He had offered to help her with her business concerns. Had been livid when she had offered a post to Gareth Cavendish to act as steward. When she had proven too much of an irritation to him, he had decided to forgo the pleasure of having to saddle himself with an inconvenient and unloved wife. He had just moved to take the estate for himself.
Her stomach rebelled. She thought she was going to ruin the hall carpet, her thoughts made her so ill. But she struggled valiantly to retain her composure until she got to the safety of her bedroom, then relieved herself of the contents of her stomach in the chamber pot.
Pamela retched until she thought she would lose her stomach as well. Eventually the heaves subsided. She rinsed her mouth, forced herself to drink some water, then splashed her scalding face. If pride went before a fall, well, she should have known her triumph at Court would have to be paid for with an almighty tumble into the mire.
She waited eagerly for her aunt to join her, pacing back and forth like a mad woman. At length the older woman entered, now clad in an elegant dark blue day dress and with every hair in place.
"Aunt Susan, please, I must speak with you. I want to know if the Earl has told you anything about Father's will being overturned, and Bertie removed as the heir because he is not one of the body, only one by adoption."
She nodded. "It's true. He told me the very same. I have of course written to your dear Step-Mama. We will do everything we can. It may not go well for us, but the Earl has friends, connections-"
"So do we, without having to be beholden to a man who is little more than a passing acquaintance. We will write to Step-Mama, and find out precisely what has happened. And we should start packing to return to Somerset."
The older woman looked appalled. "Nonsense. That would be the worst thing we could do. It makes no sense to turn tail and run now that the word has got out about you losing the family home and fortune. You're just about to embark on the Season proper. After your wonderful reception at court, with the Prince of Wales being so gracious as to notice you, it would be the height of folly to leave now.
"Moreover, you're not paying attention to what is truly important. The fact that you and the Earl are to be married. That in itself ensures that no scandal will befall us."
"But Aunt-"
"It is too kind of him to stand by us in our hour of need. Anyone who could possibly doubt his devotion needs only see how promptly he came to our aid. He offered for your hand to ensure that the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune should not harm you in any way."
"Please, Aunt Susan, you're getting carried away. I can see how thrilled you are with the engagement, but I cannot think of marrying at this juncture, when my half-sisters are about to be cast out of their home. And of course Step-Mama and Bertie. They are not blood relations, but they are friends at the very least. I am Bertie's guardian. I have to protect his interests even if no one else seems to be making the effort to do so. He must be entitled to something, or my father's widow. I still don't understand. How on earth could such a thing have happened?"
Her aunt shrugged. "Wills are overturned all the time."
"But by Jonathan Deveril of all people?" Pamela paced up and down in front of the window, then turned to looked at her aunt once more. "It makes no sense to me. Has he ever struck you as greedy? Willing to do anything to get his hands on an estate? That he would cast out my own family for his own personal gain? And that his sister and friends would approve of him behaving in such a manner?"
Aunt Susan shrugged. "For a time there I believed he might be thinking about offering for you. But it was soon apparent that you had other fish to fry with the Earl.
"Besides, I didn't raise you to be a fool. A mere clergyman. Humph. The very idea. In any case, you've made a lucky escape. I might have considered the match if he had come to us and explained about his entitlement to your poor dear Papa's estate. Then he would not have been so objectionable, and I am sure he would have given up the parish and acted as a country gentleman ought.
"But no. He crept about behind our backs like a thief in the night. Never once even attempted to make it right by offering for you. And that is just as well, knowing all that I know now."
The more Aunt Susan railed against Jonathan, the less convinced Pamela became that the Earl was innocent in all of this. The image of a spider in a web hit her with full force.
"Aunt Susan, please don't let the Earl's title dazzle you. All is not what it seems here."
Her aunt paused in her diatribe. "How so?"
"I'm not sure. I need time to think." She pinched the bridge of her nose hard. What was she to believe?