The Gentleman Who Loved Me (Heart of Enquiry Book 6)(32)

Papa looked ready to argue, but Mama put a staying hand on his arm. “I think it’d be best for me to speak to her alone, Ambrose.”

“If you’re certain, my love.” At Mama’s nod, he left, sending Rosie a warning glance.

Mama said quietly, “The last thing I want is for you to make the same mistakes that I have, Rosie. Marrying Draven remains the biggest single regret of my life.”

“More than having a bastard?” The words left before she could stop them.

“How could I regret having you, my darling?” Mama came to her, tipped her chin up. “From the moment you were born, you were my reason for living. When Draven took you from me, I vowed that I would do anything to get you back. That I would never stop looking until you were in my arms once more.”

Seeing the shimmer in her mother’s eyes, Rosie felt heat push behind her own. The truth left her. “I hate being a bastard.”

“I know you do. And I am sorry,” Mama whispered.

When her mother reached for her, Rosie took a step back. “I’m not saying that to make you feel guilty. I know you’ve done everything in your power to be a good mother to me. I know you love me.”

“I do, Rosie.” Mama’s voice broke. “So much.”

“Then tell me the truth about my past.” Fear lodged in her throat; she spoke around it. “Tell me about Andrew Corbett.”

Mama drew the lapels of her dressing gown closer. “You are certain you must know? The past… it’s ugly.” Shadows darkened her eyes. “That is why I’ve always sheltered you from it.”

“I want to know,” Rosie said in a quivering voice. “Mr. Corbett—he knows me, doesn’t he?”

Mama sank onto the settee, nodded slowly.

Shivering with anticipation, Rosie took the adjacent seat. “How? When?”

“It was during your early years. Before Coyner.”

Whenever Mama referred to Gerry, her voice vibrated with hostility—understandable, given that Gerry had kidnapped and nearly killed her. On the rare occasions when Rosie thought of her former guardian, confusion bombarded her. How could she reconcile the doting, if oft-absent man she’d known with the villain that he’d become? Sometimes she even dreamed of that terrifying night when she’d helped Papa to rescue Mama and defeat Gerry.

Tamping down dread, she said, “I don’t remember anything before Coyner.”

“I had hoped it would remain that way.” Mama let out a breath. “You know that after you were born, Draven took you from me. Used you as leverage to bend me to his will. After his death four years later, I ransacked his belongings for any clue to your whereabouts, and I found… a receipt.” Her throat rippled. “He’d paid a woman by the name of Kitty Barnes to care for you.”

“Kitty Barnes.” As Rosie repeated the name, no face emerged in her mind’s eye, yet a sense of apprehension swamped her. “I don’t remember her.”

“That is not surprising since you left her keeping when you were only four years old. After I learned of Barnes, it took me another four years to hunt her down. It was during this search that I met Andrew Corbett.”

Rosie’s pulse raced. “You know And—I mean, Mr. Corbett?”

“I met him briefly.” For some reason, Mama’s cheeks flushed. “The investigators I hired to find you had proved worthless, but they had dredged up one clue. Kitty Barnes had an associate and lover named Augustus Longfellow.”

When Mama hesitated, seeming to struggle with her next words, Rosie pleaded, “Go on, Mama. Please.”

“Longfellow was easier to track down than Barnes. He was using his real name, Andrew Corbett, by the time I found him working in a house of ill repute owned by a Mrs. Wilson.”

Rosie blinked. “Working there? You mean as a footman?”

“As a prostitute,” Mama said bluntly. “There are dens of iniquity which cater to women, my dear, and Mrs. Wilson’s was the premier place of its time. Corbett was her star attraction. Rumors that he was one of the Prince Regent’s by-blows boosted his popularity.”

Rosie’s mind whirled. Andrew had been a prostitute? And he might have royal blood? As she tried to absorb these staggering facts, she recalled his masterful lovemaking. How skillfully he’d brought her pleasure. And her cheeks burned.

“It was through Corbett that I located Barnes. Although he and she had parted ways some years ago, he told me that she’d gone into hiding because of her debts to Bartholomew Black, an infamous cutthroat.” Mama paused. “Corbett’s information allowed me to flush Barnes out and, eventually, to find you. He didn’t have to help me, but he did. And he refused payment, too.”

“Why did he help you?”

“Because he is a gentleman. Not in Society’s eyes, of course, but in the true sense. I believe his honor prompted him to do the right thing.” Mama’s fingers knotted in her lap. “His honor… and you.”

“Me?”

“He told me that Kitty had decided to… sell you. To the highest bidder,” Mama said in a haunted whisper. “He parted ways with her because he could not condone her decision.”

A sickening sensation gripped Rosie by the throat. She couldn’t speak. Couldn’t give voice to the vile, unthinkable question exploding in her brain.