodes sobbed. The man dejectedly returned to the chair he had vacated earlier. “Susan loved you, Kimbolt, but when you left, she had no one to protect her.”
Aidan wanted to remind Rhodes it was a father’s occupation to protect his only child. Instead, Aidan said softly, “I wanted to make Susan happy.” Yet, he no longer believed he had loved Susan, not in the manner in which he had once thought. “I meant to marry your daughter, but arrangements were made for my service instead.”
“Bea still held influence over your father. Arlen Kimbolt had no choice but to continue the lie he had perpetrated upon the neighborhood. A second son is meant for the military.” Aidan’s earlier fears of Mrs. Babcock having wished for his death resurfaced.
Realm 05 - A Touch of Mercy Page 33