eschewed dinner altogether and immediately donned her nightrail and a velvet wrapper that had been an extravagant but much beloved gift from Effie. It was the finest thing in her entire wardrobe and was not intended to be seen by anyone. She smiled at that, as she settled down into the small armchair before the window. With the candle burning on the table beside her, she reached for the book that had been discarded there. She should have taken to her embroidery instead, as she’d begun making a few items for the children, but her heart wasn’t in it. No, a Gothic novel to take her mind off her own current predicament and hopefully allow her to sleep was just the thing. That the hero in the book, in her mind’s eye, looked shockingly like her employer was unimportant.
A knock at her door interrupted her reading. It opened and Effie entered.
“Oh,” Effie said. “I was going to suggest we have a private supper in my office as we have a great deal to discuss, but it appears you have other plans.”
“I’m a bit tired,” Callie said. “I didn’t sleep well last night. Perhaps we could have that discussion later?”
Effie’s expression shifted slightly, appearing almost melancholy for a second. “I don’t think we can. It’s very important. Are you certain you won’t come down for dinner? I’ll even break out the brandy no one is supposed to know that I have.”
“I’m not very hungry, honestly,” Callie admitted. “I think my mind is racing too much for such things to enter it. And if you’ve something that important to say, that it required the consumption of strong spirits, then perhaps you should just get it out now.”
With a look of chagrin, Effie stepped deeper into the room and settled herself on the edge of Callie’s narrow bed. While the rooms were small to be sure, they had been appointed comfortably. “I’m afraid I’m very obvious, aren’t I?”
Callie nodded. “You rather are. It can’t be that bad, can it?”
Effie clasped her hands in her lap. “I’m afraid that it can. I spoke with Madame de Beauchamps. She told me something that was rather unexpected… it seems that your parents were married in secret. Highcliff is tracking down the necessary documentation, but they were married Callie. If this is true, then you’re not simply an heiress, but you’re also legitimate.”
That information simply refused to penetrate. Try as she might, Callie couldn’t quite grasp it. “I’m not a bastard.”
“I detest the use of that word but, under the circumstances, it’s certainly a forgivable lapse,” Effie remarked. “I can’t imagine how you must be feeling right now.”
“None of it seems real,” Callie stated. “It’s all like a strange dream where I can’t be certain what is truth and what is fiction. Everything I’ve known my entire life has suddenly been ripped out from under me.”
“It’s a great deal to take in, isn’t it? Suddenly being faced with the knowledge that what you thought you knew about your origins is all wrong. But this isn’t all bad, is it? To know that your parents loved one another… that they loved you?”
Callie sighed. “I always assumed that my mother was too burdened to care for me, whether because she had other children or a dozen other reasons that crossed my mind. It never occurred to me that she might have abandoned me to save my life. And now I wonder if she knew.”
“Knew what, dear?”
“That I was the cause of her death… if she hadn’t had me, then she would have remained content as his mistress and no one would have cared.”
Effie’s eyes widened. “That is not the way of it at all. I spoke with Madame de Beauchamps at length. Your mother had lost several babes already. I think she wanted nothing more than to have a child with the man she loved. And she didn’t die because you were born. She died because of the greed, pride and conceit of others. It had nothing to do with you.”
Callie sighed wearily. “It isn’t only that… I’ve been so angry. For years, I’ve been angry at her, railed and cried and shouted my hatred for her!”
“I’ve never heard you do any of that!”
“I may have shouted it into my pillow,” Callie admitted ruefully. “Regardless, I felt it. Every day of my life. And to have born such ill will toward her and to now know the true circumstances, as best one can, I cannot help but feel so