Sylvia squeezed her hand. “You always try to take the blame for every evil done around you. But what Northport does is not your fault. Men can be cruel and show a selfish streak a mile wide.”
“I could not agree more about Northport’s selfishness. She loved him.”
“Much like Sullivan loves you,” Sylvia said quickly, before Juliette returned, wearing a smile. They sat down to tea and found many subjects in common.
The guilt, however, built inside Aurora until she knew something had to be done about the duke. He could not continue treating his son and mistress so poorly. When she thought of everything she had done to keep Drew in possession of his fine future, and for a man so cold as the duke, her blood boiled.
Drew would make a wonderful duke one day, no matter who he married, or even if he did not. He would always be kind and fair to all who depended on him to make their lives better. And he deserved to be loved, by someone who made him happy.
Aurora sat silent for the most part but listened hard to every word the former mistress uttered about her situation. That might have been her in a few years. If she had stayed longer, she might be just as heartbroken when Drew finally married the society bride he’d been meant for all along.
They would never have met but for Northport’s harassment of his son, either.
Sylvia claimed she wasn’t to blame, but it was impossible not to see how her decisions and the duke’s, had wreaked havoc on the lives of others, and she had to do something about that.
It was time to stop feeling so sorry for herself, sitting here doing nothing with her days. She could not wallow inside a hotel forever, waiting to hear that Drew had chosen a bride at last before she moved on with her life.
Sylvia had already asked her to come home to Wharton House. The first week, she had asked every day. She said the dowager wanted her there. At the time, Aurora had refused, believing the offer was not in anyone’s best interests. But she was lonely for her family, and she could not live apart from them forever. She’d needed time to get her bearings before she could be of help to others, too.
She wanted more for her life still, more than just returning to Wharton House and sitting about in drawing rooms, waiting for the next bit of excitement to come her way.
She had been part of a scandal, however briefly. She wanted no more of that in her life. But she was still not sure Wharton House was the best place for her to go. Neither was Grafton House with Eugenia, either.
She sucked in a breath. What to do? She still wanted to help people. She looked across at her cousin and Juliette, speaking with such animation, and cleared her throat. They both looked at her immediately.
She cleared her throat again and addressed Juliette first. “Tell me what you most want in the world at this very moment?”
The woman blushed. “My life back.”
Aurora could understand that but surely that wouldn’t be enough now, “Your life, or a better one?”
“The same but better,” Juliette confessed haltingly. “I want him to realize his mistake and want me back.”
Aurora nodded. “Would you take him back?”
“Yes,” Juliette whispered. “In a heartbeat I would.”
Sylvia winked at Aurora. “He probably should suffer first, before he was so richly rewarded.”
The thought might never have occurred to the older woman before Sylvia mentioned it, but a slow smile spread over Juliette’s face as the idea took hold. “How?”
Sylvia patted the woman’s hand. “Perhaps we can help you with that. The first thing, though, is that we should introduce ourselves properly. I am the Marchioness of Wharton, and this is my cousin, Miss Aurora Hillcrest.”
“Wharton?” The older woman blinked rapidly at Sylvia and then swiveled around to stare at Aurora. “Aurora Hillcrest. The Aurora Hillcrest? The one…”
“Yes, that one,” Aurora admitted, refusing to feel guilty that she’d been Drew’s mistress for a time.
The other woman grew very excited. “I so wanted to meet the woman who finally captured Sullivan’s heart! His father was in such a rage about you. He said the only way to separate you both was to threaten Drew with the loss of his inheritance, so you would turn elsewhere for another wealthy protector and leave him alone. Then Sullivan would have no choice but to marry someone he picked out.”
Aurora gaped. “He did all that just to get rid of me?”
“Indeed, he did. There is nothing he won’t try to control his son. Drew thwarted him before by marrying Clare without his blessing. He wasn’t about to risk it happening again.”
Aurora sat forward. “I thought Northport liked Clare? Drew told me his father wept over her grave.”
“Tears of joy, most likely. Clare was a thorn in his side from day one. There was some scandal about her, hushed up after the marriage had taken place in something of a rush.”
Aurora laughed incredulously, stunned by the news. “All this time, I thought Clare the perfect woman.”
“But she was perfect. Perfect for Sullivan while the marriage lasted, anyway. Once she was gone, all the joy in Drew died with her. I had not seen him happy in a very long time.”
But Aurora had. He’d been happy with her.
And then she’d gone and spoiled it all by leaving him, giving in to his father’s blackmail, as well.
She exchanged a long glance with her cousin, who looked at her with a wry smile. Sylvia nodded slowly.
Yes, she could still help people be happy again. She’d help Juliette make Northport see the error of his ways if she could…and then start mending other broken hearts one at a time, including her own.