As the cab pulled into the Holland estate, Jolene dreaded what lay ahead. The entire way back she pondered what to say upon seeing her family, fearing the embarrassing confessions she would need to make. She thought about simply lying about the whole affair, saying they had gone off to lunch and became separated. Perhaps she could tell them she became confused and disoriented in her surroundings and merely took a hotel for the night. Afterward, she would concoct some story about James having to return to York unexpectedly.
As excuse after excuse mulled about in her throbbing head, she came to grips with the harsh reality that she had to admit her terrible mistake. How could she look her mother and father in the eye, let alone Robert, and speak of her private indiscretions? It seemed impossible.
Finally, as the cab slowed and came to a stop, she inhaled a shaky breath. As soon as she exited the car, the door to the front entrance flew open. Robert took one glance at her and ran in her direction. Unable to contain her emotions, her lower lip quivered and tears filled her eyes as she saw the desperation in his eyes.
“Thank God,” Robert groaned, gathering her in his arms.
She peered over her shoulder and saw Alastair, looking pale but relieved. Robert embraced her so tightly she thought her ribs would crack.
“Are you all right? Did he hurt you?” He eyed her frame up and down.
“No,” she sheepishly answered, lowering her head in shame.
“He is not who he says he is, Jolene,” Alastair said, approaching the two of them. “The man is an impostor.”
“I know,” she sniffled. The sordid tale lay heavily upon her heart. She looked back and forth at their anxious faces, waiting for her to continue with her explanation.
“How do you know?” Robert asked. “Did he admit to his reprehensible actions?”
“Yes, well, no,” Jolene said, biting her lower lip. She did not wish to blame Henry entirely, so she turned their attention to the culprit. “Geoffrey Chambers…”
“Geoffrey Chambers?” bellowed Alastair. “What the hell does he have to do with it?”
Speaking Geoffrey’s name incited such ire in both Robert’s and Alastair’s eyes, Jolene clamped her mouth shut. She hated him as much as anyone else but had no desire to expose the reason for his involvement. It would implicate her and reveal the fact she had nearly fallen victim to his ruinous plan. A knot formed in her stomach as they continued to stare at her, apparently waiting for her to expound upon the statement. She wrapped her hand around her waist.
“He hired James — his real name is Henry — to dupe me,” she admitted. “Please, I beg you, not to pressure me for more. As you can see, I am fine,” she said, desperately attempting to lift her lips into a small smile. “Mother and Father must be terribly worried. Are they here?”
“Worried is not the word I would use,” Robert informed her. “More like hysterical. Philippe is convinced you have been kidnapped again.”
“Oh, poor man,” Jolene said. “I am so very sorry.” Her eyes shifted to Alastair, whose agitation had grown tenfold by the look of his dark eyes and clenched fists. His lips clamped in a straight line as if to prevent himself from letting out a stream of ungentlemanly curses.
By the gaze in their eyes, she knew they wondered if she had given herself to Henry before knowing the truth of his identity. The anxious thoughts ruminating in her mind about what to say next were short-lived when the remainder of the family charged toward her.
As soon as she saw her father’s angry face, she expected another squabble to ensue between the two of them. Thankfully, her mother appeared greatly relieved, bracing her tightly.
“Thank God you are all right,” she sighed. “We were so worried about you.”
Her loving and nonjudgmental tone put Jolene at ease. Of course she understood. Philippe, however, unable to smile with relief, glowered at her harshly.
“Yes, we were worried sick,” her father spoke. “I am glad you are home safe and sound.” He gave her a perfunctory, short hug.
The duke appeared in the doorway and nodded his head. “I see you have safely returned,” he commented, flashing a relieved smile. “Why don’t you come in and have a relaxing cup of tea. The time for tears and worry are over.”
Tea? A cup was the last thing on Jolene’s mind. She glanced at everyone standing around waiting for a detailed blow-by-blow description of her foolhardiness.
“That sounds delightful, but I’m afraid I am exhausted. If you will be so kind to excuse me, I would rather retire to my room.”
Jolene did not wait for any protests. She modestly slipped by everyone and crossed the threshold without a glance backward, sprinting up the staircase to her room. Once inside, she closed the door and heaved a relieved sigh. In all her haste, she had forgotten to apologize to anyone in her family for putting them through such distress. If she had learned anything in the past two days about her personality, it was that she proved to be untrustworthy, weak willed, and could lie to save face. After the harsh realization of the depths she had sunken, she proceeded to weep unabashedly in self-pity.
“So that’s it?” Philippe snidely remarked. “No explanation for her whereabouts. No apologies for disappearing overnight. She merely runs off and says she is tired.” He huffed in exasperation. “Forget the tea. I need a drink.” Philippe stormed past the duke into the foyer, heading for the parlor.
Suzette ignored Philippe’s tirade and turned her attention to her son. “What did she say? Anything?”
“Nothing of consequence, frankly. She discovered the viscount was a fraud,” he answered back. “I think she’s far too embarrassed to elaborate about the time they spent together. I can only speculate.”
“Oh, dear,” Suzette said.
“Would you like a drink too?” The duke smirked.
“I know I would,” Robert chimed in return. “Alastair, what about you?”
“Thank you, but I have business to attend to,” he said with a solemn face. “Jolene is home and safe. That’s all the matters.”
“Understandable. I will give you a call in the morning, ole chap.” Robert gave him a pat on the arm and turned to follow his parents indoors.
When he walked into the parlor, Philippe sat sulking in a chair staring into a glass of alcohol. His father headed for the decanter, and Robert followed close behind.
“Nothing for me,” Suzette said. “I really think I should go talk to Jolene.”
“Yes, why don’t you,” Philippe quipped. “I dislike not knowing what happened to her in the past two days.”
“I wouldn’t pressure her too much,” Robert interjected. “She may not be ready to talk.”
“Nonsense,” Suzette objected. “Mothers can have the discussions you gentlemen cannot, and I think you know what I mean.”
Philippe’s brows arched. “Do you think they… you know…” Philippe couldn’t articulate the obvious.
“Had relations?” Robert replied. “I’m not sure, but I’ll bet you the alleged viscount got exactly what he wanted at Geoffrey Chambers’s prodding.”
“What are you talking about?” the duke said, scowling. “What does that ass have to do with this entire fiasco?”
“I’m not entirely sure, but I have a sneaking suspicion the business Alastair is about to take care of will reveal the answer to that question.”
Robert took a gulp and settled back into the chair. He was not too worried about sensible Alastair doing anything rash, except for shouting at Geoffrey. There had never been a time when Robert witnessed Alastair fly into an uncontrollable rage. Convinced his friend only intended to dish out a verbal lashing, he decided not to worry about it.
Suzette let the words between the three men drift into the distance as she walked down the hall. With Jolene’s room in the far wing of the estate, it would give her time to gather her fragmented thoughts. Relieved she had safely returned, there remained an obvious question. What happened yesterday? What happened last night? She shuddered at the conversation ahead but decided to tread cautiously around the subject.
When she reached Jolene’s suite, she vacillated for a second, then softly rapped on the door. Jolene’s shaky voice replied.
“Yes, who is it?”
“It’s your mother, dearest. Might I come in?” Suzette expected her daughter instantly to respond but instead heard silence, which clearly indicated Jolene’s hesitancy to talk. “I promise not to badger you,” Suzette assured her softly. A moment later, the door opened. Jolene appeared with a red nose and swollen eyes.
“Oh dear,” Suzette said, slipping past her daughter and closing the door. “You definitely need comfort.” She slipped her arms around her daughter, who did not protest. As the tears began to pour again, Suzette merely patted her softly on the back. “I’m sorry he broke your heart.”
After a few sniffles and wiping her nose with her hankie, Jolene looked at her forlornly.
“I’m not sure if it’s a broken heart I nurse or the anger I harbor that he has taken me for such a fool.”
Jolene turned away, walked toward the edge of her bed, and sat down. “I have been so imprudent, Mother.” Her face reddened with emotion.
For a few seconds Suzette let her expel her pent-up emotions, listening to her heartbreaking cries.
“Do you want to talk about what happened, or shall I leave you to your thoughts to work through the pain?”
Suzette did not mean to pressure her, but on the other hand, the looming question of lost virginity would not go away. Consequences were bound to happen to her family and friends if the truth got out, not to mention the danger of pregnancy. She wrung her hands together in a worrisome act which Jolene noticed.
“Don’t go,” she whispered. “We should talk, but I beg you not to speak with Father, Robert, or anyone else about what I’m going to tell you.”
Suzette sat down in a chair next to the bed and took Jolene’s cold hands into hers. “You have my word whatever passes between us will stay in this room.”
After another sniffle, Jolene looked up. Her eyes were filled with sadness and not shame.
“I loved him. He swept me off my feet and told me he had fallen in love with me.” Jolene paused. “But he is a scoundrel!”
“Apparently so.”
“In seeking privacy, we left the driver and grounds.” She thought for a moment. “You didn’t fire the poor man on my account did you?”
“No, he’s still in our employ,” Suzette answered.
“Good. I would feel dreadful if you had because James had thought of the scheme. I agreed to his suggestion.”
The devilish rogue apparently had the entire thing planned ahead of time, Suzette thought. “Where did he take you?”
“To an inn just outside the gates and down the street. We only went for something to eat, but then… then he suggested we get a room.”
Suzette’s stomach tightened at the thought of what must have happened next. Why did she go with him? Of course, she knew the answer to that question more than anyone else did after begging Robert to take her the first time.
“He paid for a room, and I joined him. One thing led to another and…”
“Did you give yourself to him?” Suzette reached out and tenderly wrapped her hand around her daughter’s forearm. Unexpectedly, Jolene’s tears turned into a giggle that continued for a few seconds. Stupefied over her actions, Suzette asked again. “Well did you?”
“Well, for a few minutes he tried his best to entice me to lay with him, but when he became a bit aggressive, all I could see was Geoffrey Chambers’s face in front of me, and that terrible incident with him came flooding back.”
“Oh, dear.”
“So I slapped him hard across the face, and he immediately stopped.”
“Good for you,” Suzette exclaimed. A weight lifted from her shoulders.
“Oh, Mother, after that everything fell apart. He confessed to me Geoffrey Chambers had paid him to seduce and ruin me.”
As Suzette’s mouth gaped open in utter surprise, she felt her heart beat thunderously against her ribcage. “That conniving little…” She held her tongue not wishing to swear in front of her daughter, but her mind raged with multiple French obscenities.
“Reprobate?” Jolene finished her sentence. “Don’t worry about it, Mother, because the joke is really on him.”
“How?”
“I paid James — well, his name is really Henry — a few more pounds to tell Geoffrey he had succeeded.”
“Why in the world did you do that?” By the blank look in her eyes, it didn’t appear Jolene had thought it through.
“Because I wanted to turn the tables on Geoffrey and gloat over him in return.”
“So the young man agreed, I take it.”
“Yes, by now he’s on a train to Liverpool to catch a ship to the Americas. Frankly, I wanted him gone and out of my life, I suppose.”
Suzette considered her daughter’s actions, keenly aware that she had fallen desperately in love.
“I’m so very sorry he broke your heart.”
Her daughter whimpered, and tears welled again in her eyes. “I suppose he did, but it wasn’t real. It was a façade. The man held no real affection for me.”
“Yes, but thankfully he didn’t pressure you and eventually spoke the truth. I do suppose that is one good quality about him.”
“He wanted my forgiveness, but I couldn’t grant it,” Jolene admitted.
“But what of Geoffrey? I don’t understand why you let him think he got away with it at first?”
“He waited for me this morning at the hotel café, and I just let him gloat. Then I revealed the truth to him. At first I don’t think he believed me until I spoke James’s real name.”
“Then what?” Suzette leaned forward interested for the next tidbit.
“He suggested we go upstairs and have sex, so I threw a full glass of water in his face.”
“You did?” Suzette’s eyes widened. “A bit unladylike in public but deserving, I should say.” The unveiling of Geoffrey’s involvement in the affair boiled Suzette’s blood. “That boy is such a reprobate,” Suzette shrieked. “So help me, I’ll see to it he’s driven out of the country if I have any say in it. Wait until my husband hears of this or Robert for that matter. There will be hell to pay.”
A slow smirk curled Jolene’s lips. “Mother, I never imagined you could get so angry.”
“As the English would say, I bloody well am.” Suzette let out a few French curse words Jolene recognized, and she giggled. The levity brought her anger under control, and Suzette gave her daughter a tight hug.
“Be of good cheer, my dearest, that Geoffrey’s plan failed. Your heart will heal and some wonderful man will fall in love with you and all will be well again.”
“My reputation in England will be ruined, if Geoffrey starts to spread the word. Perhaps, I should just go back to Vienna.”
“No, not yet,” Suzette said. “I won’t let you leave so soon. We will make this right. Don’t worry about it.” She hesitated. “Besides, Robert’s wedding is coming up and you don’t want to miss that, now do you?”
“Oh, dear, I almost forgot.”
“I’m glad he’s settling down,” Suzette said, thinking fondly of him. “Grace is such a wonderful girl.”
“Yes, she is.”
“And her brother is quite nice too, don’t you think?”
Jolene raised a brow and looked at her mother’s obvious point.
“Yes, Alastair is a very nice man, but I have made a mess of things,” she groaned.
As terrible as it looked to her daughter, Suzette felt assured all would turn out as it should.