Total pages in book: 125
Estimated words: 116547 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 583(@200wpm)___ 466(@250wpm)___ 388(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 116547 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 583(@200wpm)___ 466(@250wpm)___ 388(@300wpm)
“Now, someone, tell me the truth of what has occurred.” She waited.
“Godmother, it is so much—”
“That is why I am already sitting, Evander. Out with it,” she demanded. You would think she were the duchess here.
Then again, the power of a mama was greater than any other. Quickly, Evander and Aphrodite began to explain what had occurred over the past few weeks. I thought she would panic, shriek, or, at the very least, show some emotion, but she took it all calmly.
“Where is that—where is Datura now?” she asked Evander.
“In prison, awaiting her trial. I am to speak to the magistrate later on the matter. However, she will be brought to justice.”
“Finally, now that is settled.” She sighed, then her hawkish gaze shifted to Theodore and me.
“Now, Dr. Darrington, my question to you is, what is your relationship to my goddaughter?”
“We are to be married, Godmother,” I answered for him.
She stared at him, then me, and then my brother. “You have accepted this?”
“As you said, talk of them has spread, Godmother, and they clearly love each other. It is better they marry—”
“Well, I do not accept this,” she replied sternly. “And as her dowry is formally in my family’s care, she shall not see a glimpse of it.”
“Godmother!” I pleaded, sitting on the edge of the chair, but Theodore stepped forward.
“The duke already threatened us with disinheritance, your ladyship,” he said to her. “And I will tell you, as I told him, I have enough of my own to take care of—”
“I will not let Luella’s daughter be known as the lady who married the bastard of Whitmear.” She did not speak the words angrily. “I promised her upon her deathbed that I would see to it that both her children were happy and respected in society. This match, as it is, cannot stand.”
I felt myself growing angry. “I will—”
“What do you mean as it is?” asked Theodore, interrupting me. “Are you implying our match could be made another way?”
“Could? It must.”
“I do not understand.” I frowned. “How else could we be matched?”
“Theodore— Do you mind me calling you Theodore?” she asked politely.
“No, your ladyship.”
“Good. Theodore, as I said, my goddaughter cannot be married to a man with the title of a bastard.”
“I am a doctor.”
“How nice for you, but that means nothing for us,” she shot back, her head high. “Your position in society is all that matters, and in our world, you are a bastard. We must change that.”
“How do you propose to do that?” Theodore asked her.
“By making you respectable—having you knighted.”
“What?” Everyone in the room spoke at once.
“Mama, such a thing is not easily done, especially for one so young,” Aphrodite said to her.
“You are correct. For most, it is nearly impossible. However, with the right support, even the impossible can be done with ease.” Her eyes shifted to Evander. “Did your mother not leave you with one other mighty benefactor?”
I glanced at my brother, unsure of what she was talking about, to see him shaking his head. “Godmother, you cannot be serious? I cannot go to her with a request like this. All the world will know it was so obviously done to bolster his reputation, which could very well diminish the crown.”
“The crown?” I gasped.
“The queen?” Aphrodite said. “You wish to take this to the queen?”
“Lady Monthermer, I thank you for your efforts—” Theodore began to speak, but she interrupted.
“I have not even begun to apply my efforts.”
We all stared at her as if she had grown two heads and horns.
“Such youth and yet such lack of imagination.” She shook her head at us. “How do you believe any great family achieves their standing?”
“War?” Theodore replied.
“Notoriety. And you, Theodore Darrington, are well on your way. None of you seem to see it. This girl you all sought to help, Marcella, should the truth be known, it would be a great embarrassment to the Wildingham family, correct?” she asked.
“Yes.” Evander nodded.
“And the Wildinghams are relations to whom?”
It was then that I saw what she meant. “Sir Zachary Dennison-Whit, the county’s MP, who happens to be the rumored right hand of the prime minister.”
“Very good, my dear.” She grinned, nodding. “And here comes the legend of Theodore Darrington. The great doctor has saved countless members of the nobility, such as Lady Clementina Rowley and Lord Benjamin Hardinge, along with tending to the sick in East London, before coming to Everely to seek the hand of Lady Verity Eagleman. In doing so, he came also to the aid of Mr. Wildingham in his deep grief over his poor daughter, was there for him till his end, and then Dr. Darrington rescued his beloved from a well. All of the ton will be abuzz with the news, and the queen shall suggest he be knighted. Who would object to such a fine young man?”