“Sit down, Mother.”
Her eyes narrowed.
“I don’t enjoy being summoned by my own son.”
“Then consider this a conversation you should have initiated before publicly accusing my wife.”
Emily glanced at Nathan, reminding him without words not to attack.
Margaret sat.
Nathan did not give a speech.
He placed the three photographs on the table.
“Johnny.
Paul.
Lily.”
Margaret looked at them.
“Yes, I’m aware of the children.”
“No,” Nathan said.
“You’re aware of a rumor.”
Margaret’s expression changed slightly.
Emily spoke.
“They are my younger siblings, Mrs.
Carter.”
Margaret looked from Emily to Nathan.
“What?”
“My mother had them years after she had me.
Their fathers were different men.
When my mother became ill, I took financial responsibility for them.”
Margaret’s mouth tightened.
Nathan slid copies of the records across the table.
Emily immediately touched his wrist.
“She doesn’t need every document.”
Nathan understood.
Emily did not want her dignity reduced to a stack of evidence presented for Margaret’s approval.
So he left the papers where they were.
Margaret glanced at them anyway.
For several seconds, the woman who always had an answer said nothing.
Then she reached for the only defense she had left.
“Why didn’t you explain this before?”
Emily’s face remained calm.
“I tried correcting people when the rumor first started.
Eventually I stopped.”
“You certainly never corrected me.”
“You never asked me.”
Margaret stiffened.
Emily continued quietly.
“You told me what I was.”
Nathan watched the words hit his mother harder than any accusation could have.
Margaret looked at the photographs again.
“So all the money you send…”
“Pays for them.”
“And the stories from your town?”
“People in small places can misunderstand things too.”
Margaret looked uncomfortable, but pride kept her upright.
“You must understand how it appeared.”
Nathan’s jaw tightened.
Emily answered before he could.
“I understand exactly how it appeared once everyone decided not to ask.”
Silence filled the dining room.
A member of the household staff entered carrying a tray and stopped when she saw the photographs.
