The Duke and the Spinster: Clean Regency Romance (The Nettlefold Chronicles Book 1)

by Arietta Richmond

  Lady Prudence. Juliana stiffened, and went to brush past her, but the woman put out a hand to stop her.

  “Lady Juliana. I wanted to speak to you. It appears to me that you did not take my friendly warning seriously. You really should have done so.”

  There was an edge to the woman’s voice that made Juliana shiver. When Juliana did not respond, Lady Prudence went on.

  “If you do not begin to avoid my soon-to-be betrothed, I will be forced to explain to interested parties that you seem to have a habit of disappearing from social occasions to spend illicit time alone with gentlemen. I am sure that your already sordid reputation would not be improved by that becoming common knowledge. And it would, of course, destroy your sister’s prospects. I do hope that you understand what is required, my Lady.”

  As Juliana gaped at her, dread curling through her at the threat, Lady Prudence stepped aside, and waved her to leave, as if nothing had been said. Juliana swallowed, her mouth dry, and nodded once, before leaving the room. The fear did not leave her once she was out of Lady Prudence’s presence. Instead it grew stronger, wrapping itself around her heart, leaving her full of despair.

  What could she do? It seemed that her mere presence was a threat to her family, to her sister’s future – and, whilst Eleanor could be utterly annoying, she was still her sister… Juliana was barely aware as she collected her wrap and climbed into the carriage beside her father – everything was focussed inwards, on the impossible situation she now found herself in. Two people were determined to ruin her, and held the threat of harm to her family over her. There had to be a way out, but none was obvious to her.

  By the time they reached Hardcastle House she was no closer to a solution, and her head ached unbearably. She took herself to bed as soon as possible.

  Sleep was elusive – she would drift into the edges of it, only to wake with a start, momentarily imagining that Lord Fondleton still had her in his grasp, or that Lady Prudence stood before her, speaking threating words as if it was the most natural thing in the world. But, somewhere in the depths of the night, an answer came to her. She was going to run away.

  Not very far, but far enough. If she left here, she would be away from the Duke, so Lady Prudence would have no need to harm her family with vicious gossip. And she would be away from Lord Fondleton, who would get no benefit from destroying her reputation if he could not find her, to take advantage of her. She would go to the only person, apart from her close family, who had actually been kind to her, even during that terrible Season.

  Her great-great aunt, Lady Bellinghaugh, was wont to spend her summers in her townhome in Bath – surely, Juliana thought, she could manage to get to Bath by herself! If she was honest, that thought terrified her – but not as much as the idea of staying here, in Upper Nettlefold, and being blackmailed into doing what others wanted, or seeing her family destroyed.

  She rose, dressed herself in her plainest gown, and chose two dresses to take with her, in her little valise. Nothing that required help to get into, just simple things. She slipped what money she had into her plainest reticule, and let herself silently out of Hardcastle House. She considered leaving a note, but decided against that – for it would make her too easy to find, which would make the whole thing pointless.

  She walked down the predawn dark street to the larger Inn, and enquired about a ticket to Bath.

  “You’re in luck Miss, the mail coach will be through in the next half hour or so, and goes from here straight to Bath – you’ll be there late this afternoon.”

  She thanked the ticket clerk, and paid the fare, settling herself onto the bench he indicated, to wait. True to his words, the coach arrived within a short time, and she was on her way. The early start meant that there were few passengers, and her fear eased when she discovered that her only companion in the coach was an elderly woman, who promptly went to sleep.

  Upon arriving in Bath, she immediately flagged a cab, and provided the address of her great-great aunt’s home. The cabbie looked at her, unsure if such a plain and ordinary woman should be going to a house on such a wealthy street, but did not argue when presented with her coin. Soon, she stood upon the doorstep of one of the most imposing houses she had ever seen.

  She raised her hand and knocked.

  ~~~~~

  Lady Delbarton woke with a start when her maid came rushing into her bedroom. From the look of the light from the window, it was somewhat earlier than the time she normally chose to rise.

  “My Lady! I’m sorry to wake you early, but… my Lady, its Lady Juliana - she’s not here!”

  “What do you mean, Mary ‘not here’?”

  “Not here, my Lady. Not in her room, not anywhere in Hardcastle House, and no-one has seen her.”

  “That’s ridiculous! She must be here. perhaps she couldn’t sleep and went for a walk in the gardens.”

  “No, my Lady, I checked, my Lady. I looked everywhere. And… once I’d checked, and went back to her room, I noticed – her valise is gone, and some clothes!”

  Lady Delbarton fell back against her pillows, suddenly afraid. It would not do to have lost her elder daughter, not at all. What if Juliana had run off with some man – although… that seemed unlikely. What if… Lady Delbarton could not, in fact, think of any explanation. Juliana was the quiet one, the obedient one who avoided society, and would prefer to stay home with a book. This made no sense at all.

  “Help me dress, Mary, and we’ll look into this further.”

  “Yes, my Lady.”

  “Once I’m ready, go and get Lady Eleanor up and dressed as well, and tell Hobbs to assist Lord Delbarton as soon as possible. We will gather in our private parlour here and discuss this strange occurrence.”

  Everything happened far faster than usual, and soon, the family sat in the small parlour of their suite of rooms, discussing Juliana’s disappearance. Lord Delbarton was as puzzled as his wife.

  “My dear, I simply can’t see it. Our Juliana is the last girl I’d expect to run off. Why she’s barely spoken to a man all the time we’ve been here, except for the Duke, of course – and I certainly don’t think he’d need to run off with anyone!”

  “No. He wouldn’t. Any woman here would accept his proposal in a moment and their family would be happy.”

  Eleanor’s tone was wistful as she spoke the words.

  “Nonetheless, it does look rather as if she has run off, somewhere, for some reason we don’t understand. And she didn’t even do us the courtesy of leaving a note!”

  Lady Delbarton fanned her face, feeling overheated and frustrated, and somewhat betrayed – she would never have expected trouble from Juliana, never. Lord Delbarton looked at her, and reached across to pat her hand.

  “I’m sure we’ll find her my dear. We just have to work out where to look. I just can’t countenance the idea that she’s run off with a man. So, if she’s run off for some other reason, where might she go? We have to think it through.”

  “I truly don’t know – Eleanor, do you have any idea?”

  “I don’t. She’s never spoken of wanting to go anywhere… never. But… what shall we do today?”

  “Well… much as I hate to say it, we certainly can’t go up to Hallingbrook Grange. What would we say if someone asked where she was?”

  Eleanor looked a little sulky, at the thought of missing a day of adoration from the eligible men. Then brightened as she had an idea.

  “We could say that she was ill, and had stayed back here.”

  “No. I don’t want to lie, unless there is utterly no other choice – that will only lead to mistakes. We must stay here, and concentrate on working out where she might have gone. The fact that she took a valise is encouraging – for it means that it’s unlikely she was taken by some man and her unwilling.”

  At Lord Delbarton’s words, his wife shuddered, real fear appearing in her eyes for the first time.

  “You don’t think… surely no-one would kidnap her, or worse!”

  “No
, I don’t, I think she’s gone somewhere of her own choice. But I don’t know where, or why.”

  They called for food to be brought, and kept talking as they ate. But all to no avail – by late afternoon they were no further forward with ideas for where to seek Juliana, and all were aware that the longer they waited to act, the greater was the risk to her reputation, the greater risk that she was ruined, wherever she was. Saying that she was ill was beginning to look like a necessity.

  Eleanor was on the edge of tears from the frustration of it all, and a growing true concern for her sister, when there came a knock at the door of their rooms. They heard Mary in the little entryway, then moments later, she showed the Duke into the room.

  “Your Grace!”

  They rose, startled at his having come to their rooms in the Boarding House.

  “Good afternoon, my Lord, my Lady. Please excuse my intruding on you, but, when none of your family were to be seen at Hallingbrook Grange today, I became concerned. Is all well?”

  His kind tone and apparent sincerity was the last straw for Eleanor. She burst into tears. Her mother rushed to hug her, and the Duke looked perplexed, and more concerned.

  “No. Nothing is well. My sister is missing!”

  Eleanor’s voice shook and she raised her tear stained face to the Duke.

  ~~~~~

  Lady Eleanor’s words cut through Garrett like a knife. Lady Juliana was missing? His first thought was that Fondleton had stolen her away, but no – he had seen Fondleton at Hallingbrook Grange – and for most of the day. He needed more information, now – the thought of her in danger cut into him, and he wanted to rush out the door to find her, to keep her safe – as he had promised to do, the previous evening, and had already failed to achieve, it seemed. But rushing off with no information would not help him find her.

  “Missing?”

  “Yes, Your Grace. When Mary went to wake her this morning, my daughter wasn’t there. She took her valise, and two dresses. Mary looked everywhere, but she is definitely gone.”

  Lady Delbarton looked on the edge of tears herself. Lord Delbarton patted her hand, and turned to Garrett.

  “We cannot imagine that she has run off with a man – for a start, she has barely spoken to anyone save you, since we arrived here, and secondly it would be so far from her normal behaviour as to be impossible to believe. But we also cannot imagine where else she might have gone.”

  At Lord Delbarton’s words, Garrett felt a little easier. If she had been stolen away by force, she would not have packed a valise.

  He took a deep breath. He had been in such a situation before. Not so long ago, his sister, Lady Isabelle, had disappeared, and they had been frantic, only to discover that she had, in a fit of pique about something, taken herself off to London to visit her closest friend Lady Marguerite. Within the week she had returned, with no harm done to reputation or person, although it had taken some effort to keep it secret that they had initially been unsure of her whereabouts.

  He wondered – did Lady Juliana have a friend, or a relative, that she might go to? Leaving aside her reason for going, about which he had at least some suspicions, it seemed logical to him that she would not run off without having a destination in mind. She was far too sensible to go with no plan, from everything that he knew of her. So, he chose not to panic, much though part of him wanted to.

  “Lady Delbarton, does Lady Juliana have any close friends, who live not far from here?”

  “No, Your Grace, she barely has any friends at all.”

  “Then… are there any relatives of your family near here – in Bath, perhaps, or another nearby town?”

  Lady Delbarton looked startled at the idea, then spent some minutes in thought before replying.

  “We have few relatives near here. Most are far closer to London. But… there is my great aunt, Lady Bellinghaugh, who spends her summers in Bath. I don’t think that Juliana has seen her since she was about 5 years old. But she certainly knows where the house in Bath is, for we stayed there one year, while Lady Bellinghaugh was still in London.”

  “Then I believe that is the best place to start looking. Lady Juliana is intelligent – I cannot imagine her leaving here without a plan.”

  “But how will we…?”

  “Stay here. Appear as if everything is normal, as if Lady Juliana is simply indisposed for a short while. I will go to Bath, if you will furnish me with the address, and either arrange for her to return here, discreetly, or at least bring you news of her, and a suitable explanation to use for her absence. I will leave immediately.”

  “Your Grace, that is too much for us to ask of you!”

  “You are not asking. I am volunteering, because I care what happens to Lady Juliana. And, frankly, I am rather bored with the house party and the surfeit of social occasions.”

  “Well… I… thank you.”

  Shortly thereafter, with Lady Bellinhaugh’s direction on a carefully folded sheet of paper in his pocket, Garrett returned to Kilmerstan Castle to arrange his speedy departure.

  Lady Eleanor watched him leave their rooms in Hardcastle House, sighing to her mother, “Isn’t he heroic?”

  ~~~~~

  Before returning to Kilmerstan Castle, Garrett stopped past the Bell and Whistle Inn, and asked if, perchance, a young woman had taken the coach to Bath that morning. The confirmation that, indeed, a young woman with blonde hair had done so, brought him some relief from his worry.

  Within the hour, Garrett was on the road, the carriage prepared to travel into the night, with carriage lights mounted. He had simply informed his mother and sisters that an urgent business matter had arisen, which required a very quick trip to Bath. His mother had accused him of using it as an excuse to avoid the continuing social events, but he had simply smiled, and informed her that he was going regardless. Her long-suffering sigh was not unexpected.

  Yet, as the carriage rolled out of Upper Nettlefold, excitement filled him – almost as much as worry did. He had to trust that Lady Juliana was as sensible as he believed, and trust that she had come to no harm on the way. The thought of seeing her soon, of resolving whatever trouble had driven her away, filled him with pleasure – somehow, in a few short days, she had become vastly important to him. Keeping her safe, and resolving her troubles, had become the most significant thing in his life.

  He did not closely examine why he felt that way, he simply focussed on the need to hurry to her side.

  Chapter Nine

  The door opened, and a very old butler regarded her with rheumy blue eyes.

  “Dobbins? It is Dobbins, isn’t it?”

  “Yes, it is. How is it that you know me, Miss…?”

  “I am Lady Juliana Willoughby. I last saw you 8 years ago, Dobbins, when my family stayed here for a month, whilst my great-great aunt was in London.”

  His face was transformed by a delighted smile.

  “My Lady! Do come in, you look rather tired, if I may be so impolite as to say so. Shall I have some tea and biscuits sent to the parlour for you, whilst I inform Lady Bellinghaugh that you have arrived?” He peered past her, with a puzzled expression. “Aaah, my Lady, where is your maid, and your luggage?”

  “I am afraid, Dobbins, that I am here in unusual circumstances. I have no maid with me, and only this valise.”

  Shock showed on his face for a moment, then disappeared.

  “Very good my Lady. Come this way please.”

  She followed him into the parlour, glad of his discretion. The couch was comfortable, and most pleasant after a long day of jouncing on the hard seat of the coach. She almost drifted towards sleep, and was brought back to herself with a start when a maid appeared with the tray of tea and an assortment of pastries which were far more than the simple biscuits that Dobbins had suggested.

  Not long after that, Lady Bellinghaugh entered the room, leaning on her intricately carved cane. She was dressed in the height of fashion from ten years previous, but she smiled, her eyes bright and curious. Ju
liana stood, suddenly finding herself at a loss for words.

  “You’ve grown my girl, and grown well. You’re far prettier than your mother was as a young thing, although don’t tell her I said so! I take it, as you’ve appeared on my doorstep with no warning, no maid, and no luggage, that you have a problem of some sort, and need help?”

  “Umm, yes, Lady Bellinghaugh. That is the case.”

  Juliana felt like a fool, standing there, and was shocked by the comment about prettiness, but the old woman laughed, waving her to resume her seat and coming to sit beside her.

  “Good to see that you’re honest, my girl. I never could abide a liar. Now, pour me some of that tea, and tell me the story.”

  Juliana started slowly, but her great-great aunt was a kind woman, and patient. She drew her out, encouraging her to go on, and soon, everything came spilling out, in far more detail than she had intended.

  It was a great relief to speak of it, and an even greater relief when her aunt did not judge her, did not criticise her, but simply listened. The only comment the woman made was a little shocking – she expressed her wish to damn the entire ton to hell for the sort of behaviour that they had demonstrated to Juliana in her failed Season.

  Once the torrent of words ran dry, Lady Bellinghaugh looked at her with knowing eyes, and patted her hand.

  “Good for you. I think that you made the right choice – when you cannot strike back at bullies, it’s best to remove yourself from their reach. For now, you need more solid food than this,” she waved her hand at the tea tray, “and then you need a bath, and a decent bed to sleep in. Everything else can wait until tomorrow.”

  It was as if an enormous weight, that she had not known she was carrying, lifted from Juliana’s shoulders.

  ~~~~~

  That evening, whilst Garrett travelled into the darkness, Lady Prudence stood in the parlour at Hallingbrook Grange. Where was the satisfaction in knowing that her competitor for the Duke’s attention appeared to have taken her threats seriously and disappeared, when the Duke himself was not present? But then, he had, over the years, never been fond of social events – perhaps he simply had decided to take a day away from the house party. Surely, he would be at tomorrow’s picnic. She drifted through the evening, gossiping, and planning what she would wear tomorrow, to entrance him.