Realm 07 - A Touch of Honor Read Online Free PDF

He had done so only once when he was a small child, but the late baroness had smacked his mouth quite soundly with her open palm. “You are never to call me that nasty word again!” she had demanded. “I am Fiona.” Her icy glare had frightened John thoroughly.
    “Fee,” he had murmured through his tears of pain and humiliation.
    “That will do until you are older,” his mother had declared with a forced smile. From that day forward, John had promised himself he would never permit another woman to bring him such pain.
    Miss Satiné’s countenance held consternation, and John wondered if his mother’s letters had exaggerated Miss Aldridge’s success in Austrian society. “Lady Fiona was most kind,” she said politely. Although he knew Lady Fiona would not think on Miss Aldridge as a possible daughter in marriage, he recognized his mother’s obsession with beautiful young people, and Miss Satiné was among the most beautiful of John’s acquaintance.
    Occasionally, when he had served with the Realm upon the European continent, he would slip away to call upon his mother. Even without notice of his arrival, Lady Fiona always managed to recruit a lively party of artists, politicians, and scientists with a snap of her fingers. In the beginning, John had enjoyed the high-powered company. The atmosphere was such a contrast to the staid lifestyle he had lived in York. Drinks. Comely women. Intriguing conversation. Yet, with each visit, he could not shake the growing pity he held for his mother.
    Lady Fiona had been a handsome woman, but filling her home with young minds and handsome countenances did not halt the march of time. She had been an aging aristocrat who refused to admit her youth had faded. Lady Fiona demanded the attentions of one penniless artist after another. With each, she financed the man’s budding career, and each had repaid her by becoming her lover. It was a shocking reality for a young man seeking a connection to a woman who had repeatedly rejected him. “How shall I ever convince Julius I am but in my thirties when you appear upon my doorstep claiming to be my son,” his mother had chastised upon one of his earliest visits.
    “I will claim only a distant connection,” John had asserted. The suggestion seemed to please his mother–something he rarely had accomplished over the years.
    She had patted John’s hand in satisfaction. “Despite Jeremiah Swenton’s influence, you have become an excellent young man. Enjoy yourself this evening, Johnathan.”
    “I had heard your cousin had been ill.” Miss Satiné shifted her weight uncomfortably, and again John wondered what had occurred between his mother and his betrothed. John, above all others, knew the late Lady Fiona could be less than gracious if she thought another attracted too much attention or did not give the baroness sway. “I should have made a duty call, but…” Her voice trailed off.
    “Lady Fiona passed some five weeks prior,” he explained. “Her illness was the source of my unanticipated journey to Austria.”
    Miss Satiné’s disbelief spread across her countenance, and from where she waited in the shadows, Miss Neville said with sadness. “I held no idea Lady Fiona suffered so severely.”
    Neither had John. If he had been aware of his mother’s heart condition, he would have rushed to her side. It saddened him a woman who was never without company had died alone with none but an elderly servant to look on. She had willed all her worldly possessions and estates to him, but John would have preferred one moment of true affection at his mother’s hand to replace that long ago slap.
    “The Baroness Swenton,” he corrected. “Lady Fiona Swenton was my mother.” The emotions suddenly twisting his inside caused his chest to tighten. Although his and Lady Fiona’s relationship was a poorly kept secret, the fact he could claim the woman openly was liberating.
    Miss Neville’s soft whisper broke the elongated silence.