Chapter 22

Twenty-Two

L ily now knew the truth of the scandal – the duke's brother, the illegitimate son, the hiding in plain sight, and yet, somehow, it did not seem as grave a matter as she had imagined whatever truth was revealed to be. The duke had done an honorable thing in raising William, giving him an education, and making him the Baron of Mowbray. How easy it would have been to send the child away, to abandon him to his fate, and yet Ralph and Miriam had proved themselves benevolent, and William had been offered all the advantages his father would have wanted.

"And you've kept this secret all this time," Lily asked, still staring at Maximilian in disbelief.

He nodded.

"I didn't know it as a child. It was only later I discovered the truth. The problem was always Connor Edge. He was the land agent, and he tried to blackmail everyone – my mother and father, William's mother, even William himself. He was poison, and I'm only glad he's locked away," Maximilian replied.

Lily gasped. She had not understood her father's involvement. She had not known the truth, and now she realized there was no reason for Maximilian to lie. He was telling her the secret – the obstacle, as he saw it, between her accepting a genuine courtship between them.

"Connor Edge? He…he tried to blackmail your parents?" she asked, and Maximilian nodded.

"Oh, yes. It was here, at Briar Heights, all those years ago. It was terrible," he said, shaking his head.

Lily now realized just how little she knew about her father. He had always spoken so vaguely about his time in Lancaster, yet vehemently of his hatred for the duke and duchess.

"And he's in prison for it?" she asked.

"Officially for fixing cards and dice. But he was stealing money from the estate, too, along with the attempted blackmail. My father was merciful to him the first time – my grandmother, God rest her soul, discovered what he'd been doing, and he was sent away with the threat of exposure should he return. He encountered William in London and manipulated him – turning him against my father, before the truth was revealed," Maximilian continued.

Lily's whole world was unraveling. The certainties in which she had built her hatred and vitriol for the duke were tumbling around her. Things once confused now made sense, even as so many questions remained. She remembered William's time in London. Her father had told her he had encountered a young man to whom he was giving some assistance, though she had never met him, and as for the events all those years ago, it seemed her father's vagueness in recollection was the result of his being responsible for his own downfall…

"It's extraordinary," Lily said, shaking her head.

"And it means whatever you believe about yourself and your father is wrong. My parents don't care about class and wealth – they took in a servant, didn't they?" Maximilian said, glancing at where Teresa was sitting with William and Anne.

Lily nodded. It would take some time to understand fully what she had been told, and the rest of the picnic passed in something of a daze.

She had discovered the very secret she had desired – a secret she could use to expose a scandal at the heart of the dukedom, even as its protagonists had behaved with honor. But the ton was fickle, and the bastard son of the dead duke would make a salacious morsel in the drawing rooms and salons of the county. But despite having discovered her prize, Lily no longer wanted to use it, for she had discovered a great deal more, too, and as they made their way home across the moorland, she felt thoroughly confused as to her feelings, both towards Maximilian and her father.

"What happened? Have you got something to write about?" Alicia asked, as she and Lily sat in the drawing room later that evening drinking sherry before dinner.

Lily shook her head. Alicia's parents were out, and she was glad the two of them were alone, for she could not face the possibility of further explanations and confusion. She did not want to tell Alicia the truth – not about the scandal or about her father. The thought of writing the scandal sheet repulsed her, even as she had been entirely set on doing so up to that point. All her certainties were gone, replaced by the terrible thought her father was the one who had lied to her…

"I don't want to talk about it. Maximilian isn't…who I thought him to be," Lily replied, and Alicia rolled her eyes.

"Don't say you're actually falling in love with him? Oh, Lily, I can't keep up with your changes of heart. It's all so confusing. Don't you want to ruin him? What about your father?" she asked, but Lily shook her head.

"It doesn't matter anymore," she replied, even as it mattered a great deal.

The door of the drawing room now opened, and the butler appeared, looking somewhat perturbed.

"A visitor, Miss Saunders," she said, and Alicia looked up in surprise.

"At this hour?" she said, and the butler nodded.

Lily suspected it would be the duke, but to her utter astonishment – and before the butler could return with instructions to show him in – her father now appeared in the drawing room. He smiled at her, holding out his arms as she rose to her feet, surprise etched on her face.

"My darling child," he said, coming to embrace her.

"Father, I…" she stammered, uncertain what to say or do in the light of the revelations of that day and his unexpected appearance.

"I've been granted a reprieve. My health was…bad," he said, coughing slightly, and smiling.

Lily embraced him, though she felt somewhat odd in doing so, unable to rid herself of Maximilian's words and the knowledge of what her father had done. When last she had visited him, her determination to see him avenged was absolute, but now…

"I didn't think I'd see you here. I thought…" she said, as Alicia discreetly left the room.

"I had to come. I had to see you. My darling child, you've done so well. The things you've written – music to my ears. We'll bring them down. A house built on sand," he said, rubbing his hands together gleefully.

"But Father, I…" she faltered, unable to say the words.

He had lied to her – everything had been a lie. There was no truth in anything he had ever told her about the Duke of Lancaster. He, not they, were responsible for his downfall, and if anything, the duke had acted mercifully, even as there was no reason he should have done so.

"What more do you know? Tell me everything," her father said, pouring himself a brandy Mr. Saunders' decanter and settling himself down in a chair next to the pianoforte.

"The last time I wrote, I told you I'd danced with Maximilian at the Miller Howe ball – that led to an invitation to dinner at Burnley Abbey, and a picnic at a place called Briar Heights," Lily said, uncertain as to what her father now knew.

"Ah, yes, Briar Heights – the scene of so much treachery," he exclaimed, with a gleeful expression on his face.

He was waiting for her to reveal some scandal – lascivious gossip he could use, and yet Lily could not bring herself to say anything, for there was nothing to say. She felt torn – angry with her father for his lies and angry with herself for having believed them.

"And… Maximilian told me about William," she said, knowing she could not keep the matter a secret.

Her father narrowed his eyes.

"Is that so? The bastard son. Then you know what to do, Lily. He's handed it to you on a silver platter, and along with everything else, you can write a scandal sheet of such devastation as to bring down the dukedom," he exclaimed.

But Lily did not want to write such a scandal paper. In the past, it had been easy to destroy other people's lives. There had been a detachment in the matter, and without any personal involvement, the sweep of the pen had been without consequence. But this was different. Lily knew the duke had done all he could for William, and that it was her own father who had tried to expose it.

"But… I need more time," Lily said, even as her father dismissed the idea with a wave of his hand.

"You've got everything you need, Lily. You don't need any more time. You promised me, didn't you? Think of what I've suffered," he said, fixing her with an imploring look.

But in that look, Lily saw a lifetime of lies. He was not looking at her with a father's love, but with the look of one who knows how to use others to their advantage. He had played the duke and duchess for fools, William, too, and now…

"His own daughter," Lily told herself, even as she fought back the tears, not wanting to believe the truth before her.

"I'll write it, but…it's not the right time," she said, and her father pointed to the writing desk in the corner of the room.

"It is the right time, Lily. If he hadn't told you it himself, I'd have done so, though …but it doesn't matter now. You know the truth for yourself. Think of it, Lily – they'll be ruined," he said, finishing his glass of brandy and pouring another.

Lily went reluctantly to the writing table. A few days previously, she would have relished this task, but now, holding the quill in her hand, she found herself unable to summon the necessary powers required. She could not write a lie, even as her father stood over her.

"I can't," she said, and he placed his hand forcefully on her shoulder.

"You can, Lily. Start by reminding your readers about the past – the duke's brother, Max, his death in the war, the…odd coincidence of a godson, then reveal the truth," he said.

Lily knew she had no choice but to write. She could not tell her father what she knew – he would only deny it if she did, and what good would it do her? She needed more time, but as she wrote, Lily knew it was all a lie. She knew the truth, and it was not as her father had told her.

"Maximilian's here, Lily. He's waiting in the hallway for you – Mother just received him," Alicia said.

It was the following morning and Lily had only just come down to breakfast. The night had been long, and her father had kept her up until the small hours composing the scandal paper. He had returned to his lodgings, promising to visit her the next morning.

"And then deliver our offering to the printer," he had said, smiling unpleasantly as he had bid her farewell.

Lily knew she should not have been surprised at Maximilian's arrival. They had entered a deeper intimacy, one where she now knew the truth of his family's past. It was clear he meant to pave the way for a courtship with honesty, even as Lily herself had been far from so. She found him in the hallway, bearing a large bunch of roses.

"They're beautiful," she exclaimed, the sweet scent filling the air, and he slipped his arm around her and drew her into his embrace.

"I've wanted to see you again since the moment we parted. I can't stop thinking about you, Lily," he exclaimed.

Lily blushed. She was flattered by his words. They were entirely sincere. Gone was the rakish bravado, replaced with an endearing genuineness. Lily could not help but admit she had felt the same…

"You're very kind," she said, smiling as she took the roses, and feeling terribly guilty for having the newly written scandal sheet in her pocket.

Her father had insisted they take it to The Broker Press that morning – he would be arriving any moment…

"I want you to know how you've changed me. I just can't believe…well, the way I've behaved towards those other women. But it doesn't matter now, does it… I mean, it does matter, and I'm sorry for it. But I needed…you," he said, and Lily sighed.

She took the roses from him, a thorn digging into her finger as she did so – she, too, had been a thorn, even as it seemed Maximilian had become a rose.

"You're very kind, and I…it's just…there's more to me than you realize," Lily said.

She knew she could not accept his advances. He could never know the truth…

"It doesn't matter. I'm used to family secrets. I don't need to know the truth – any of it. But I know you've changed me, Lily. You've made me into a far better man than I ever was before. I'm so grateful to you," he said, and he looked at her with such love as to make her feel quite overwhelmed.

"Well…that's very kind of you, but I don't know…shouldn't we allow matters to play out a little longer? We still have the pretense of the courtship, don't we? There's no need to rush," she said, hoping to buy time, even just a few days.

But the thought of the scandal paper was too dreadful. She could not see him destroyed, even as she knew her father would not rest until every drawing room and salon in the county knew the truth about William and the duke.

"But why the need for a pretense? Don't we have it in full? I know you're doubtful, Lily, but please…see beyond my past. See the man I've become, the man I can be," he implored her.

Lily did see. She saw it all – how a man can change and become better, leave the past behind and make a new beginning. Seized with a sudden guilt at her past inability to forgive or recognize change, she felt entirely sorry for what she was about to do – but what she could still prevent if she made her mind up to do so.

"I do see it, Maximilian. I wasn't sure at first. Others warned me, but…" she stammered, and he put his hands on her shoulders, gazing at her imploringly.

"Please, Lily – don't believe what Alicia wrote, or whoever wrote it. Those scandal papers only tell one side of the story, not it all," he said.

Lily was about to protest in defense of Alicia, when the door of the house opened, and over Maximilian's shoulder, she saw her father standing on the threshold. She stared at him in horror, even as Maximilian turned and let out a cry.

"You! You're supposed to be in prison," he exclaimed, as Connor strode across the hallway.

"I was, but I could hardly keep away from my daughter, could I?" Connor replied, and Maximilian stared at Alicia in horror.