His Christmas Match (A Gentleman's Guide to Once Upon a Time) (31 page)

Noah’s
gut churned with disgust. Not at the information he was receiving but in how
Lady Jillian perceived the situation and looked down on those who she knew
nothing about. Lady Jillian had probably never known a hardship in her life.
Neither had Noah, but he was well aware that there were those in the world who
lived in dire conditions. He didn’t feel any animosity toward them just
sympathy for their lot in life and the cruel blow of fate. “Vicar Grant has
always claimed they were the children from the deceased sister and
brother-in-law of his wife who did perish in India many years ago.”

Lady
Jillian smiled sadly.
 
“There was such a
couple, but their children perished along with their parents.”

“Was
their surname at least Valentine?” Noah asked dryly. What kind of a tale was
she weaving because he knew for a fact that Mrs. Grant had a sister who married
a missionary by the name of Valentine before the two traveled to India? If Lady
Jillian claimed differently, then he knew he could not believe anything else
she said.

“Oh,
yes, of course.
 
Such a fact would be too
easy to check.”

“Yet
finding the facts to prove or disprove their children did not survive is not?”

“They
were killed in an uprising. From what I understand, it was difficult to tell
who was who.” She grimaced. “As there were children among the victims and no
children came forward later claiming to be a Valentine, it is assumed they
died. But, it could never be proven either because of the conditions in which
the victims were found.”

Noah
nodded.
 
Vicar Grant could simply explain
that the children had been rescued and brought to him, and it would easily be
accepted.
 

“The
youngest, Perdita, was too young to have been born in India and travel to
England which was a concern for the Vicar and another reason Papa arranged for
him be move to a different town.”
 
She
glanced up at him. “The one where you live though I didn’t know the two were
one in the same until recently.”

“You
said the names were changed?” Noah prompted.
 
“Or only the surname added?”

She
sighed.
 
“They were given new first
names.
 
The vicar and his wife love Shakespeare.”

“I
know,” Noah ground out while his mind reeled with this revelation. None of the
Valentine children had been to India but were born and raised in St. Giles, the
cesspool of London.

“Then
it isn’t lost on you that all of them are named from characters in a
Shakespearian play?”

Noah
already knew this.
 
The Vicar and his
wife had claimed it was her sister and husband who loved Shakespeare.
 
Though one would think a missionary or vicar
would have given their children Biblical names.

“Demp
became Demetrius; Benny became Benedick, Ollie became Orlando, Mervin became
Mercutio, Petey became Petrucio, Rosey became Rosalind, Izzy became Isabelle,
Bea became Bianca, Bert became Bertram, and Poppy became Perdita.”

Noah
simply stared at her. She knew all of their names and said them in birth
order.
 
He had also heard the siblings
call each other by those names when they were children and first arrived. Noah
always assumed they were simply nicknames not their birth name.

He
shook his head trying to clear his thoughts. Lady Jillian knew far more about
the family than he did and probably more than they wished anyone to know.
 
“Did your father tell you all of this?”

She
chuckled. “Goodness, no!
 
I found papers
hidden away this past summer and made it my business to know.”
 
She sobered. “It never hurts to have
information about others in the event it may be needed in the future.”

A
chill ran down his spine. “How so?”

She
stepped closer fingering his cravat. “I know you care about the family even
though they are far beneath you.” Her eyes met his. “It is simple. I have
chosen you as my husband. If you do not agree, I will share what I know with
society.”
 
She pulled back and strolled
away.
 
“How would Demetrius’s career as a
Barrister fair if everyone learned that he had lied about who he is and where
he had come from?” She wheeled around. “Or Benedick.
 
He once lived amongst thieves and cutthroats
and survived as a pickpocket. Will others wonder if he has changed?” A cold
smile came to her lips. “And what about
your
precious
Rosalind?
 
Once everyone learns, they
will never believe she didn’t attempt to seduce Thorn to better herself. Her
mother had been a whore after all.”

Had
Lady Jillian been a man, Noah would call her out.
 
“You would risk a miserable marriage by
blackmail?”

“Of
course,” she shrugged. “I always get what I want. I want you and in time, you
will come to care for me.”

The
only emotion Noah would ever feel for Lady Jillian was loathing.
 
“I can assure you, there will never be
anything but animosity between us.”

She
shrugged again. “It really doesn’t matter.”

“You
would truly ruin an entire family?
 
A
family that has done nothing to harm you to get what you want?”

She
stepped forward. “They don’t belong here.
 
They don’t belong in society or associating with people like us.”

“I
beg to differ,” he ground out. “What exactly do you have against those not born
of privilege? It isn’t as if they can harm you.”

Lady
Jillian stepped forward her face pinched in anger. “You can never trust anyone
not born to privilege and the sooner you learn that lesson, the better off you
will be.”

Noah
was slightly taken aback by her vehement response. Was this her mother’s
teaching or something else?

“Either
you agree to a betrothal or Rosalind’s secrets will be known,” she said in a
sickly sweet tone with a smile to match.

Noah
couldn’t remember being this livid with anyone in his life. “Does your brother
know what you do, about the Valentines?”

“I
don’t believe so. If he did, I doubt he would care.”

Broadridge
spent many hours arguing for fair pay and better treatment of the poor. “He
would care if you ruined an entire family,” Noah pointed out.

“He
may, but he wouldn’t do anything about it.”

In
that, she spoke the truth.
 
Broadridge
would stand by his sister.

“Are
we in agreement?”

He
glared at her. He couldn’t make a decision right now.
 
This was something he needed to think long
and hard on.
 
“Give me until tomorrow.”

“We
leave at eleven in the morning. I will have your answer by ten thirty.
 
If not, a letter will be sent to the papers
upon my return to London.” With that, she turned and began marching toward the
manor only to turn and come back to him.
 
“By the way, if you wish to keep Rosalind as your mistress, I certainly wouldn’t
mind.”

“I
would never be so disrespectful.”

She
chuckled.
 
“That is sweet of you, but my
feelings would not be hurt.”

“You
are mistaken. It is Rosalind I would never dishonor in such a manner.”

She
straightened as if affronted then shrugged. “I’ll speak with you on the
morrow.”
 
She turned once again and
walked back toward the house.
 
Noah
watched until she was out of sight. “Bloody hell.”

He
wasn’t ready to return to the house.
 
The
guests were gathered in the morning room, and Rosalind would be waiting.

“Bloody
hell,” he muttered again and thrust his fingers through his hair and turned in
the opposite direction.
 
Demetrius
emerged a few steps beyond and stopped.

“How
much did you hear?” How long had he been sanding there, and why hadn’t he known
the man was present.

“Everything,”
Demetrius bit out.

“Is
it true?” Noah needed to know if anything Lady Jillian had said was a lie. Not
that it mattered where his feelings for Rosalind were concerned. It didn’t
matter what her name was or where she was born. What mattered was the woman she
was today and how much she had come to mean to him.

“Yes,”
Demetrius answered flatly.

Noah
simple stared at him.
 
“Then I really
have no choice.”

Demetrius
took another step forward. “That would depend on the choice and the reason.”

Noah
pushed his fingers through his hair. This was so bloody frustrating.
 
“I must marry Lady Jillian.”

Demetrius’
jaw tightened. “Because my sister’s background lacks even more than you
realized?”

Noah’s
head jerked up. “How can you even suggest such a thing? I lo…” he stopped
himself before he confessed to something he had no right to admit and hadn’t
even realized until this moment.
 
Yes, he
was in love with Rosalind Valentine, or Rosey, or whoever she was. It didn’t
matter because he loved her.
 
But, he
could never voice his emotions if he were to marry another woman.

Demetrius
gave him a half smile. “I am glad to know my sister’s feelings are returned.”

Surely
he wasn’t suggesting…“I suspected Rosalind may care for me.”
 
How could she not after the embraces they had
shared. But he wasn’t as certain that she loved him.

“Are
you blind?” Demetrius demanded and laughed. “Rosalind has been in love with you
since she was fifteen.”

Hope
bloomed quickly followed by despair.
 
It
didn’t really matter.
 
They could never
be. “She told you this?”

“No,”
Demetrius chuckled. “Rosalind will never admit to love, but she has admitted an
infatuation, and only to me, and she always knew the match would be
impossible.”

Noah
narrowed his eyes. “Then how do you know she feels anything?”

“She
admitted it the other day when I questioned her.” Demetrius shrugged. “Even if
we hadn’t had the conversation, it is in her face when anyone mentions your
name or she speaks with you.”

Perhaps
Demetrius was reading into something that wasn’t there. Why hadn’t she said
anything last night when they were in the orangery?
 
He had said he wished to visit with her and
she simply agreed that she would welcome his visit. That was not the reaction
of a woman who had deeper feelings. It was one who was flattered only. “Why has
she never given any indication?”
 

Demetrius
shook his head and looked at Noah as if he were an idiot. “She, all of us, know
you are above her reach. She knows her place.”

“But
that is not true,” Noah insisted.

“Yet,
you will marry another.”

“To
protect her,” Noah argued. “If it were only you, or Benedick, I would not give
into Lady Jillian’s blackmail.”

“Your
name will protect my sister,” Demetrius offered.

“It
won’t protect the rest of your family,” Noah yelled as panic surged inside him.
He would have to marry Lady Jillian to protect Rosalind sentencing himself to a
life of hell, but what choice did he have? “What of Vicar Grant? What will
happen to him and his wife when the church finds out he has lied all of these
years?
 
What of your other brothers and
sisters? I would not have their lives destroyed because I refuse to marry
someone.”

“Felding,”
Demetrius said quietly a moment later. “We’ve all known that the truth may come
out one day.”

“It
isn’t going to be because of me. I can’t do that to Rosalind.”

“You
would rather break her heart?” Demetrius asked quietly.

Noah
turned away from the man and took a deep breath before blowing it out.
 
No, he didn’t want to hurt Rosalind, but
there was no other choice.
 
“She will be
far more hurt once Lady Jillian is finished with your family. I will not do
that to her.”

The
two of them turned and slow walked back to the house.

“Mother
used to say that as soon as her belly was empty it was filling again,”
Demetrius said quietly.

“You
took care of your siblings?”

He
simply shrugged. “I was the oldest and when mother wasn’t out, she was
sleeping.”

Vicar
Grant must have been a godsend to the boy.
 
By the time Grant had entered his life, Demetrius was ten and already
head of a house, and seeing to those who were weaker than him.
 
No wonder he was respected as a Barrister. He
knew what kind of life most of the accused had come from.