consequences for his actions, not to mention the financial consequences if either Mr. Darlington or Miss Darlington’s betrothed elected to file suit against him, he took Venetia and Claudia and fled to Spain. From there, I cannot tell you what their life was like.” He paused then, his fingers drumming idly on the desk. When he looked at her, there was banked fury in his eyes. His brother might have died, but it was quite obvious that he was still livid with the man. “Though I cannot imagine it was pleasant. Wills was spoiled. He might have been a man grown with a wife and a family, but he was still very much a spoiled boy… all the way to the end.”
“I don’t wish to say too much,” Callie began. She was hesitant, but she couldn’t help but think her conversation with Claudia was important in ways she might not understand. “I think much of what Claudia said was uttered in confidence, though that was not stated expressly. Still, I don’t wish to betray her trust. But I will say that her parents were not happy together and their unhappiness took a toll on the children. I also think that their father’s gaming often left them with very uncertain fortunes and little sense of stability.” She stopped speaking when she noted his expression. The fury she’d seen banked in his eyes had suddenly blazed to life.
“I paid for their lodgings,” he snapped, the words bitten off sharply. “I paid for their governess. I sent more than adequate funds to see to their comfort.”
“Did you pay their landlord directly? Or their grocer?” Callie asked softly.
“Of course not! It would have been impossible to manage such things at a distance! But I was not so foolish as to give the money to my brother, Miss St. James. The money was sent through a third party and was then given to Venetia to see to everyone’s needs.”
Callie sighed. “She loved him, I think. And she desperately wanted him to love her. So she gave him whatever it was he asked for… that no doubt included the funds you sent to support them all.”
*
Winn rose from the small table and stalked the length of the room and back. If Wills had been in front of him, he’d have planted his fist right in his brother’s face. In retrospect, what Miss St. James proposed made perfect sense. He’d never seen it because he’d never wanted to see it. He’d done the least amount that he had to do and patted himself on the back for it, his duty done and his conscience clear.
“I don’t know who I am more angry at… my brother or myself,” he said. “I was a fool not to see it.”
“I don’t think anger in either direction bears considering, my lord. It’s a wasted emotion. Being angry at yourself only creates more misery and unhappiness and your brother, sadly, is not here to face the consequences of his actions. For that matter, neither is your sister-in-law. She is hardly blameless. Any woman who chooses a man over her children, even if it is her husband, cannot be spared censure.”
“You have very definite opinions on the matter, Miss St. James,” Winn observed, thinking of the woeful tale of Mademoiselle Veronique Delaine. Would she have always put her daughter first? It certainly seemed as if she had in the end, regardless of how it had ended for her. While Calliope St. James’ life had been troubled, she had survived to adulthood.
Miss St. James fidgeted with the serviette on her lap. It was clear that she was debating how forthcoming to be with her response. Finally, she said, “I suppose I do. Children are very vulnerable. Smaller, weaker, dependent upon us to care for them and to provide for them, to teach them how to one day provide for themselves. There is nothing so selfish and so worthy of disdain as those who would neglect a child for their own interests.”
“I see. And were these ideas formed through your acquaintance with Miss Euphemia Darrow?”
“They were certainly cemented by my acquaintance with her. I have witnessed firsthand what the selfishness of adults does to children. Shuffled from one place to another by those who don’t wish to be bothered with you… I understood then that I was being wronged. But I didn’t know to what degree until I met Effie. Until she took me into her home and into her heart and offered me a