by Anna Edwards
“Find out what? Mum, you’re not making any sense?”
Victoria gets to her feet and going over to her husband, buries her head in his chest. I can hear her sobbing.
“Please, my darling daughter, you have to forgive me.”
“Forgive you? If you mean, knowing about Victoria, then of course. I was mad at you the other day, but I know without your protection Victoria would have suffered even worse from her father. It turned out alright for her and Nicholas anyway. Mum, you’re forgiven. Of course, you are.” I get up and bring her into my arms, but she cries harder, and I can hear her whimpering, ‘no’.
“Tamara. You need to let your mother speak,” Nicholas orders, and I pull back from her in confusion before sitting next to her on the sofa. I search her face for answers, trying to read the lines of age on her weathered features. She looks so tired and old. To me, she’s always been young, but in this moment, I see her for a woman who’s had to deal with a lot in her life. I know instinctively what she has to tell me. William must as well for I feel his comforting warmth getting closer to me.
“My father?” I question not really wanting answers.
“Yes.” Her voice is almost a whisper, but to me, it’s as loud as a fog horn, sounding out a warning for ships to avoid the rocks that will shatter them and send them into the depths of tempestuous seas.
“You know who he is?”
She nods.
“I’ll always remember the night you were conceived. I see it vividly in my dreams, every night. It’s haunted me all these years. The day had started out perfectly. Having completed my work, I’d been given half a day off, and I went to the cinema. I’d always been a James Bond fan and was desperate to see the new one, Golden Eye. I loved it. He might be a little bit older than me, but Pierce Brosnan is a handsome man. I wandered back home in a bit of a daydream. I was working for the Viscount by then. Master Theodore had just been born and the Viscountess was resting after the birth. I went into the kitchen to get a drink. The Viscount was there.”
My stomach sinks. In my heart, I know where this story is heading, but I don’t want it to go there. Damn, I don’t want it to be true. Please god, let me wake up and find this was a nightmare.
“We spoke for a while. Just general conversation. He asked me about the film, and I couldn’t hide my crush on James Bond. The Viscount laughed at me and told me James Bond wasn’t a real man because that wasn’t how to treat a woman. He told me that if a real man took a woman as a lover, he’d make sure that they knew he’d been there. Breaking them forever. I joked that I thought Bond was renowned for that, and then he lurched forward and grabbed me, pinning me to the kitchen counter. I’ll remember his words until the day I die.
‘Not that sort of broken, but actually physically and mentally rip that pussy up, so no man can stick his dick in it again. Breaking her until she knows that all she is is a hole for a man to use and own.’
I’m vaguely aware of William sitting down behind me and placing his hands on my shoulders. I need his strength because I’m drowning in the revelations.
“The Viscount placed his hand under the denim skirt I was wearing and moved it up toward my private parts. I protested and tried to stop him, but his strength was too much for me. He pinned me down, ripped my underwear off, and did exactly what he said he would do. He broke me physically and mentally.”
“And got you pregnant with me?” Tears start to stream down my cheeks. My heart is broken, and my head aches.
My mother nods.
“It’s why when you and Victoria used to joke you were sisters from another mother, I would disappear to my room and cry for hours. You are sisters, half anyway, sharing the same father.”
“Viscount Hamilton is my father?…He raped you?” I can barely get the words out. I’m still trying to will myself to wake up from this nightmare. It can’t be true. It can’t be. “William.” I reach around, and as he pulls me to him, I start to cry. I cry for the years I fantasized about who my father could be. Maybe a soldier who died in battle, and my mother couldn’t bear to tell me because she was so heartbroken at his loss, or a traveler with whom my mother had a brief fairytale romance. After he’d left, she’d discovered my existence and although she’d no way to contact him, it didn’t matter because she had a part of him with her forever. No, the reality is horrible, disgusting, and sick. I’m the result of a brutal attack on my mother by a man so vile he needs to be sent to hell. He’s ruined my mother’s life, given his own daughter away, and he’s bought a woman who’s disappeared without trace. Even his own wife was purchased for him. I can only imagine what other atrocities he’s committed in his life. I push away from William and get to my feet. I need air…I can’t breathe. I open a window, and sticking my head out of it, I gulp the sweet oxygen into my lungs, but they don’t seem to fill quickly enough. William comes up behind me and turning me to face him, he strokes his finger down the tip of his my nose.
“Hush, little baby...” He doesn’t need to say the rest, I instantly succumb to his solace.
“How can I be his daughter?”
William wipes away my tears.
“I can’t…” I start, but he hushes me with his finger against my lips.
“You can. You have to. I’m with you all the way.”
I look around his colossal frame to where my mother sits, looking tiny on the sofa. Victoria is still crying into Nicholas’ arms. She’s my sister, something I’ve wanted all my life, and that wish just came true, but not in the way I’d hoped.
I nod at William, indicating I’m doing alright. I’ve collected myself and need to continue my conversation with my mother. He leads me back to the chair, and I take my mother’s hands within mine when I sit. William sits behind me.
“I’m sorry, Tammy. I never wanted you to know this. I wanted to take it to my grave, so it wouldn’t hurt you. I wanted you to think you had a father who loved me, and you were conceived out of love.”
“You can’t always protect me from the monsters, Mum. I need the truth. I’m going to go up against this man and destroy him for what he’s done to Victoria and you.” My calm outer voice disguises the quivering fear inside me at undertaking such a feat. “Why did you stay with him? Why not leave?”
“Where could I go? I had nobody else. Your grandparents weren’t always around. My job was my life, and my color still a hindrance. The Viscount offered me a future despite what he’d done. A future, which included him paying for your education. I couldn’t turn that down. It’s one of the reasons I always made you study so hard because I wanted it to cost him as much as possible. To make him suffer financially even just in a small way. I was so proud of you for getting into Cambridge. I knew that one day you’d be able to put an end to the society and their old fashioned, evil ways. Use this news to spur you on, Tamara. Don’t let it destroy the strength I know you have inside you.”
“I won’t, Mum. You have my word on that. We will both stand triumphant over the Viscount one day.”
My mother and I embrace, again, but this time stay together and cry. The others in the room stand in silence, allowing us this moment to begin the healing process. Eventually, my mother pulls back.
“I’ve given Nicholas evidence from that night.” Her eyes flick to a package rolled up on her desk. I realize it must be the clothes she was wearing. “I kept everything in case I needed it. There’s a sworn statement and a couple of photos. It will remain as my word against his, and I know staying in his employment will count against me, but if it helps in anyway, it’s there to use.”
“We will keep it safe and use it against him.” Nicholas says, tapping his hand on the desk next to the evidence. I immediately feel sick, knowing what will be contained within the package. I think I’ll allow the men to deal with that as much as possible.
“What happens now? Nicholas, we need to get my mother somewhere safe?”
I can instantly tell from the Duke’s expression that hiding her away is not part of his plan.
“No,” I tell him in no uncertain terms. “There’s no way I’m allowing her to go back to that house.”
“It’s not my decision, Tamara,” Nicholas tells me, and I whip my head around to my mother.
“I have to. I believe the Viscount is planning something for Theodore, and I can’t allow him to hurt that boy after what he did to Victoria. Theo doesn’t know anything about the society. Viscount Hamilton has weaved a web of lies and deceit to trap the boy. I think whatever is happening may involve the missing girl from the sale, as well – the one the Viscount purchased. I’ve not seen her, but I know he has her. I have to try and find out what’s happening.”
“But it’s too risky. What if he finds out you’ve been here? He was already suspicious when we visited the other day.”
“Which was why I went along with his plans that day to upset you, making you think I’m a bad person. It was the only way.”
“Mum, this is too dangerous,” I plead.
“Nicholas is going to put protection in place for me. It may take a few days, but hopefully I’ll be able to get the information I need by then and get out.”
“I don’t like it,” I tell her like a petulant child, and she lets out a soft chuckle.
“I know.” She strokes her hand over my head. “I don’t either, but I don’t have a choice. He may have broken me that night, but he also gave me a special gift. One that’ll help protect me until my dying breath.”
“Don’t.” I shake my head, not wanting to hear talk of her death.
Mum squeezes my hands one final time and gets up onto her feet.
“I’m so proud of you, of the woman you’ve become.” She looks behind me to William and then back to me. “And the woman you’ll become. You’re in safe hands here at Oakfield Hall.” Victoria comes over and embraces her. “You both are. I know you’ll always be happy. That’s all I’ve ever wanted.”
Chapter Seventeen
William
I sit at my desk in the study, watching as Tamara flicks around the screen on her desk. It’s been twenty-hours since her mother left, and she’s barely spoken to anyone. I don’t even think she slept last night because she’s in the same clothes as yesterday. Before we’d watched the film, she’d changed from her business suit into jeans and a jumper, and she’s still wearing them. Victoria and Nicholas huddle together over the other side of the room, reading through a document Nicholas drafted for the new constitution of the society.
I slide out of my plush leather chair, having done little more than play Roblox on my computer for the last hour, and pour a glass of water from the jug, which is resting on top of a seventeenth century sideboard. I take the glass over to Tamara and place it in front of her.
“You’ve not drunk anything for a while. It’s bad for you. You’ll get dehydrated, and then you’ll get a headache. If it gets really bad, you could end up in hospital on a drip. I know because I’ve read all about it.” I want to slap myself in the face for having verbal diarrhea, but the smile crossing her face makes me feel less stupid. “Sorry.”
“Don’t be. I do need to drink.” She looks back at her computer screen, then turns it to face me. I see it’s on the ancestry page she was looking at the other day, and I notice her name and Theodore’s on the screen. It says the probability of them being half brother and sister is high. “I guess we don’t need to do an official DNA test. This proves it.”
“I guess.” I shrug, wanting to comfort her, but the words fail me. My social sensibilities are virtually non-existent at times like this. It’s a curse but also a blessing. “Does that make you my half sister-in-law?”
“Possibly. I don’t know how it works. I’ll have to Google it.” Tamara pulls up a fresh browser and starts to type while I hum a thought. “What is it?”
“Well. It doesn’t make it illegal for me to fuck you does it?”
She can’t help the laugh that escapes her lips. It’s loud, refreshing, and much needed. Causing Victoria and Nicholas to look up from the document they are engrossed in.
“Thank you.” She laughs again.
“What for?”
“Being you.”
“I’m not always certain that’s a good thing but alright.”
“It’s exactly what I needed.”
“What’s going on?” Victoria inquires with enthusiasm.
“William’s being perfect,” Tamara responds, getting to her feet and embracing me.
“Should I even ask what he said?” Nicholas wraps his arms around his wife.
“The right thing. He said the right thing.”
“Cryptic. Definitely a lawyer.” Nicholas rolls his eyes.
“Well can I?” I bring the conversation back to my question. I want to know the answer. It’s important.
“Yes, William. If I say you can fuck me, you can. It’s not illegal because we don’t share any common blood.”
“Hey, who are you saying has common blood? I’ve got the blood of Dukes, remember,” Nicholas retorts with a chuckle. I like the fact the tension of the last twenty-four hours is starting to dissipate.
“I guess my blood’s not as common as I thought it was either.” Tamara sticks her tongue out at Victoria and my brother, her half brother-in-law. This is going to get so confusing and give me a headache. I’m going to have to develop a family tree to figure out how all the links work. It will bug me if not, and that only leads to trouble, or several hours spent distracting myself by trying to name as many facts as I can about space or the United States of America. My record is six hours discussing Florida with myself when I was trying to forget how Prince John was related to Marie Antoinette. Damn it. I’m going to get that thought in my head, again. I knew he was her fifth cousin seven times removed or something, and I drew a big diagram to prove it. Nicholas became frustrated because it took up too much space in the playroom, and in the end, he burned it.
Victoria bites her lip. “How do you feel? I mean…about us sharing blood? What my…our father did?”
“I can’t lie and say I don’t want to kill him with my bare hands for what he did to my mother. But, to be honest, I’m not surprised it was him. It makes sense being the type of man he is. He gave you up for financial gain to a society, which would’ve raped and killed you if it weren’t for Nicholas being the man destined to inherit the title. I’m worried sick about my mother still being in the house, and everything that could happen to her, but I understand why she’s gone back. Theodore is just as much an innocent in all of this as you and my mother were. He’s being manipulated by the Viscount, and we need to put a stop to it. I’ll never call him father but to know you’re my sister is the best news I’ve ever had. It cements what we’ve known all along.”
“I feel the same. I’m sad but happy at the same time. It’s confusing.” A smile breaks out across her face.
“Oh.” Tamara claps her hands excitedly. “I just thought of something.”
“What?” I ask at the same time as Victoria.
“The baby inside you. I know I was going to be its cool Auntie Tamara who let it get away with everything Mummy and Daddy won’t, but I ‘ll really be this baby’s aunt.”
“You will.” Victoria pats her still flat tummy.
“Oh my god. I hope it’s a girl. I can take her shopping, and we can spend all Nicholas’ money.”
Nicholas puts his head in his hands and groans.
“William, help me here.”
“Better a girl than a boy. If it’s a boy, Uncle William will spend all Daddy’s money on Lego to build with him.”
“I’m doomed.” Nicholas throws his hands up in the air and goes back over to his desk to resume reading the society’s documentation. Tamara and Victoria continue giggling between them. I can hear something about first dates if the baby is a girl with Nicholas standing guard like a mafia hitman looking after the Don’s daughter. I’m actually hoping for a little girl. After generations dominated by men, it’ll be refreshing to take the family name in a differ
ent direction. Mind you, Uncle William will be standing right next to Nicholas, protecting his niece.
Tamara stretches, then yawns. I can see the tension has finally been dispelled from her body, and exhaustion is taking over.
“Why don’t you go and have a nap?” I half question and half demand.
“I think I will. I could do with a shower as well.” She lifts her arm and sniffs. “I’m surprised one of you hasn’t already dumped me in a bath, because I smell so bad.”
“I didn’t think you’d appreciate it. I don’t see you as a wet t-shirt competition type of lady,” I tease, and she bats out at me playfully.
Victoria coughs. “Sorry to interrupt...” –She winks at us– “Tammy, can I sleep with you? I’m really tired, and I know Nicholas wants to finish looking at this document. I’m just…you know...”
“Of course...” –Tamara wraps her arm around her friend – “Sister.” She tests the word on her lips, and I know from the smile reaching the corners of her eyes she enjoys it.
“See you later, ladies.” I bow at them, and they leave the room. I look over to Nicholas who’s got a frown on his face as he studies the documentation in front of him.
“Something wrong?” I ask and drag my chair over to his table.
“No. I just want to make sure everything is correct, and there are no possible loopholes.”
“I’ll read through it later. You know how pedantic I can be at times.”
“Don’t I just.”
He tips his head toward the door.
“Bit of a shock for them both. Do you think they’ll be ok?”
“We’re living with two of the strongest women I know. They’ve been through shit and still come out the other side laughing and taking the piss out of us. They’ll be absolutely fine. We need to get Elsie out of the Viscount’s house as soon as possible, though. It’s dangerous for her there.”
“I know. I hated letting her go back. I wanted to put my foot down, but I think Tamara’s stubborn streak definitely comes from her mother, and not her father.”