Quin offered his arm to his mother, and they followed the maid down the hall and up the stairs to where Catherine waited beside the door.
Catherine smiled and then led them into the room. Quin noted how Lady Greatheart sat in a high-backed chair beside the fire, her posture perfect and an expectant air lighting up her features. She looked thinner, her frame slight, but her expression was just as fierce as he remembered.
“Lady Greatheart.” He bowed and went to stand beside Catherine. “I would like to ask for your granddaughter’s hand in marriage.”
“It’s about time.” Lady Greatheart’s voice was raspy but no less strong than he remembered. “Took you long enough. How much work did it take?” This final question was directed at his mother.
“It took some arranging, but he came to the sticking point,” the Duchess of Wesley answered, her tone amused.
“Figured,” Lady Greatheart said, mostly to herself. “Well, Catherine’s of age and I certainly give my blessing.”
“Thank you.” Quin bowed.
“So, when is the wedding? I’m not in my best form, but I’ll be there. I’m already sick to death of these four walls.” Lady Greatheart glared at the offending plaster and then regarded Quin expectantly.
He cast a questioning peek to Catherine, wondering how much of their current situation she wished to divulge to her grandmother. Certainly, she was on the mend, but perhaps Catherine didn’t want to give her all the particulars of their current predicament.
“There are a few details to figure out,” Catherine answered hesitantly.
“I’m thinking there’s more than a few,” Lady Greatheart remarked with mirth, then sobered. “Wait. What are you not telling me? Ducky…” She gave a warning in her tone as she studied her granddaughter.
“There’s a bit of a situation, but we have a solution.” The Duchess of Wesley stepped forward.
“What sort of situation?” Lady Greatheart’s suspicion raked over all three of them. Despite the tension of the atmosphere, Quin bit his tongue to keep his amusement in check. He’d seen that same expression on Catherine’s face, and he no longer wondered where she’d learned it.
“What are you smiling about?” Lady Greatheart speared him with a glare.
“Just noticing the familial resemblance,” Quin replied.
“Oh, speaking of familial resemblance,” Lady Greatheart interjected as if just remembering something she wished to say earlier. “Catherine, you said that Lord Bircham brought a chaperone for you, correct?”
“Yes.” Catherine frowned at Quin and then turned back to her grandmother. “What of her?”
“I figured out why she sounded so familiar,” Lady Greatheart said. “She sounds just like the late Lord Bircham’s wife, nasty woman. I never liked her. That voice grated on my nerves.” She gave a delicate shiver. “I only met her a few times, but it was enough.”
Catherine’s eyes widened. “Well, this is actually his aunt. Apparently, his mother is a twin and he brought Mrs. Burke to be my chaperone.”
“I see. That explains the similarity of the voice. That was a curious situation. They are family and all, but I never approved. Desperation causes people to do strange things.”
“But Grandfather named them the trustee of the estate. Why would he do that if you didn’t get along?”
“He was a safe option since we thought they couldn’t have children.” Lady Greatheart waved her hand in the air. “But that’s enough of this right now. No need for a lesson on the odder branches of your family tree, ducky—”
“What do you mean they couldn’t have children? Clearly, they had Lord Bircham…” Quin took a slight step toward Lady Greatheart, his mind doing some quick calculations and wondering.
His mother leaned forward. He could see her movement from the corner of his eye. Some sense of premonition hinted that they were about to uncover the missing piece of the puzzle.
Lady Greatheart continued, “Well, it was all kept quiet. I never approved. It’s a twisted thing, if you ask my opinion. Your grandfather understood why they did what they did. An heir is important, but I still didn’t approve of the lengths they took. But desperation sometimes makes you adopt certain circumstances as extenuating.” She exhaled slowly. “Lady Bircham couldn’t have children. She had a fever when she was young, and it left her barren. But they didn’t know this till she was married, of course. But her sister…”
“No…” Quin swore softly.
“Like I said, desperation can lead to some strange actions. The sisters were identical to everyone but those closest to them. I don’t know if Lady Bircham asked her sister or if it was Lord Bircham who had an affair…but the child was carried by the sister, not the wife. But of course no one knew that. The sister was living with them since their parents were deceased, so anyone visiting would just assume the pregnant sister was the lady of the house.” She shrugged. “Stranger things have happened, I’m sure, but I haven’t heard of many.”
Quin froze, giving a fruitless effort to processing the onslaught of information. So that would make Mrs. Burke the mother of Lord Bircham.
“But if they were so careful to hide the truth, how did you find out?” Catherine asked, her tone shocked.
Lady Greatheart replied, “One of my great friends had grown up with the twins. She could always tell them apart by the freckle under one of their earlobes. If you weren’t looking for it, you wouldn’t see it. Few knew of it, but on one of the rare visits I paid with my husband to Cambridge, we visited their estate and I, curious as I was, tried to determine which twin was which based on the freckle. I was confused because the pregnant one was the one with the freckle, not as I had expected. I thought I’d remembered incorrectly. However, when I came back and spoke with my friend, she turned ashen. She was the one who figured out what had happened.”