She was shocked to find out that Carruthers actually was Hugh's father. He'd been paternal enough, but that relationship sometimes occurred between servants and children. His actions made a great deal more sense, and she was so happy that Hugh's real father was alive--he did have family. Of course, his focus was elsewhere given the situation. Time for perspective.
Lanna shook her head. "You're not a fake. You're mine. And you're as real to me as anything." She smiled and moved to sit in his lap. "Oh, my darling. The letter tells you that you have a father! One who is alive and well and watching over you! One who wants you to know who he is. Be grateful! Be happy, because he's just as real of a father to you as your adoptive one." She kissed his head here and held him to her chest, stroking his hair comfortingly.
"It's a shame that you can't ask him what you want to ask him, Hugh. But how can you be sure that the lord didn't know? Does it really matter if you were his biological son if he loved you as his own? He named you as his heir, my love. And so did your uncle, who obviously thought you could handle it. Whether it was a secret or not, you are the rightful heir. If they thought Terin was deserving, they'd have left it to him."
And that, as far as Lanna was concerned, was that. Of course, she'd be happy to find other ways to convince him and point out the flaws in his logic as much as he wanted until he was reassured, but she didn't really expect him to accept it all right away or be at peace. This was, after all, life-changing news.
"In any case, I love you, Hugh. And I'm quite sure that if you'd pursued me as a poor man with as much respect and admiration as you did as a lord, I would still have fallen in love with you."