Page 69 of Hunted By the Guardian
She froze where she stood, looking toward the foyer.
“What in heaven’s name…” her father murmured, rising to his feet. Laura was standing also. “Who could that be at this hour in the evening?”
Violet set her plate down and started toward the door.
“No,” her father said. “Violet, you stay here. Both of you stay in here.”
But Violet wasn’t listening. She hurried out into the foyer. Her heart was pounding, though she couldn’t have said exactly why.
But when she arrived there, she knew. The door stood open, and there he was—Jonathan.
She had been expecting him, she realized now. She had been hoping to see him there.
It took everything in her not to run to him.
He stared at her, and she realized suddenly that he had not been expecting to see her. “Violet? You…you’re here?”
“Where did you think I would be?” She ought to be angry at him. Instead, her voice was flat.
“I assumed you would be with one of your friends. I never thought you’d come back here, of all places.” He rubbed a hand over his face. “I would have come sooner.”
“Why?” She frowned. “Wait. If you didn’t know I was here then why have you come now?”
“Is this him?” That was her father’s voice. He’d come into the room behind her. “This is the man who took Margaret’s house?”
“This is the Duke of Alderwick,” Violet confirmed. “And, Jonathan, this is my father, Andrew Hartwell, Viscount of Barchester. And this…”
“Is Laura Trevet,” Jonathan finished for her.
She frowned. He was looking at Laura with a strange hostility on his face, as if she had done something to offend him. Not that Violet would blame anyone for taking a dislike to Laura, of course. She herself didn’t like the woman. But where were Jonathan’s feelings about her coming from?
“I’m sorry,” she said. “I hadn’t realized—that is—do you and Laura know one another, Jonathan? You’re looking at her as if you had seen her before.”
“We don’t know each other,” Laura said. “But…Your Grace, you are very welcome in our home, of course. We had just been eating dinner. We would be happy to have a plate made for you, if you’d like to come into the dining room.”
“She’s right,” Jonathan said darkly. “We don’t know each other.” He was speaking directly to Violet. “But I think it’s time we did.”
“What are you talking about?” Violet asked him.
“Yes, I think you ought to explain yourself, Your Grace,” Violet’s father agreed. “Respectfully, this is my household, and I can’t have you coming in and being rude to those who live here for no reason.”
Jonathan ignored Violet’s father altogether. He still had eyes only for Violet.
“I came here to find Laura Trevet,” he said, his voice trembling just slightly with emotion, “because she is Noah’s mother.”
CHAPTER 36
The expression on Violet’s face was one of shock and horror. For a moment, she almost didn’t seem to process what Jonathan had said. She just stared at him, and he contemplated repeating it to make sure she had understood what he’d said.
Then she spoke. “She can’t be Noah’s mother,” she said, her voice numb. “She can’t be. That doesn’t…that doesn’t make sense. How could she have been his mother all this time.”
“I wish it didn’t make sense,” Jonathan said darkly. “I asked my friends to look into the situation when you suggested that we ought to try to find his parents. They uncovered a man by the name of Marcus Berney—Noah’s father. It would seem that he was involved in a relationship years ago with Laura Trevet. She gave birth to his child, after which time he was killed in an accident, leaving her alone to care for the baby. And she did so for many years…but as we already know, she eventually chose to abandon him.”
“But why?” Violet breathed. “Why would a mother abandon her own child? I can’t understand that. What would make anyone do such a thing?”
She turned slowly to face Laura Trevet. The woman’s face was bone-white, and her jaw was clenched. If Jonathan had felt any doubt about what he’d learned, it would have faded at her expression. She was so transparently guilty that she might as well have just confessed.
“I can’t say for sure what would have made her do it,” he said. “I didn’t find that out. But I have my theories.” He looked from Laura Trevet to Violet’s father. “She’s a commoner. She had the opportunity to marry a viscount. I’m perfectly familiar with the lengths to which some people will go when they see an opportunity to change their circumstances. I would be more than willing to believe that she abandoned everything that tied her to her past life in a desire to make herself appealing to the man she thought would elevate her in life.”
