Page 111 of A Cinderella to Redeem the Earl

Shocked, Pamela stared. She had never suspected her mother of wanting to protect her.

‘When Long explained his investment proposition, your papa refused to have anything to do with it. He told me all about it later. It seemed to me like a wonderful opportunity.’

Pamela shot Damian an ‘I told you so’ look. Her mother seemed not to notice. ‘As I said, your father never did have a head for finances.’ A guilty expression crossed her face.

Pamela’s heart stilled. ‘Mother. What did you do?’

‘What was I supposed to do? Half the time we didn’t have enough money to pay the butcher. I wrote to Long, explained that after some thought Lamb had changed his mind and sent him a sum of money to invest.’

‘Where did you get the money without Father’s knowledge?’

‘I sold some jewellery. It was mine. Inherited from my mother. I received a good return on our money, too.’ She grimaced. ‘Of course, your father was too busy looking after his flock and reading all those dusty books of his to notice our situation had improved.’

‘What about my father?’ Damian asked. ‘It was Lamb who got him drawn into the scheme.’

She shook her head. ‘No. I wrote to him. Without my husband’s knowledge.’

‘What?’ Pamela said. ‘How could you?’

‘Long was threatening to remove us from the plan if we did not come up with more investors. I didn’t want that. I wrote to several of my husband’s old friends. I was doing them a favour, I thought.’

‘Why on earth would they listen to you, Mother?’ Pamela said.

Her mother waved a dismissive hand. ‘I was quite adept at writing as your father. I had to. To stave off tradesmen when necessary.’

‘You mean you committed forgery?’ Damian said in chilly tones.

She glanced at Damian. ‘Lord Dart’s father was the only one who responded. He had been falling into debt and saw it as a way to repair his fortunes.’ She wrung her hands. ‘I thought I was helping, Pamela. Then the money dried up and no one could get their investment back.’

‘So that is why Lamb denied any responsibility for the scheme,’ Damian said. ‘Because he truly hadn’t been involved.’

Mother winced. ‘If he had known, he would have wanted to pay the money back. We would have been paupers. We were barely making ends meet once the investment failed. It was a disaster.’

Sick to her stomach, Pamela stared at her mother. ‘But he did find out, eventually, didn’t he? I heard you and him arguing the day before he died.’

‘He found the ledger I had been hiding in my sewing room.’ Mother looked sad. ‘His heart gave out...’ her lips pursed ‘...leaving us to fend for ourselves. I was lucky Malcom came to our rescue, but you, you ungrateful hussy, had to ruin everything.’

‘Mother!’ Pamela looked at Damian, who was staring at her mother. ‘I am so sorry for what happened to your family. It seems it is our fault, after all.’

His gaze left her mother’s face and came to rest on hers. ‘Your father did not betray mine.’

‘My mother did.’

He shook his head. ‘What hurt my father most was the way your father cast him to the wolves, when they had been such close friends in their youth. It was the one thing that made him so angry. So vengeful. I think he would be happy to know your father was an innocent in all of this.’

‘Well, he has had his vengeance now,’ Mother said. ‘Our family name is ruined. We will have to leave town for several years. Malcom is very angry, might I say.’

The truth was not quite what Pamela had expected, but she was happy to know her father was not responsible for the downfall of Damian’s family. ‘It serves you right.’ She got up. She could no longer bear the sight of her mother.

She glanced at Damian. ‘It seems that justice has been served after all.’

And since there was no more to be said, she walked out of the room and down the stairs.

She was aware of Damian following.

At the front door, she turned around. ‘I really am sorry.’

He took her hand and brought it to his lips. ‘It was not your fault. And it seems my father and your mother were equally fooled by an unscrupulous fellow.’