“I’m glad,” he said simply.

He was, she realized, but there was another emotion in his eyes. One that she couldn’t read.

With twice as many males as females present, Cassie was able to sit next to Grey and opposite both her cousins. She asked them question after question about the family. Their parents were well, and George, the brother who’d been only a baby when Cassie last saw him, was now a student at Oxford and planning to follow his father into the church. The three of them ate and laughed and sighed happily over the apple currant tart.

When Lady Costain rose to signal the end of the meal, she said, “Rather than separating the males and females for port and tea, I suggest that perhaps Catherine and her cousins might like time together to talk since they have much to catch up on.”

Cassie, feeling awkward, glanced at Grey. After he gave her a slight nod, she said, “I’d like that very much if it’s agreeable to Richard and Neil.”

They said they’d like nothing better, so the St. Iveses were escorted to the library, where both port and tea were available. Feeling reckless, Cassie poured three glasses of port and settled down in front of the fire with hers.

Her cousins sprawled opposite, visibly fatigued from their long journey, but deeply content. Richard remarked, “I noticed Lord Wyndham called you Cassie. Do you prefer that to Cat?”

“Either will do. I haven’t been Cat in almost twenty years. I rather like hearing it again.” Cat had been a happy, mischievous child. Very different from serious, haunted Cassie, but both of them were real. “Do your parents know about me, or are they in Norfolk?”

“They’re in London, but we didn’t tell them,” Richard said. “I know Kirkland slightly and he gave me the information about you so I could choose how to handle it.”

“Kirkland,” she said wryly. “I should have known. Why didn’t he tell your father since they were both in London? I’m sure they know each other.”

Neil grimaced. “About ten years ago an imposter showed up. It was very painful for the family, especially my parents.”

“Someone was impersonating me?” she asked, startled. “Why?”

“Not you. Paul, since he was the heir to St. Ives,” Richard explained. “Like Paul, the imposter had your mother’s dark hair, and he looked quite a bit like Paul. Like a St. Ives. And he’d gathered enough information about the family to be moderately convincing, too.”

“If only it had been Paul,” Cassie said sorrowfully. “But I’m sure I was the only survivor.” Tersely she described the fire and how she’d been saved by her nurse, Josette. The story hadn’t seemed suitable to tell during a celebratory dinner.

“At least it was quick, not months of misery in a dungeon waiting for execution,” Neil said, repressed savagery in his voice. “Your family’s deaths changed everything and not just because Father inherited the title.”

“Though going from the vicarage to St. Ives Hall was a considerable change, and not always as amusing as one might think,” Richard observed.

Neil gave a nod of agreement. “If your family had died of fever or smallpox, it would have been tragic but could be considered God’s will. Being murdered because you were English in the wrong place at the wrong time was utterly, infuriatingly wrong.”

“We both wanted to go into the army and kill Frenchmen,” Richard said bluntly. “But since I’m the heir, I accepted that my responsibilities lay in England.”

“So I got to be the dashing hero,” Neil said with a grin. “I’m a captain in the Life Guards.”

“To be fair, he’s probably better at mayhem than I.”

“I look better in the uniform, too,” Neil said smugly.

Cassie laughed at the brotherly teasing. “Tell me more about the imposter. How did you find he wasn’t Paul?”

“My mother had always doted on Paul, and she embraced him wholeheartedly. She wanted him to be Paul. My father wasn’t so sure,” Richard explained. “He’d never expected to become Lord St. Ives and he was shattered when your family was killed. But he’d had ten years of being a lord by the time the imposter showed up. He found that he liked it. So when he had doubts about the imposter, he wasn’t sure if they were genuine, or if he didn’t want to believe for selfish reasons.”

“My father said his brother was the most honorable man he knew,” Cassie said softly. “No wonder he was torn. How was the imposter exposed?”

“I could see that Richard had some of the same conflicts as Father,” Neil said. “It was easier for me since I wasn’t the heir and didn’t have as much to lose. Faux Paul was fairly convincing, but I didn’t have the sense I’d ever known him before. He felt like a stranger. After I talked it over with Richard, we started setting traps. Pretending we remembered doing things with him that never happened and the like. He was good at being evasive, but eventually we had enough evidence to support our belief that he was a fraud and we presented it to our parents.”

“Mother didn’t want to believe us,” Richard said, continuing the story. “Father frowned and called Faux Paul in and demanded he take off his shirt.”

Cassie blinked. “Why?”

“Apparently when Paul was very small, before you were born, he fell against a piece of jagged wood and was badly injured. He almost died and was left with a huge scar on one shoulder. Few people knew about that, but of course my parents did.”

Fascinated by the story, Cassie asked, “Did Faux Paul try to escape?”

“Very briefly, but Richard and I were both there,” Neil said grimly. “I pinned him down and cut off his shirt. No scar. That was enough to convince even my mother.”

“What happened to him?”

“We conducted a family court right there,” Richard said. “His name was Barton Black and he’s actually a first cousin of ours. His mother was a bastard daughter of our grandfather, who seems to have been a lusty old goat. When Barton learned of the deaths in France, he began studying the family. When enough time had passed to blur memories, he showed up and claimed to be Paul.”

“I think this is one cousin I’m glad I haven’t met,” Cassie said, bemused. “What did the family court decide?”

“My father hadn’t known about Barton’s mother, and he thought she and Barton had been treated very shabbily. He made Barton sign a detailed confession with all of us as witnesses, then said he could go free.” Richard laughed. “Barton was a cheeky devil. Said he wanted to leave England for warmer climes and asked for the fare to Botany Bay because he’d heard there were great opportunities there.”

“Father agreed and we escorted him to the docks and put him on a ship. We’ll not see him again.” Neil grinned. “I rather liked him even if he wasn’t Paul. But you can see why when Kirkland said Catherine St. Ives was alive, Richard decided to look you over before we told our parents. Since I was in London, he roped me into coming.”

“You’d not have forgiven me if I hadn’t asked,” Richard pointed out.

“You had no doubts of my identity?” Cassie asked curiously. “Twenty years is a long time. Two thirds of our lives.”

“You had the hair,” Neil explained. “Also, Kirkland said he’d known you for years. Since you’d never announced yourself to the family, it didn’t seem as if you were after anything.”

“Why didn’t you tell us?” Richard said, his voice low and laced with pain. “Did you think we didn’t care?”

Cassie looked down at her port and realized that she’d drunk it all. She rose and poured more, topping up her cousins’ glasses as well.

When she resumed her seat, she said, “I was an orphaned child in France, lucky to be alive. My English life seemed very distant, no more than a dream. With a war going on, it wasn’t a simple matter of writing a letter. By the time I was old enough to return, too much time had passed. I didn’t think anyone would remember or care who I was.”

“You should have known better, Cat,” Richard said. “I meant what I said to the Costains. You were like a sister. How could you imagine Neil or I would forget you?”

As she gazed into her wine, she realized there was another reason. “I needed to believe that … that your family was well and happy,” she said haltingly. “If I’d found that one of you had died, I wouldn’t have been able to bear it.”

Neil leaned over to give her shoulders a brotherly squeeze. “We were well and happy, Cat. But we would have been happier to know you were alive.”

“What have you been doing all these years?” Richard asked. “Did you marry? Have children? How have you survived?”

She hesitated, wondering how much to say. But Richard and Neil were family. They deserved some truth. “I’ve spent much of my time in France, but I return to England regularly. I do work that the British government considers useful.”

“You’re a spy,” Neil said with dawning understanding. “Damn, Cat, but you always were the gamest girl I ever knew!”

“I think I better understand why you didn’t write us,” Richard said soberly. “The work you’ve been doing must be very dangerous.”

Cassie shrugged. “There was no reason to disrupt your lives, and if something happened to me, you wouldn’t have the pain of losing me a second time.”

“Actually, you had a very good reason to let us know you were alive, Cat,” Richard said. “Didn’t you know that you’re an heiress?”


Chapter 39

“An heiress?” Cassie echoed, startled. “My parents’ marriage settlements would have specified portions for each child of the union, but surely that went back into the St. Ives estate after our deaths were reported. Why would there be any money due to me?”

Neil grinned. “You tell her, Richard. You’re the one who spends all the time with the estate lawyers and bankers.”

“For my sins.” Richard rolled his eyes. “You’re still eligible for your portion since you are alive, but that’s just the beginning. Your mother had a substantial fortune, and the settlements divided it equally among her children. Since you’re the only surviving child, her entire fortune comes to you, along with your portion from the St. Ives estate.”