Sam had been back in London for three days when he finally got the message that the Earl of Highwood's daughter would visit the Rose Agency to speak to him. He looked forward to closing the case and hoped nothing would come back to haunt Ivy because of it. Having grown up as the local bastard in a small village, it was the last thing he wanted for her.

"Everything all right?" The question from Lord Gabriel Winter, one of the agency's owners, roused him from his musings. "You seem preoccupied."

"Yes, just looking forward to being done with this." They were standing in Winter's office while waiting for the client to arrive. "Was it you who met with Lady Wycliffe when she hired the agency?"

Winter nodded. "I was here, but I had Russell run lead. He would have done the case had his girls not fallen ill. The Wycliffes believe I'm only here to support them as someone who knows both the agency and them. They're friends of my wife's aunt. My impression is that Lady Wycliffe seems like a reasonable person, so I don't think there will be any fallout from this. It's not unusual to discover your father sired some siblings."

"It's unusual for him to not admit it when asked about the money," Sam pointed out. A few things about the case just didn't quite add up for him, and it left him with an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach. He couldn't put his finger on exactly what was bothering him, just that something was off. Many men would hide their infidelities and the children borne out of wedlock, but when his daughter found the money, it was odd for him to not confess.

"True." Winter shrugged. "Highwood has a reputation to be an honourable man who loved his wife deeply before she passed away. Maybe he was too ashamed to admit to his daughter what he had done."

A knock on the door interrupted their discussion, and a moment later, one of the staff opened the door to let a man and woman inside. Sam inhaled a sharp breath as he saw them.

"Lord and Lady Wycliffe," Winter said, but his voice sounded muffled and far away as Sam was busy staring at the pretty blonde woman.

The moment she'd entered the room, he'd known his conclusions were incorrect. Ivy wasn't Highwood's illegitimate daughter. He might as well have been looking at Ivy twenty years from now. The same blonde hair. The same blue eyes. They even shared the little indentation at the corner of the mouth when smiling. This was not a half-sister. This was Ivy's mother.

His gut twisted. Everything he had assumed was wrong. There was no predicting how Lady Wycliffe would respond when she found out the truth. He glanced at Lord Wycliffe, who stood by her side. With Ivy taking after her mother so completely, it was impossible to tell if he was the father or not. Did he know how long they had been married? He tried to wrack his brain for the information, recalling what he had seen in the case files. If he didn't misremember, he was fairly certain they had married a couple of years after Ivy was born.

"Hemsworth?" Winter's voice brought him back, and from how everyone stared at him, he realised he had missed being addressed.

"My apologies," he mumbled. "What was that?"

A half-smile played at the corners of Lady Wycliffe's mouth. It pained him to see how much she looked like her daughter. He flexed his fingers around his walking stick.

"I was asking what you have found out," Lady Wycliffe said. Even her voice reminded him of Ivy's. It wasn't exactly the same, but it was similar enough that no one could deny their connection. "We received a message that you know who my father has paid all this money to."

How did one break news like this? Sam cleared his throat. "Perhaps we could speak to you alone, Lady Wycliffe? This may be quite private and about your father's side of the family."

"Oh, nonsense." She waved away his suggestion like it was no more than a fly. "My husband is privy to all my secrets. There is nothing you cannot say in front of him."

"Right."

When he hesitated, he caught Winter watching him with a furrowed brow. It didn't surprise him. He must appear quite flustered.

Realising that something was up, Winter motioned to two chairs. "Perhaps you would like to sit down."

"It can hardly be that shocking," Lady Wycliffe said with wry amusement, but she did sit down and her husband followed suit on the chair next to hers. She levelled Sam with her piercing blue eyes. "So, what is the big reveal? Does my father have an illegitimate child tucked away somewhere? That would be my guess. He's far too responsible to allow a child of his to grow up without ensuring it has everything it needs, even if he never acknowledged their existence."

"Not quite." Sam hesitated. "Are you sure you wouldn't like your husband to wait outside?" He gave Lord Wycliffe an apologetic look, but the man just smiled at him.

Lady Wycliffe put her hands on her lap and leaned backwards on her chair. "We're fine. Just spit it out, please."

"I apologise beforehand for this question..." Sam groaned inwardly, wondering if he was about to get punched in the face by Lord Wycliffe. "But did you have a child about twenty years ago?"

Lady Wycliffe's eyes widened, and her lips parted. "E... excuse me?"

There was no point in holding back now. "When I went to investigate the address in Tilbury, I found a young woman who is the spitting image of you. Your father gave her family the small estate they live on around the time she was born, and the money once or twice a year started not long after."

"I don't... I..." Tears glistened in Lady Wycliffe's eyes, and she grabbed hold of her husband's hand and turned to him. "Father told me she was stillborn. Can it really be her?"

Lord Wycliffe squeezed his wife's hand while looking up at Sam. "Are you certain?"

"They are so alike, I cannot imagine they are anything other than mother and daughter."

"How could Father keep this from me?" Lady Wycliffe shook her head. "He lied to me for so long."

"Do you think he was trying to protect you?" Lord Wycliffe asked. "You thought me lost at sea. We weren't married yet. Highwood might have decided to save your reputation by keeping the child a secret."

She nodded. "That does sound like my father... But why would he not tell us when you returned? We married soon after."

"She was already illegitimate. Perhaps he deemed it best." Lord Wycliffe frowned. "I can understand his logic, but I don't know if I can ever forgive him. Our daughter is out there." He turned to Sam. "We must see her. I don't care that she was born out of wedlock. She is my daughter."

"Of course." Sam forced a pleasant smile even as his insides churned with the knowledge that Ivy was about to find out about his deception.

"Please." Lady Wycliffe's eyes met his, and he doubted he could have denied her anything. "Tell me about her."

His leg ached from standing still for so long, so he leaned back against Winter's desk, half-sitting on its surface. "Her name is Ivy. She's a wonderful young woman full of spirit." He smiled as he remembered his times with her. "When she walks, she almost bounces. She has so much energy. She has a dog, Darcy, who is her constant companion. Everyone in the village seems to like her, and it's easy to see why."

"I cannot wait to meet her," Lady Wycliffe said with a wobbly smile.

Judging from the line between Winter's brows, Sam might have said a little too much. He cleared his throat. "The family she's been brought up with has never told her she is not one of them, so she has had a regular childhood and does not know she is not actually their sibling."

"Does she have many siblings?"

"Three sisters and a brother. The family seems close."

"Oh. Maybe we shouldn't disturb her." Lady Wycliffe gripped the fabric of her dress and squeezed. "It would upend her entire life."

"I know what you're thinking," Lord Wycliffe said. "And I understand... But darling. She's our daughter. Now that I know she's alive, I cannot fathom never seeing her."

Lady Wycliffe nodded. "Me neither. It might be selfish of me... But I must see her. She has been in my dreams for twenty years... I thought her lost to the world, but no. She's here." She turned to Sam again. "Please."

The earnest look in her eyes gripped his heart. He nodded. "Any time. Let me know when would be a good time, and I will take you to her."

They discussed the details of their trip to Tilbury, agreeing on a day the following week. Before leaving, Lady Wycliffe walked up to Sam and took his hand.

"Thank you for finding my daughter," she said. "You must find me terribly selfish for wanting to spring this on her after all these years. Maybe I am..."

"I don't judge anyone."

Lady Wycliffe smiled wistfully. "It's just... I have never stopped thinking about her. There were complications when she was born, and I lost consciousness for some time. By the time I woke up, my father said she was gone, and I never questioned it. All this time, she's been out there."

"At least know she appears to have had a good life," Sam said, hoping to expel the sadness from the woman's face. It must have been quite a shock to find out her daughter was, in fact, alive.

"Because of the complications, I could never bear another child. She's my one and only." Lady Wycliffe met his gaze. "Am I a terrible person for wanting to see her? For hoping she will want to be in my life?"

"Not at all." Would Ivy want to be in his life after she found out who he truly was? Or was his betrayal too great?

The Wycliffes left a few moments later, and Sam was about to follow suit when Winter's voice stopped him in his tracks.

"Hemsworth?"

Leaning heavily on his walking stick, he turned around, affecting an unconcerned mien. "Yes?"

Winter stood in front of his desk with his arms crossed over his chest. "Is there something you would like to tell me about what happened while you were away?"

"No."

The other man raised a questioning eyebrow.

"Nothing." They both knew he was lying, but Winter had the decency not to call him out.

"Very well," he said. "Report back to me after you've been to Tilbury with the Wycliffes."

"Will do." With a curt bow, Sam left.

The idea of seeing Ivy again should have brought him joy. Instead, it sent a chill to the pit of his stomach that wouldn't go away. This was not the reunion he had imagined for them. Not even close.

~~~~~~