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Caleb strode into the empty Den. It was early afternoon, and no one was there yet. The butler looked startled to see him.

“I need to see Miss Hathaway.”

Her letter burned in his pocket. She’d ended their relationship, and Caleb had no idea why. Something made her change her mind. He didn’t know what it was, but he planned to find out. He wouldn’t walk away. Caleb loved her too much.

Fear tried to creep its way into his heart that she might not care for him as much, but he refused to allow it. Caleb didn’t doubt his feelings for Celeste or hers for him.

The butler bowed and said, “Miss Hathaway is gone.”

“Where is she?”

“My lord, she—”

“Donahue, Derry and I will speak with Lord Haven,” Devons said from the second-floor balcony.

He motioned to Caleb to join them. He raced up the grand staircase that led to the offices. Derry had the door open for him before he reached it. Devons nodded a greeting and said, “Have a seat, Haven.”

“Where is she?” Caleb asked as he sat.

Neither of the men answered him, and fury surged in Caleb. He wanted to see Celeste. Whatever happened, he could fix it. Devons eyed him. “Do you love her?”

“Yes,” he snapped.

Devons nodded. “Have you ever spoken with her about her family?”

He hated that they were interrogating him, but he suspected these two were the only ones who could help him find Celeste. “I know her father is likely a lord, but I wanted her to tell me everything in her own time.”

Derry sighed and poured them all glasses of brandy. Devons glanced at Derry. “It isn’t our story to tell.”

“There is nothing you can tell me that will change my love for Celeste. Nothing.”

The men nodded, and then Devons said, “Lord Burrows is Celeste’s father.”

Caleb blinked multiple times, shocked. He’d not expected that at all. Bile filled his throat that he’d been courting Celeste’s sister. “Burrows has never mentioned it.”

Derry smirked. “No matter how successful she’s become, he’s never acknowledged her.”

Horror and anger coursed through him. He and his family had been at the ball, and she’d not said anything. Caleb wished she’d told him, not because it changed his feelings, but because he would have never allowed the man to set foot in his home.

He drank the brandy provided by the men, still in shock. More than anything, though, he felt rage that this man knew Celeste existed and abandoned her. It broke his heart. Again, he asked, “Where is she?”

Derry said, “She is at my country estate with my wife. The Dowager Lady Burrows visited Celeste two evenings ago, and then she decided to leave.”

Caleb didn’t like the older woman; she exuded a coldness that had bothered him since they’d met. “What did she say to Celeste?”

“We don’t know,” Devons said.

Caleb rose. He would go to Burrows’ home first and then to Derry Hall. Devons pointed to the chair. “Sit. There is more.”

“You say there is nothing about Celeste’s past that will change your feelings for her?” Derry questioned.

“Nothing,” he bit out impatiently.

“Do you know what Devil’s Acre is?” Derry asked.

Frustrated and wanting to leave, he shook his head, his eyes flashing with annoyance.

Devons said, “Devil’s Acre is a slum in London. Not far from Mayfair, but it is a brutal place. When Celeste came to the Den looking for a job, she’d just been thrown out of a brothel in Devil’s Acre—a very shady establishment that did not care what happened to the ladies that worked there.”

Horror and sadness filled him. “I don’t care what her past is.”

“Her mother worked there, and once she passed away, the man wanted Celeste to take her place. I’m telling you this only, so you know what she likely fears London learning. She isn’t even aware that Derry and I know the details about her past.”

“The only thing that upsets me is that she had to endure such hardships. Did her father know?”

Devons and Derry nodded. “She had our messengers deliver letters to his home.”

Caleb stood and paced. “How do you allow your child and a woman you got in the family way to survive like that? Why did you allow him to frequent this club? Why did she?”

Derry sighed. “Celeste has always been very independent. Whenever we brought it up, she told us to leave it alone. I think she wanted to show him she was just as indifferent to him.”

He shook his head, hating that so much of Celeste’s life revolved around suffering. “I’m going to see Burrows, and then I’m going to Celeste. I love her. I don’t care about her past.”

Derry said, “Her mother’s name was Anna Hartly. Celeste changed her name when she started working for us.”

Perhaps another man would have been angry about all her secrets, but he only felt sadness. “Thank you.”

Devons said, “Good luck.”

Caleb strode from the room and out the front door. He needed to know what the Burrows family said to Celeste, and then he would make sure the man understood that if he ever came near her again, he’d destroy him. Disgust filled him that he’d planned on partnering with him on business ventures.

***

Celeste stared at the fountain in the gardens of Derry Hall. She closed her eyes and grimaced. By now, Caleb had received her letter. She didn’t want to think about how devastated he would be. Her heart ached, and Celeste wished she could go to him.

Returning to Devil’s Acre after ten years had been a shock. It was even more surprising to see that the squalor still existed. She read in one of the newspapers a few years back that the government had swept in and cleaned up the area.

She smirked, knowing that whatever had been done was probably a temporary fix. Celeste didn’t hate Devil’s Acre. She hated the pure desperation that hung over everything. Her mother flashed in her mind, remembering how sick she was, and how the brothel continued to make her work.

A tear slid down her cheek, thinking about the letters she sent to the Burrows resident begging for help and the brothel owner who thought she would step in and take her mother’s place. The Den had saved her.

Celeste hated that she felt ashamed about all these things that she couldn’t control. Her mother was a survivor. She shouldn’t feel that way. Still, Celeste didn’t doubt that the Dowager Lady Burrows would reveal details about the end of her mother’s life if she stayed with Caleb.

Sophia came down the terrace steps and smiled at her. Her eyes were still watery, but no more tears were falling.

“How are you doing?”

Celeste smiled sadly. “I will be fine. Thank you for letting me stay here.”

Sophia was quiet for a moment but finally said, “I know you are closer to my husband, but sometimes it helps to talk to someone, especially a person you don’t have a history with.”

She was so tired of pretending. “My mother, when she was young, met Lord Burrows in Hyde Park. She was seventeen and he was nineteen. He professed his love for her and rented an apartment, promising to marry her when he received his inheritance. Eventually, my mother fell pregnant with me, and she told him. He never came back.”

Sophia sat down next to her and squeezed her hand.

Celeste added, “Shortly after I was born, she discovered that he went to the Continent and married. My mother talked about him less and less as she played the part of mistress for various men. She was such a warm person, but eventually age caught up with her. Any potential protectors dried up.”

“Only tell me what you want.”

She wiped her eyes. “It feels good to share everything with someone. I’ve never done that.

The last year my mother was alive, she was working in this horrible place in Devil’s Acre.

The man who managed the women was a lecherous monster.

I discovered that Lord Burrows was back.

I was almost eighteen. I sent him several letters, pleading for his help. He never responded.”

Sophia wiped at her own tears. “That is awful. He is a wretched man. I didn’t know that about him.”

“I imagine most by-blows of lords suffer similar fates. I’m grateful your husband and Devons gave me a position. I knew nothing about working at a gentlemen’s club.”

Derry’s wife squeezed her hand again. “Those two are lucky to have you.”

She smiled, grateful. Sophia rose and paced back and forth. “You need to tell Haven all of this.”

Celeste shook her head. “No. The Burrows family has vowed to share details of the last year of my mother’s life. I won’t bring scandal to Caleb’s family, and I can’t endure my mother’s name being ripped apart in the press.”

“Your mother survived. There is no shame in that,” Sophia said adamantly.

“London society will say otherwise.”

Sophia smiled at her sadly. “If you love him, don’t give him up. You will regret it. Don’t let the ton win. Go to him and tell him everything.”

“I will think about it,” she said, and Sophia nodded before wandering back into the house.

Celeste stared back at the fountain, gutted. Had she made a mistake by leaving? She’d kept her life a secret for so long. The thought of revealing any of it terrified her, but Sophia was right; for too long, she’d looked at her life with shame. Celeste and her mother had been survivors.

Closing her eyes, she remembered her mother’s smile. The one she had before she became sick. Quietly she said, “Thank you, Mother.”