Longing for You, стр. 37

“No, I’m just not used to talking about it. I haven’t…”

Alexis thought of Anna. She was the last person to hear her story,but she wanted Katie to know who she was.

“I was born in 1792,” Alexis said.

Katie’s face lit up with interest. “Wow, I can’t imagine what it’slike to live through all those years.”

“You just adapt. There isn’t much choice. My mother’s name wasJane Villiers. She used the title Mrs., but she was never married.”

“That was a big deal back then,” Katie said.

“Yes, she pretended to be a widow and got away with it until nearthe end of her life. I lived a comfortable life with my mother. We had a nicehouse, servants, everything paid for by Father.”

“You said your mother wasn’t married?” Katie said.

Alexis cleared her throat. “No, she wasn’t. She was the mistress,or kept woman, as some people might have said then, of the Duke of Branwick andBowater.”

“You’re a duke’s daughter? That’s amazing. Was he a nice man?”Katie asked.

Alexis sighed. “He was a man of his time. Strict, and didn’t muchlike the fact I behaved and dressed like a boy. I had to dress up when he cameon Friday and Saturday. He spent the rest of the week with his other family.His proper family.”

“He had a wife and other family?”

“Yes, Lady Branwick and his son, James.”

“You said your brother’s name with anger in your voice. Did younot like him? Did your father’s wife and your half-brother know about you andyour mum?”

Alexis gave a rueful laugh. “Oh yes, I met James quite often, andhe went out of his way to remind me that I was illegitimate.”

“That’s horrible. What a pig!”

Alexis opened up her bottle of water and took a mouthful. Tellingher truth was hard, but Katie deserved it.

“I wasn’t upset for myself—I’ve always had a thick skin—but mymother had to put up with a lot of looks and gossip behind her back. But she adoredmy father for some reason and put up with that life.”

Katie moved closer. “I suppose love makes us do things we neverimagined.”

Alexis gulped hard. It was as if Katie knew, but she couldn’t.“Yes, it does.”

This would have been a great chance to tell her about the attackand what really happened, but she bottled it.

“Anyway, most of the time Father left us alone, and my mum madesure I was well educated, and I had a father figure in my mother’s brother whotaught me everything a girl wasn’t meant to learn. Sword fighting, shooting,hunting. It was in those moments that I felt mostly like the real me. Mybrother was jealous of me, I think. He wasn’t a natural fighter or hunter likeI was, and it frustrated him if Father gave me praise. Then one day everythingchanged. My whole life turned on its head.”

“What happened?” Katie asked.

“Father died, and my brother inherited everything. My father hadleft a stipulation in his will that my brother James must take care of me andmy mother, but he had a different idea about care than our father.”

Katie took Alexis’s hand and furrowed her eyebrows. “What did hedo?”

“Cut us off without a penny.”

“Bastard,” Katie said angrily.

“That’s what he thought I was. Anyway, it was quite a shock. Thestaff had to go, and we hardly had enough to live on from my mother’s savings.It wasn’t long after that, that Mother grew ill. Very ill. The doctor gave heronly a few months.” Alexis’s voice cracked with emotion.

Katie lifted her hand and kissed the knuckles. “I’m so sorry, Alexis.”

Alexis wanted to bury her head in Katie’s neck and sob away allher pain and guilt, but she couldn’t.

“Thank you. But I was able to pay back my brother James with alittle shame of his own. When my mother was in her last few days, she asked meto fetch a pile of letters from her safe. They were between my mother andfather, and some were from his wife, Lady Branwick. James wasn’t myhalf-brother, he was my full brother. My father had two children with mymother, but his wife was unable to have children. Thus the title and the landsbelonging to my father’s family would go to some distant cousin. To stop thishappening, my mother agreed to allow James to be brought up as Lady Branwick’sson. He would then be the legitimate heir and carry on the family title andlands.”

Katie gasped. “That must have been devastating for your mum.”

“Yes, it hurt her so badly to watch another woman bring up herson, especially when he got older and looked down on us as my father’s shame,when he was part of it.”

“So what did you do?” Katie asked.

“When my mother passed away, I took the evidence to James. He wasterrified of the consequences of losing his dukedom and agreed to pay me aproper inheritance. I made him sign a letter at his lawyer’s so he wouldn’tweasel out of it. I was then able to buy a commission in the army and live thelife I wanted. Of course I had to pretend to be a man, and I passedsuccessfully and made the rank of captain during the Napoleonic Wars.”

“You’re so brave,” Katie said.

“I’m anything but, believe me.”

“Did you ever see him again?”

“On his deathbed. I had been turned by Victorija decades beforethen, and when I heard he was dying, I felt I had to see him.”

“How did explain your appearance?” Katie asked.

“I told him the truth. He was pretty out of it on drugs at theend, and no one would have taken his words seriously. I was glad I went. Heapologized for what he had done and said that the guilt had eaten away at himover the years. That gave me an ending to that chapter of my life.”

“Ready for the next chapter of your immortal life?” Katie’ssmiled.

“Yes, quite so,” Alexis said.

* * *

Katie was gobsmacked at Alexis’s former life. She would never havebelieved it. It was like something from a Jane Austen or a Charles Dickensnovel. No wonder Alexis was so guarded emotionally—she was hurt so very badly.

Alexis had gone to make Katie her