“I am Nicholas St Clair, her legitimate son.” Of course, she must have known that, must have seen Charles Holland grow from a boy to a man. “I have only recently been introduced to my half-brother, Charles, though I must confess, I was shocked to learn about my mother’s affair with Robert Holland.”
“When the young fall in love, it consumes them.” Mrs Abbott spoke with the wisdom of her years. “Esther had a weakness of the mind and was easily swayed. I came to learn that about her quite quickly.”
“A man should consider such things before beginning an affair.” Hopefully, it was clear he blamed Robert Holland. “Am I right to assume he didn’t love my mother?”
The woman winced. “It’s best to leave the past where it is. There’s no point upsetting yourself over things that happened long ago.”
And yet the past informed the present.
He might hang because of his mother’s mistake.
“Charles Holland blackmailed me. Oakmere Hall is drowning in debt, and he threatened to reveal my mother’s darkest secret unless I came to his rescue. So, you see why the truth is important now.”
A brief silence ensued.
“The truth won’t stop him wringing you for every penny.”
He swallowed hard. “Charles Holland is dead.”
The old woman almost choked on her own spittle. “Dead! Good heavens! But he was such a young man.”
Helen spoke about the house party at Grayswood Folly, though she did not explain how the man died. “So, you see, Mr St Clair was with me on the night of the murder. I am his alibi. But to speak up means telling my brother the truth.”
She wasn’t his alibi.
He’d had time to kill Charles Holland.
“We’re to be married,” he said, wishing to make sure Mrs Abbott knew he was nothing like Robert Holland. “But not until I prove I did not kill the man. I’ll not have people think she married a criminal.” He released a weary sigh. “Can you tell us what you know of Robert Holland? It might help. There’s talk he fathered another child a few years later with a mistress.”
“Miss Lavern,” Helen added.
Mrs Abbott took a moment to consider their request. “It wouldn’t surprise me if Robert Holland had children dotted far and wide. He had many affairs. He had a way about him, a way of twisting the truth to his advantage. Had your grandfather been an honourable man, he might have killed him, but he branded his daughter a harlot instead.”
Nicholas coughed to clear the knot in his throat. “My grandfather arranged her marriage to my father, a family friend.”
And yet no one had mentioned the secret child.
Had his father known?
Or had he been fed lies to hide the truth?
“Yes, Esther wrote to me a year after she’d left Bedford and spoke of her marriage, though that terrible business affected her more deeply than she cared to admit.”
“She never got over what happened with Mr Holland?” Helen said.
“A woman never forgets something so painful.” Mrs Abbott’s tired eyes held a wealth of pity. “I’m afraid there’s not much more I can tell you. That’s all I remember.”
“And you cannot think of a reason why someone might want to frame me for murder?” An image of his accuser flashed into his mind. “Robert Holland’s sister, Mrs Waltham, believes I’m to blame for her nephew’s death.”
She shook her head. “Perhaps it was grief talking.”
Frustrated at learning nothing useful, he stood. “Thank you for your time, Mrs Abbott, and for what you did for Esther. I appreciate watching my mother give her child to Robert Holland must have been upsetting.”
Mrs Abbott put her hand to her chest and whimpered. “Such memories might haunt a woman for the rest of her days. It’s why I lied to Robert Holland and your grandfather. It was the least I could do under the circumstances. Though it brought Esther little comfort.”
“Lied?” He thought it an odd thing to say. “Lied about what?”
She frowned. “About your brother.”