Page 39 of The Lovers (Echoes from the Past #1)

The landlord guffawed with laughter at his own wit, doubly entertained by Elise’s obvious shock.

She felt as if she were going to be ill.

“Thank you, s-sir,” she stammered and fled the tavern.

She needed fresh air. Elise ran for a few minutes until she was clear away from the Tabard and then stopped, gasping.

She’d understood the words, but her mind still refused to accept their meaning.

Gavin had become engaged to another and sailed off to Virginia without so much as a word of farewell.

He told her he loved her, promised her a life and a future, and had cast her aside the moment something more lucrative came along.

She had no right to judge him, she knew that, but he had no way of knowing that she was with child.

She’d agreed to his proposal and had been eagerly awaiting their departure.

Bitter tears spilled down Elise’s cheeks as she imagined what finding out about Gavin’s betrayal would have been like had she actually left home and come to him, expecting to start their life together.

She’d agonized for weeks about her decision when there was no decision to be made—it had been made for her.

Elise felt hollow inside as she wiped the tears from her eyes and began to walk in the direction of her childhood home.

The promise of seeing her sisters was the only thing that kept her from screaming like a wounded animal.

Elise walked slowly, giving herself time to calm down.

She couldn’t show up at her father’s house with puffy eyes and a red nose.

She was Lady Asher, and she had to act the part, whether she liked it or not.

Elise slowly approached the house. Her heart leaped at the thought of seeing Amy and Anne, thoughts of Gavin pushed to the back of her mind for the moment to be retrieved and reexamined later.

She missed the girls so much. They must have grown in the past few months, and they would have much to tell her.

Elise was sure they’d be full of questions about her new life.

The girls likely assumed, as anyone would, that she was a frequent visitor to the court of Charles II, being the wife of one of his favorites, but Elise’s life was even more isolated now than it had been before she married.

Elise approached the gate and gazed at the house.

It looked just as it had before, solid and forbidding, but something seemed different. She couldn’t quite figure out what.

Elise took a deep breath and knocked on the door, forcing herself to smile when it opened. An unfamiliar servant stared at her, waiting for her to speak. “I’m here to see Master de Lesseps. I’m Lady Asher. ”

The woman stepped aside and invited her in.

“Ye’d best wait here, me lady,” she said and disappeared down a passage, leaving Elise alone in the foyer.

Elise stood still and listened. It was near noon.

Her father always took his midday meal exactly at noon, and the girls were allowed to dine with him when there was no company expected.

Elise would hear their voices and would smell roasting meat and baking bread.

Her father liked meat at midday but often preferred to eat a lighter meal in the evening due to digestive problems. Sometimes he had nothing more than a bowl of broth and a slice of bread before going to bed.

Elise was surprised to see an older gentleman appear at the end of the passage.

He was tall and stooped, with a dark, curly wig that fell way past his shoulders, and yellow hose that drew attention to his long shanks and surprisingly large feet.

He stopped in front of her and gave a stiff bow. “Lady Asher. A surprise indeed.”

“Pardon me, but who are you, sir?” Elise asked. “Is my father all right?”

The man looked at Elise with an expression of utter astonishment.

His feathery eyebrows seemed to disappear beneath the curls of his wig, making Elise suddenly weak in the knees.

“Jonathan Collins, at your service,” he announced, bowing stiffly over Elise’s hand.

“My dear lady, I can’t imagine that your father hasn’t told you.

You must have forgotten. He sailed for the West Indies at the beginning of the month. ”

When Elise remained silent the man continued, “Surely you recall.”

“I’m afraid I don’t. When is he expected back? Did my sisters go with him?”

“He is not coming back, my lady,” Master Collins replied. “He sold the house to me just after the New Year. ”

Elise felt as if she were going to faint.

How could this be? How could her father just leave, and why?

If he sold the house just after the New Year, he must have been planning his departure at the time of Elise’s betrothal.

He hadn’t said a word. Could it be that his financial situation had been even more dire than he allowed her to believe?

“Would you like to sit down?” Master Collins asked. “Please, allow me to offer you some refreshment.”

Elise nodded her thanks, and the man invited her into the parlor. “Do any of the old servants still work here?” she asked as she took a seat by the hearth, glad to feel the warmth of the fire on her ice-cold hands.

“Yes, I retained most of the old staff, with the exception of the lady’s maid. I have no wife or daughters.”

So, Rose is gone , Elise thought, hoping that Rose was given a glowing reference and some monetary compensation after years of service.

“Is Grace still here?”

Master Collins shook his head and spread his hands in ignorance, indicating that he couldn’t be bothered with knowing the whereabouts of former servants.

“May I speak to Jasper then, Master Collins?”

“The groom? That’s most irregular, madam.”

“Please. I would be much obliged,” Elise pleaded, bestowing her most radiant smile on the old man.

Jasper would hardly have been in her father’s confidence, but if anyone knew anything it would be him.

Jasper was tall, fair, handsome, and the darling of all the servant girls.

They told him everything that went on in the house, and he gleaned a thing or two on his own from frequenting the taverns.

Jasper liked information and often made use of it in ways Elise didn’t approve.

She would never have known this for herself, but Gavin often told her not to say anything in front of Jasper since, if he had proof of their affection for each other, he might blackmail them to keep their secret.

Jasper entered the room a few minutes later, hat in hand, eyes glued to Elise. He looked subservient enough, but Elise could see a glint of amusement in his eyes as he looked at her. Master Collins excused himself, giving them a moment to talk in private.

“Hello, Jasper,” Elise said with a smile. She didn’t like the man, but she needed his help.

“Good day, Lady Asher. How may I be of service to ye?”

“Jasper, why did my father leave?” she asked without preamble. There was no point beating about bush. Jasper would either know, or he wouldn’t.

“I wouldn’t rightly know, yer ladyship,” Jasper replied smoothly.

“Jasper, I have it on good authority that you know more than most.”

“I can’t imagine who’d say such a thing,” Jasper replied, a small smile playing about his lips. Elise saw his gaze stray to the small silk reticule in her hands.

She took out a coin and held it up. The sum was more than Jasper would earn in a month. “Will you tell me now?”

“Certainly, yer ladyship.” Jasper reached for the coin, but Elise pulled her hand back. She wanted the information first.

“If I don’t believe you, I won’t pay,” Elise said sternly, although she knew that Jasper had the upper hand.

Jasper inclined his head in acknowledgement.

“The master was in financial difficulty, as I am sure ye know,” he said, giving her a shrewd look meant to remind her of her own hasty marriage.

“ Property values in Southwark have gone up, so ’e decided to sell the lot and journey to the West Indies plantation, where ’e intended to invest the money in buying more slaves and then selling them on in the American colonies for a handsome profit. ”

“And my sisters?”

Jasper looked at Elise in some surprise. “They left with ’im, of course.”

“Is that all?”

Jasper stepped from foot to foot, debating whether to tell her what she wanted to know. “Amy is to wed a plantation owner. The match was arranged by yer brother.”

“But she is only fourteen,” Elise gasped.

Jasper shrugged. He didn’t care about Amy’s fate any more than he cared about hers. Elise handed over the coin and rose to leave.

“Won’t you have some spiced wine, Lady Asher?” Master Collins asked as he rejoined them.

“Thank you, but I really must be on my way. My husband will be worried,” she added for good measure. She had no explanation for coming to call unaccompanied, and she assumed Master Collins surmised that her husband had no inkling of where she was. The sooner she returned to Asher Hall, the better.

“Jasper, see Lady Asher home,” Jonathan Collins ordered.

“Really, there’s no need,” Elise protested. The last thing she wanted was to spend the next half hour in the company of the smarmy Jasper, but she could see in Master Collins’s steely gaze that resistance was futile.

“There’s every need. Please, I insist.”

“Thank you, Master Collins. ”

The man bowed over her hand and wished her well, instructing Jasper to take the carriage to the riverbank rather than going on foot.

Elise was grateful of the offer. She was exhausted and emotionally overwrought.

She’d braced herself for an unpleasant day, but she’d never expected this.

Not only had she been left behind and betrayed by the people she cared about, but she was now completely on her own, with no one but her husband to care for her.

The thought made her snort with the irony of it.

Jasper threw her a look of disapproval, but she didn’t care.

His opinion was the least of her problems.