To Tempt an Irish Rogue (21 page)
Read To Tempt an Irish Rogue Online
Authors: Kaitlin O'Riley
Tags: #Romance, #General, #Historical, #Fiction
Chapter 25
Sisters
Paulette hid in the upstairs office of the Hamilton Sisters’ Book Shoppe until she was quite sure Declan Reeves had left the store. She and Colette now each had her own office on the second floor of the shop and Paulette’s had been elegantly decorated. The long, velvet divan proved to be quite handy that afternoon, as she lay there and wept until she had fallen asleep. She crept back down at closing time while Colette was dismissing their staff, who had done remarkable work all day.
“Where have you been?” Colette asked when they were alone. “I haven’t seen you for hours. I thought perhaps you’d left earlier with Mother and Yvette.”
“I was in my office. I had a terrible headache, but I didn’t wish to go home. I went upstairs to rest on the divan for a bit and I fell asleep.” Paulette attempted to smooth her tousled hair.
Colette studied her face with concern. “Well, you don’t look very well, I must say. It’s a shame you missed so much of a great day.”
“Yes, I know,” she said with a tired smile. “But I’m so glad it was such a success!”
“Well, I am very glad that you’re still here.” Colette grinned conspiratorially, her eyes dancing. “I had planned on the two of us having a private little celebration before Davies takes us home. If you’re feeling up to it, that is. You really don’t look well.”
“Oh, I’m fine now. Truly. I’d love to celebrate with you!” Surprised but delighted by the idea, she followed her older sister to the small kitchen area in the back of the shop. There Colette produced a bottle of champagne and two glasses.
“You and I worked very hard to make these two shops successful,” she explained, as she poured the sparkling liquid into the crystal glasses. They sat at the elegant wooden table, draped in a pretty lace cloth. “Although I don’t think Father would have approved of all the changes that we made, I do think he would be very, very proud of us today. And I don’t believe any of it would have been possible without your help, Paulette. Especially in those early days. Do you remember staying up all night with me, painting the bookshelves with the paint I barely had enough money to buy?”
Paulette smiled, accepting the glass that Colette handed to her. Recalling that time fondly, she could almost smell that cream-colored paint again. “Yes. And I made all the little signs for the shop.”
“Oh, you were quite proud of those signs! And I bought all that green ribbon from the clothes money Uncle Randall had given us. How determined we were to change the shop!” Colette sighed. “You were so little, Paulette, yet you worked harder than any of them, right by my side, always cheerful and determined to make the shop better. You were not even aware of how dangerously close we were to losing it.”
“No, I knew. I had that habit of eavesdropping, remember?” Paulette had been very afraid of being thrown out on the street, as Uncle Randall had proclaimed would happen to them after their father died. Thankfully none of his predictions came true.
“Yes, it seemed you especially liked to eavesdrop when Lucien came around to visit me.” Colette laughed softly at the memory. “Six years ago we couldn’t even imagine a day like today, having a grand opening for a new bookshop, five times as large as Father’s!”
“But we did it!”
“Yes, we did. So here’s to you and me and these two bookshops we love so much. To the Hamilton sisters.” Colette raised her glass.
Paulette raised hers and said, “To you and me, Colette,” before taking a small sip of the bubbly liquid. She placed her glass of champagne on the table, not wanting any more, for her weak stomach could not handle it. She and Colette had worked very hard over the years and they deserved to celebrate their success. Paulette should have been overjoyed tonight. Inexplicably, tears welled in her eyes.
“Oh, Paulette, what is it?” Colette set down her glass, her expression concerned. “Please tell me what’s wrong. You haven’t been yourself for some time now.”
“Well, I suppose you might as well know, since almost everyone else does now.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I confided in Yvette first, although Jeffrey knew part of it, but then I think Yvette told Jeffrey and Juliette. And Jeffrey told him today. So it’s really not a secret anymore.”
“What isn’t a secret anymore?” Colette’s expression changed from concern to confusion.
“I’m going to have a baby.”
Colette blinked. “What did you say?”
“I’m going to have Lord Cashelmore’s baby.”
With one swift motion, Colette downed the rest of her champagne. She stared at Paulette. “I heard what you said, yet I can’t believe it. Are you sure?”
“As sure as one can be about these things. I visited a doctor when I was in Brighton.” It was difficult to tell her eldest sister these things. Colette had been like a mother to her in more ways than their own mother had. She valued Colette’s opinion higher than anyone’s and the thought of disappointing her was unbearable.
“I see. At least I think I see.” Colette still seemed stunned by the news. “So I take it that Lord Cashelmore came back to visit the bookshop more than that one time?”
“Yes,” Paulette admitted ashamedly. “He came by quite often.”
Her sister looked so sad. “Oh, Paulette, I wish you had come to me about this.”
Before Paulette could respond, the door to the kitchen opened and Juliette, Lisette, and Yvette filed in.
“We knew we’d find you two here!” Juliette declared in triumph.
Lisette smiled broadly. “We decided we wanted to come and celebrate the new shop with you both!” She placed a basket in the center of the table, filled with chocolate and other delicious treats.
“Oooh, champagne!” Yvette exclaimed, eyeing the bottle and glasses with delight. “I can have some, can’t I?”
“Yes, of course, but just a little.” Juliette picked up the bottle and began pouring champagne into crystal glasses. “We’re celebrating a few things this evening. The new shop named in our honor. My homecoming. The five of us being together again. And Paulette’s important news.”
“Paulette has important news?” Lisette’s brows furrowed in confusion, and her pretty greenish-blue eyes stared at Paulette with interest.
“Oh, we’ll get to that,” Juliette said mysteriously. “Be patient.”
Inwardly, Paulette grimaced. How on earth would she be able to face Lisette when she learned about the baby? Her sister would be heartbroken.
“Where’s Mother?” Colette asked.
“We left her at home, resting with the children. While Lucien, Harrison, Quinton, and Jeffrey are off to their gentlemen’s club,” Yvette explained. “So this shall be our club!”
As the five women sat around the table bathed in the golden light from the gas lamps, they held up their glasses of champagne.
“To the Hamilton sisters and their new shop,” Juliette announced. “And to all five of us being together again. Just the girls.”
While they sipped their champagne, Paulette stared at her four sisters, so alike yet so very different in personality. Colette, brunette and serious, was the one who took on the responsibility of caring for all of them. Juliette, dark-haired and flashing eyes, was always seeking fun and adventure. Then there was auburn-haired Lisette, sweet and calm, who was the peacemaker of the family. And little Yvette, with her blond curls and love of all things pretty, was sharp and witty. Paulette loved them dearly and loved it best when they were together like this. They weren’t above the old bookshop with their parents any longer, but it was close enough.
“Colette, you need to be careful with champagne,” Juliette teased with a gleam in her eyes. “Remember what happened the first time?”
“I’m always careful with champagne now,” their oldest sister remarked laughingly. “I learned my lesson that night with you and Jeffrey.”
“What happened with you and Jeffrey?” Yvette asked with keen interest.
“Oh, never mind!” Juliette waved her hand. “That’s a story for another night.”
Lisette asked, “Now someone please tell me, what is Paulette’s big news?”
The other four suddenly grew quiet. Paulette hesitated, feeling wretched at having to reveal her shameful predicament to Lisette. She simply could not bring herself to say the words aloud. Minutes ticked by.
“Somebody tell me!” Lisette cried in frustration.
Colette spoke up first. “Paulette is going to have a baby.”
An audible gasp came from Lisette, her face stricken with disbelief. “You must be jesting!”
“I wish it were a jest . . .” Paulette finally said so softly.
“Don’t look at me,” Juliette offered helplessly. “I only learned of it this afternoon when I arrived.”
“For once I knew about something important before any of you,” Yvette piped in, happy to be the first one in on the secret for a change.
“So it’s true?” Lisette asked, her worried eyes searching Paulette’s. “You’re really expecting?”
“Yes.” Paulette reached her hand out to Lisette, who sat beside her.
Looking distressed, Lisette did not take it. “I don’t understand any of this and I must say, you all seem very calm about the situation. Who is . . . Who is the father?”
“His name is Lord Cashelmore,” Paulette responded, feeling overcome with shame. “He’s a widower from Ireland.”
“Lisette, you met him briefly at Devon House a little while ago,” Juliette explained. “He came by to pick up his daughter.”
“I’m very confused,” Lisette began. “Why was—”
“Wait a moment!” Paulette interjected. “Did you say that Declan Reeves was at Devon House? This afternoon? With Mara?” Paulette was stunned by this turn of events. How was such a thing even possible? How had Juliette and Lisette met him?
Juliette explained it all calmly. “Yes, Lord Cashelmore’s daughter and Sara became rather attached to each other while they were playing in the children’s section of the shop earlier, which is where I met Lord Cashelmore this afternoon quite by chance. Yvette had already filled me in about your relationship with him, you see. So he and I chatted for a while and then I invited Mara over to spend the rest of the afternoon with Sara. He agreed and came by later to pick her up. And the situation being what it is, I took the opportunity to introduce him to everyone.”
“Introduce him as what?” Paulette cried, her heart beating wildly.
“As Lord Cashelmore, who else?” Juliette gave a little laugh. “It’s up to you to introduce him as your fiancé, not me.”
“Mother seemed to like him.” Yvette nodded at her in affirmation. “I liked him, too. And you were so right, Paulette. He is
very
handsome. And such a divine accent! Although he does have that dark and brooding look about him, so I could understand where someone would think he killed his first wife.”
very
handsome. And such a divine accent! Although he does have that dark and brooding look about him, so I could understand where someone would think he killed his first wife.”
“WHAT? ”
Lisette looked about ready to faint.
Lisette looked about ready to faint.
Paulette covered her face with her hands, completely mortified. Things seemed to have spiraled out of her control today. When she was a little girl she used to believe that she could wish herself out of any situation. But no matter how hard she wished now, her tangled situation with Declan Reeves would not magically disappear.
Colette turned to Lisette to explain. “Yes, unfortunately our Paulette has gotten herself involved in a bit of a predicament. It seems Lord Cashelmore is under suspicion for causing his first wife’s untimely death in a fire.”
“How is it that do I not know about any of this?” Lisette eyed each one of them in turn.
“It just sort of happened little by little,” Paulette began to explain slowly. “I met Declan Reeves at the bookshop one afternoon, and even though I knew about the rumors that followed him, and Colette warned me to stay away from him, I . . . I just couldn’t. He’s a good man, I swear to you. He’s just plagued by these vicious rumors, but he had nothing to do with his wife’s death. He’s gentle, and kind, and a wonderful father and—”
“I’ll attest to that part at least, from what I saw of him today with his daughter,” Juliette interrupted.
“Thank you,” Paulette continued. “He loves her and is trying to help her overcome the loss of her mother. Mara liked books so he kept coming by the shop and we spent more and more time together. Because Colette didn’t approve of him, I assumed you would all feel the same way so I didn’t tell any of you about him—”
“But she told me though,” Yvette interrupted proudly.
Paulette gave her a sharp look. “Yes, but not at first. I kept the whole matter a secret, not ever thinking it would amount to anything so serious. But one thing led to another . . . and well, now . . . I told Yvette when I suspected about my condition, and I just told Colette, but I felt the worst about telling you, Lisette, knowing how much you want a baby and I just—” Paulette could not continue for she was about to cry again.
Lisette remained silent, eyes downcast. The others exchanged worried glances across the table and the room grew quiet.
Wracked with guilt, Paulette pondered the prospect of crawling into a hole in the ground somewhere and never coming out. Doing so might be a preferable choice to the mess she had just made of her life.
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