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when she was but a few weeks old.’
‘ Found her?’
‘Yes. She’d been left abandoned in your mother’s carriage. And Charlotte had absolutely no idea who her parents were or where she’d been born.’
Robert stared at his cousin as though she had suddenly sprouted two heads. ‘You surely don’t expect me to believe that my mother found a baby in her carriage—and that she actually brought it home? Dear God, what kind of lunacy is this!’
‘It is neither lunacy nor nonsense,’ Lady MacInnes assured him. ‘Indeed, I wish I could tell you it was, but I cannot. The very day your mother left Burgley Hall, she stopped for the night at an inn. The next morning, she came down to find that a baby had been left in her carriage. That baby was Hannah.’
Robert’s brows snapped together in an angry line. ‘I can’t believe this! Why the devil didn’t anyone tell me about this before?’
‘Because I was the only one who knew—’
‘Then why didn’t you tell me? You knew where to reach me.’
‘Yes, and I wanted to tell you years ago, but I promised your mother that I wouldn’t breathe a word of this to anyone.’
‘I am hardly anyone, madam!’ Robert cried, feeling anger and betrayal burning like twin fires in his soul. ‘I am my mother’s only son and the legitimate heir!’
‘Yes, and as such, I knew there was nothing that could be done to usurp your position. Especially by a woman.’
‘The fact that the child was female has no bearing on the issue!’ Robert snapped. ‘I had a right to know that a child brought up in my mother’s house, and who was foisted upon me as a sibling, was not related to me by blood.’ Robert stalked across the room, fighting to control his temper. ‘Why are you breaking your confidence now?’
‘Because on your mother’s death I saw no reason to continue to honour the promise I gave her,’ Lady MacInnes said. ‘Besides, as Viscount Winthrop, I felt it was your right to know.’
‘A feeling my mother obviously did not share,’ Robert said bitterly.
‘I cannot make any comment on your mother’s choice not to tell you, Robert. I only knew that I could no longer remain silent.’
Robert took a long, deep breath and then slowly let it out. Lady MacInnes was right. He certainly hadn’t been expecting anything like this. Smugly confident that the matter had been one of betrayal, he now found himselfstruggling to come to grips with a new and entirely unthinkable scenario.
‘I think you’d best tell me the whole story,’ he said, torn by a jumble of conflicting emotions. ‘And I would ask you to start at the beginning and not leave anything out.’
‘Of course. That is only fair. But do not reproach me, Robert, for I did warn you that what I had to say would come as a tremendous shock.’ Lady MacInnes picked up her skirts and walked back to her chair. ‘Well, as you know, your mother came to stay with us at Burgley Hall after your father died. Poor Charlotte. She was so terribly grief-stricken over John’s death. Indeed, I had serious concerns for her health when she first arrived. She was so lacklustre in spirit, and she had lost so much weight. But I never thought she would do anything so foolish—’
‘Pray keep to the story, madam.’
‘Yes, of course. Well, your mother left us after eight months to return home and she spent her first night at a small inn called the Golden Thistle near Bonnyrigg. To be honest, I was surprised when she told me she had stayed there.’
‘Why, is this…Golden Thistle a disreputable place?’
‘Not at all. The rooms are clean and the fare is good, but I had expected her to book a room at one of the larger inns along the road to Edinburgh.’
‘I see. And when Mama went to leave the next morning, you say she found…a baby in her carriage.’
‘That’s right.’
‘Which begs the question, why did she not just leave it with the innkeeper?’
‘That would, of course, have been the logical course of
‘ Found her?’
‘Yes. She’d been left abandoned in your mother’s carriage. And Charlotte had absolutely no idea who her parents were or where she’d been born.’
Robert stared at his cousin as though she had suddenly sprouted two heads. ‘You surely don’t expect me to believe that my mother found a baby in her carriage—and that she actually brought it home? Dear God, what kind of lunacy is this!’
‘It is neither lunacy nor nonsense,’ Lady MacInnes assured him. ‘Indeed, I wish I could tell you it was, but I cannot. The very day your mother left Burgley Hall, she stopped for the night at an inn. The next morning, she came down to find that a baby had been left in her carriage. That baby was Hannah.’
Robert’s brows snapped together in an angry line. ‘I can’t believe this! Why the devil didn’t anyone tell me about this before?’
‘Because I was the only one who knew—’
‘Then why didn’t you tell me? You knew where to reach me.’
‘Yes, and I wanted to tell you years ago, but I promised your mother that I wouldn’t breathe a word of this to anyone.’
‘I am hardly anyone, madam!’ Robert cried, feeling anger and betrayal burning like twin fires in his soul. ‘I am my mother’s only son and the legitimate heir!’
‘Yes, and as such, I knew there was nothing that could be done to usurp your position. Especially by a woman.’
‘The fact that the child was female has no bearing on the issue!’ Robert snapped. ‘I had a right to know that a child brought up in my mother’s house, and who was foisted upon me as a sibling, was not related to me by blood.’ Robert stalked across the room, fighting to control his temper. ‘Why are you breaking your confidence now?’
‘Because on your mother’s death I saw no reason to continue to honour the promise I gave her,’ Lady MacInnes said. ‘Besides, as Viscount Winthrop, I felt it was your right to know.’
‘A feeling my mother obviously did not share,’ Robert said bitterly.
‘I cannot make any comment on your mother’s choice not to tell you, Robert. I only knew that I could no longer remain silent.’
Robert took a long, deep breath and then slowly let it out. Lady MacInnes was right. He certainly hadn’t been expecting anything like this. Smugly confident that the matter had been one of betrayal, he now found himselfstruggling to come to grips with a new and entirely unthinkable scenario.
‘I think you’d best tell me the whole story,’ he said, torn by a jumble of conflicting emotions. ‘And I would ask you to start at the beginning and not leave anything out.’
‘Of course. That is only fair. But do not reproach me, Robert, for I did warn you that what I had to say would come as a tremendous shock.’ Lady MacInnes picked up her skirts and walked back to her chair. ‘Well, as you know, your mother came to stay with us at Burgley Hall after your father died. Poor Charlotte. She was so terribly grief-stricken over John’s death. Indeed, I had serious concerns for her health when she first arrived. She was so lacklustre in spirit, and she had lost so much weight. But I never thought she would do anything so foolish—’
‘Pray keep to the story, madam.’
‘Yes, of course. Well, your mother left us after eight months to return home and she spent her first night at a small inn called the Golden Thistle near Bonnyrigg. To be honest, I was surprised when she told me she had stayed there.’
‘Why, is this…Golden Thistle a disreputable place?’
‘Not at all. The rooms are clean and the fare is good, but I had expected her to book a room at one of the larger inns along the road to Edinburgh.’
‘I see. And when Mama went to leave the next morning, you say she found…a baby in her carriage.’
‘That’s right.’
‘Which begs the question, why did she not just leave it with the innkeeper?’
‘That would, of course, have been the logical course of
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