Tea For Two (6 page)

Brendan used his thumb to brush away her
tear. “I only want what’s best, for everyone concerned.”

She shook her head, the last vestiges of her
denial. “He’ll take him away from me.”

“Christopher?” he questioned.

Shannah nodded.

“I can’t deny he has some rights to the
child, and I don’t think you can either.” Brendan wiped away
another tear but didn’t take his hand off her cheek. “But so do
you. Surely we can work through this issue together.”

“I promised her on her deathbed I wouldn’t
let that happen.”

Brendan closed his eyes briefly, and nodded
his understanding. “Your sister?”

“Yes.” Shannah looked away, ashamed. “You’re
forcing me to break my vow.”

“What did you vow, exactly?”

“I promised her that I would never let your
brother find out about Royce,” she whispered. “She was so afraid,
so insistent. That scared her more than dying did.”

“Did she say why?”

“No,” Shannah admitted. “She may have, had
there been more time. But she died so quickly after his birth.
There was nothing I could do.”

Brendan pulled her into his arms and Shannah
gave in to her tears. She sobbed all over his shirt, not
considering how wonderful he smelled, or how gently his arms
wrapped around her body. She didn’t consider the impropriety of it
all—she only accepted the comfort one person offers another.

Her tears subsided at last and Brendan handed
her a handkerchief. “You didn’t break your promise,” he told her.
“You didn’t tell me anything. I flatter myself that I figured it
out on my own.”

Despite herself, she smiled. “Did you
now?”

“Well, Christopher helped,” he said.

Shannah turned to look at him. “Then he
knows?”

Brendan shook his head. “Not yet, but I think
we should tell him.”

“Then what did he say that made you guess the
truth?”

“He told me how much he loved your sister,
and how it broke his heart when she died.”

“He didn’t love her,” Shannah said. “He used
her.”

This time it was his turn to look surprised.
“I can’t believe that, not after what he told me.”

“Then maybe you should hear what Garnette
told me.”

CHAPTER 11

“My sister loved your brother,” Shannah
began, moving out of his arms and back to her chair, “but she never
forgot their differences. Garnette knew their union was doomed from
the start.”

“Then why pursue it?” he asked, sitting in
the chair across from her.

“She couldn’t deny her heart. Every time she
fought against her love for him, she was miserable. And I have to
say she was miserable to be around.” Shannah gave a small smile. “I
didn’t understand it at the time for I was so young, but now I can
recall her horrible melancholy and know she was fighting her
attraction to him.”

“Chris said he wanted to marry her.”

“Garnette told me that his parents—your
parents—objected to the idea most strenuously,” she said. “She
tried to give him up then, one last time. She couldn’t bear the
idea of tearing him from his family, even if it meant her
happiness.”

“She sounds like a rare woman,” he
observed.

“My sister was the best of women, as was my
mother. She trusted your brother’s declarations of love, perhaps
more than she should have, and believed he’d return to her nearly
up to the end.”

“Nearly?”

“He was sent away to school and Garnette
waited every day for a letter from him, but she never received one.
Not one, my lord. Does that sound like the action of a man in
love?”

“He said he wrote to her,” Brendan argued.
“She never received one of his letters?”

Shannah shook her head. “I was there, every
day, watching her pine for him and grow thin and pale. Mother
became concerned when Garnette began to refuse food. Up to that
point she had written him faithfully, even though she never
received a reply. Around that same time, Mother and I realized she
was increasing.”

“Did she never write Chris about the
baby?”

“My father did,” she said. “At first he was
furious, but he quickly realized his anger did little to help the
situation. He and my mother spoke about going to your parents to
see if they would consent to a marriage, but I don’t know if they
ever did. The one time they mentioned it in front of Garnette, she
flew into a rage. To me she seemed more terrified than angry, but
she insisted they not tell your parents.”

“Why?” Brendan asked. “I’m sure they would
have consented to a marriage.”

“She never explained her reasons, and we were
all so concerned for her health that we didn’t want to upset her.”
Shannah sighed. “She was still so frail, it was as though every
nourishment she took went straight to the baby instead of her. I
think her heart was broken, and only your brother’s return would
heal her.”

“But I know he wrote to her,” he insisted.
“And if she wrote to him, why did he never receive her
letters?”

“It’s possible, my lord, that your brother
wasn’t as noble as he’d like you to believe,” she said softly,
without any hint of malice. “They were both so young, and they made
mistakes. Or maybe he chooses to remember it differently.”

Lord Brendan frowned. “The same could be said
about your sister.”

“You forget that I was there, too. I watched
helplessly while my sister died inside, long before the fever took
her, because your brother abandoned her. When the illness came, the
stress of our parents dying and the toll the fever took on
Garnette’s body forced her into labor.” She shuddered, her mind
lost in memories. “I helped her birth Royce, and when she saw he
was a son, she was overcome with panic. She made me swear that your
brother never find out about him. She said I had to protect
him.”

“But from what?”

“She died before she could say,” Shannah told
him. “I can only assume she meant that I had to protect him from
your family.”

“Then why didn’t you leave the area?” he
asked. “Surely you had to know such a secret would be found
out.”

“I was fifteen, my lord, and had just become
both orphaned and the sole provider to three small children,” she
reminded him. “We had no money to leave, and nowhere to go. I have
no other family.”

“I’m sorry, that was callous of me,” he said.
“Of course you couldn’t go.”

“I tried,” Shannah admitted. “I only took a
position in your household to save money to take the children and
settle elsewhere. But it never seemed like I could save enough, and
I knew so little of the world. Besides, after a while it seemed
like no one would find out. Nobody suspected anything. I’d grown
comfortable in my life, until you showed up at my doorstep.”

“I’m not sorry,” he said, leaning forward. “I
hope you understand that I only mean to help. Identifying Royce as
Christopher’s son will open up a world of possibilities for the
child. He’ll have a comfortable home, an inheritance, access to the
finest schools, and more.”

“He has a comfortable home now,” she
protested, her eyes welling with tears again. “He’s happy where he
is.”

Brendan took her hands again. “But how long
will that last? I’m not trying to disparage all that you’ve done,
Shannah. You’ve worked miracles for those children, all three of
them. I just want you to see, to realize, that you don’t have to do
it alone any more. Royce is my nephew, too, and that makes you all
family.”

Shannah eyed him skeptically. “And your
entire family would feel the same? Even your mother?”

“I know my mother can be difficult,” he said.
“However, I think a grandchild—her first grandchild—would go a long
way toward softening her heart.”

“I won’t have Royce mistreated.” Shannah
pulled her hands free from his and sat up straighter. “I mean it,
Lord Brendan. He is precious to me and I won’t have him hurt.”
She’d never spoken so forcefully to her superior before, but he had
to know that she meant every word. “And I don’t expect special
treatment for me, or Matt, or Kora. We can work for our
living.”

He looked confused, as though he didn’t quite
understand. “But I’m offering you a comfortable home, and
opportunities for the children that they won’t have otherwise.”

Shannah felt a vague sense of having been
insulted. “What are you suggesting, exactly? That you will provide
a home, and food, and a future for the children? Where is my place
in this?”

Brendan stood and walked around his chair. He
didn’t answer right away, but paced for a few minutes. “I haven’t
worked out all the details in my head, Shannah. Please don’t be
offended. I’m only offering to help.”

“But you aren’t, exactly,” she countered.
“You and I both know that the moment you tell your brother about
his son, I will lose all legal claim to Royce. The second my nephew
becomes a Wyndham, I’ve lost him. And there is no place in your
future for Royce’s poor relations. We are not part of your society,
my lord, and we never will be.” Shannah got to her feet. “I am your
servant. I was born to the working class and I will die there. You
can’t change that.”

“Is that what you want?” he asked. “To die a
servant? Should I offer you and Matt and Kora positions in my
household? Perhaps Kora would like to be a scullery maid. Or Matt
could be a footman, or maybe work in the stables with the horses.”
He stepped around his chair and took her by the shoulders. “Is that
what you want, Shannah? Do you honestly think I could let the woman
who saved my nephew from death polish my silver for the rest of her
life and never give her anything more?”

“I saved
my
nephew,” she said, her
voice growing heated. “I never asked for anything from you, my
lord, save the wages I earned by my work. I can and will raise
those children to the best of my ability.”

Brendan shook her slightly. “That’s not
enough, not near enough. Royce is a Wyndham and he deserves
everything that comes with that. And you’ve spent the last two
years sacrificing and doing without so those children wouldn’t
suffer. Look at yourself, Shannah! When is the last time you had a
full meal? Or slept a full night? You’re working yourself to death,
and where would that leave them?”

She twisted away from him. “I’m giving them
everything I have!”

His voice softened. “But at what cost?”

Shannah clamped her jaw to stifle the
trembling of her lip. She could see the rightness of his words. She
was exhausted, and there were moments—many of them—where she
wondered how much longer she’d be able to do it. With a heavy sigh
she crossed her arms and looked at Lord Brendan. He was a good man,
she knew that much. Even if he didn’t understand her way of life,
he would do his best by Royce.

But even so, he couldn’t speak for the rest
of his family. How would they react to Royce? How would they treat
him?

CHAPTER 12

Brendan watched Shannah, acutely aware of her
every movement. He saw the emotions play across her face, and
wished he could offer her more than words to satisfy her concerns.
But the stark truth was that he had no idea how his mother would
react to learning of the child, or how she would treat Royce when
he took up residence in the house. Her vanity may not be prepared
to accept a grandchild.

And Christopher? That morning, Brendan had
been certain his brother loved Shannah’s sister. But now he wasn’t
so sure. Had Chris reworked history to erase past mistakes? Brendan
couldn’t deny that his brother leaving a pregnant servant girl with
no resources was unconscionable. He never should have dallied with
Garnette unless he was prepared to take responsibility for his
actions.

Though he was certain Shannah had told him
the truth, finally, Brendan still felt the puzzle was incomplete.
The missing letters troubled him. How could what would have
amounted to dozens of letters simply disappear?

Had Garnette’s parents gone behind her back
and told his parents about the child? Only one person living could
know. He’d have to talk to his mother.

“What now, my lord?” she asked.

Brendan saw the steel return to her eyes, her
tears now dried.
Bravo
, he thought. She had strength. “We
need to bring Royce here, today. It’s well past time Christopher
met his son.” He took a step toward her. “I’ll call for a carriage
and have Dukes and Joshua retrieve them.”

Shannah rose and put her hand on his arm.
“Please, my lord, I should go. The men would only frighten the
children, as they don’t know them.”

He hadn’t considered that, though he should
have. Shannah had spent two years drilling caution into those
children. Perhaps he hadn’t thought of it because he had no desire
to let Shannah leave the manor again.

Ever again?

Brendan quieted the stray thoughts and nodded
to her. “Yes, of course. But you will take the carriage, if you
please. I have no desire to have a repeat of this morning.”

Perhaps it was too soon to tease, as she
didn’t respond to his attempt. Instead Shannah curtsied prettily to
him and left the room. He watched her leave with the distinct
feeling that she’d taken a part of him with her.

At least Shannah’s absence gave him a chance
to speak to his mother, a conversation he’d begun to believe had
waited too long.

Brendan took the stairs two at a time. His
mother would be awake from her nap and he wanted to talk to her
before dinner. He wanted the conversation to be as private as
possible.

Taking a deep breath, he knocked on his
mother’s bedroom door.

***

Shannah tried to calm herself before the
carriage reached her home, but it was proving impossible. Her heart
hadn’t stopped pounding since she’d left Lord Brendan’s study, and
tears pricked at her eyes. She felt awful—disloyal, a liar, a
fraud—and just about everything else.