Secrets
Meg was certain Charlie must have remembered what she’d told him then. Bertram Westmoreland was the only bastard he could’ve been speaking of. She dropped her eyes to the floor for a moment in concentration before returning them to Jonathan’s face. “If I tell the Ashtons who I really am, do you think they will be angry?”
“No, and certainly not if you tell them why you’ve kept it a secret.”
“Do you suppose they will keep my secret? I’m still not certain what I plan to do.”
“Do you mean as far as your mother is concerned?”
Meg nodded. There was a knock at the door, and a male voice shouted, “Room service.” Carrie entered the room and smiled as if she was apologizing for intruding. The conversation froze in place as Carrie and the gentlemen set up Meg’s breakfast on a table across the room, and then he left, Carrie returning to the bedroom.
Jonathan had scarcely even blinked the whole time they had company. “They will keep your secret, Meg, but there are some things we need to consider.”
She felt her stomach tighten again. “Consider? Like what?”
For the first time, he looked away from her. “You do know about the contract, correct?”
Meg nodded. She was aware that her father, Henry Westmoreland, had arraigned with Mr. Ashton for her to marry Charlie before Henry mysteriously died when Meg was only six.
“You know there is a substantial amount of money involved?”
She didn’t know the details, but she assumed there had to be something of that nature. “What’s substantial?” she asked.
“Fifty thousand dollars,” Jonathan replied, inhaling deeply and then letting it go.
Meg’s eyes widened. Suddenly, she felt very nauseous. “Fifty thousand dollars?” she repeated. All of the color was seeping out of her face, and she felt her head begin to spin. “Well, no wonder then,” she managed to utter. She leaned back on the sofa, resting her head back so that her face was tipped to the ceiling.
“No wonder—what?” Jonathan asked, his voice indicating he was confused, but Meg couldn’t see his expression to say whether or not she was correct.
“No wonder Charlie was willing to put up with me despite my antics, the way I’d ridiculed him and dragged his good name through the mud. I mean, I am shocked he’s that motivated by money when he has plenty of it, but fifty thousand is an extraordinary amount of money!” She was still looking up at the ceiling, one hand clutched across her midsection, the other palm up, pressed to her forehead.
Jonathan began to laugh.
Meg looked up, thinking she might slap him across the face. “What in the world could possibly be funny about this situation?”
“I’m quite sorry,” he managed to say, attempting to bring himself back together. “It’s only… there’s been so little to laugh about lately, and I suppose it’s all gotten a bit bottled up.”
“I’m afraid I don’t follow,” she said sharply, crossing her arms.
“Meg, darling, Charlie doesn’t get the money for marrying you. Even if he did, fifty thousand is nothing to him, you realize?”
She felt her cheeks fill back in, this time with red.
“Your mother and uncle get the money. But only if Charlie marries you before you turn twenty-one. Of course, Mr. Ashton agreed to the original terms, that you would marry before your twenty-first birthday, because that’s what your father wanted. His hopes were that you and Charlie would marry, then your mother and uncle would leave you in peace if they had the money. But now… I’m not sure your father would want them to have it at all. Which complicates things just a smidge.”
While Meg hadn’t quite gotten over his laughing spell at her expense, she was very relieved to hear that Charlie was not marrying her for the money after all. It didn’t make much sense to her either when Jonathan had first mentioned it, but she’d never imagined anyone would be willing to marry her so that someone else could make that sort of money. “You think my father wanted them to have the money so that they’d leave us alone?”
“That’s what Mr. Ashton said.”
“And what happens if I’m twenty-one and one day when we marry?”
“Then the money is yours.”
Meg’s eyebrows raised. Her father had already left her quite a bit of money, something she’d just come to find out recently. Having fifty thousand dollars more, would be life altering, even for her. And yet, she realized once she married Charlie—if she married Charlie—she would never even have to think about money again. She could take that money and do whatever she wanted with it. Give it to Kelly. Or Kelly’s mother, Patsy. She could build a children’s hospital or a school.
Her mind was wandering and she didn’t realize Jonathan was talking to her until he was finished. “I’m sorry?” she said, looking at him expectantly.
“I said, we’ll have to sort all of that out, but it is something to consider. I do think it’s perfectly safe to go ahead and let the Ashtons know who you are.”
Meg nodded. The thought of explaining everything to them seemed ominous, but she was hopeful Charlie would remember and could potentially do at least some of the talking. After all, he knew his parents better than she did.
“All right then, Meg. Why don’t you eat your breakfast, and I’ll be back to get you in a bit? And don’t say you’re not hungry because you need to eat. You’ve scarcely eaten a bite since… for a few days. Now, go.”
He stood and walked toward the door, and she came to her feet as well. There was something about his tone that seemed to make everyone snap to attention. “Tell Charlie I said hello.” She followed him to the exit.
“I will,” he promised, and Meg bid Jonathan goodbye and closed the door behind him, praying that Charlie knew who she was the next time she saw him.
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