breaking upon her heart and suddenly they bubbled up into speech as she cried, “But I am concerned! I fear the censure of man and God! I hardly dare raise my eyes to Him if—” She could not complete the sentence.
In a soft tone, Sebastian said, “You needn’t fear divine judgment. You had nothing to do with the circumstances of your birth, and if our religion teaches us anything, it is that forgiveness in Christ is available to all.” In a darker tone he added, “Society is the harsher judge; but let us hope for the best.”
She sniffed and looked up gratefully, but still there lingered doubt in her breast. She said disconsolately, “I am above fond of your mother, sir. I hate to consider what she will think of me—” She stopped, unable to say more without dissolving into tears, and certainly unwilling to say it wasn’t the loss of Mrs. Arundell’s good opinion only which she feared.
He took her hand. “My mother is a charitable woman. She shan’t abandon you, though she values upper class society.”
His unspoken words, even though you are not upper class, cut her heart. “Thank you,” Frannie murmured, keeping her face turned down. Acutely conscious of her hand in his, she tried to memorize the feel of his large hand encompassing hers, strong, solid and reassuring, though his grasp was light. He seemed as if he didn’t notice their hands—she dared not breathe too hard, lest it wake him and he recall himself and drop it.
He said, “Be certain that the first matter we will address with Mr. Fanshawe is your paternity. Mr. Harley assures me he has land agents on the prowl. As soon as The Golden Sovereign returns to this shore, we shall be upon him.”
“Do we know when that is?” she asked, her face prettily scrunched in worry.
“We will know. The maritime columns in the paper supply the expected arrival. With any luck, I’ll meet him at the dock myself.”
Frannie’s heart sang for a moment. Sebastian Arundell, the fastidious man with clean hands, would do that? Brave the noisy, dirty, sea-stained docks for her?” She smiled gratefully at him.
He said, “I consider it vital to reach him before his wife gets word to him.” He released her hand, bowed politely, and started toward the double doors of the room. “I’ll leave you now to your reading.”
Frannie took a deep breath and tried to settle her mind. But just as the door almost closed behind him, she remembered something. “Oh, Mr. Arundell!” she called. Sebastian was back in an instant, his face a question.
“Though we do not believe Mr. Fanshawe is my father, I am afraid we left his wife with the impression that he must be. That I am, indeed, the blow by of her husband’s!” She took a shuddering breath. “It is utterly horrifying to be thought of as such.”
“I believe she knows you are her niece; but if not, Mr. Harley anticipated that a little suspicion of foul play on her husbandʼs part would make her more cooperative with us. I apologize for the aspersion it appears to cast upon your character.”
“Little wonder she loathes my existence!”
“She loathes it most, I believe, on account of the trust fund.”
“Also, sir—” here she hesitated, for only an extraordinary circumstance could induce her to made this request. “When we go to Gloucestershire…would you mind very much if I do not use my motherʼs last name? The shame of it! I fear that something might arise from the past that cannot be pleasant.”
“I don’t suppose you have anything to fear,” he said, with some surprise. “But what name would you prefer?” Frannie had somehow already decided upon this, though the idea of using an alias had seemed to form in her mind only a minute earlier. “Miss Baxter?” she asked.
He hesitated. A little smile formed at the edges of his mouth. “Under normal circumstances I should think such a request was impertinent at best, or possibly even wicked.”
Frannie’s breath caught in her throat. “I am trying to avoid the appearance of evil, sir,” she said. “If questions should arise, as almost certainly they will—if I am known to share my mother’s maiden name, I fear it will cast a shadow upon your family! Guilt by association is unfortunately an iron-clad tenet of society, would you not agree?”
He gazed at her with thoughtful eyes. “I have no fear for the reputation of my family, but I understand your hesitation. Considering the mystery of your