Loving Tales of Lords and Ladies

by Abigail Agar

  Lady Winchester put her hand on her husband’s sleeve lightly. “Dear, His Grace has things to attend to at home. I am sure that he will come and visit.”

  “Yes, you must,” Lord Winchester insisted.

  Jules laughed softly and agreed, “I shall.”

  “Matter of fact, we are hosting a party in two days’ time. We would be honoured if you would attend,” Lord Winchester said and looked quite pleased with himself at getting the invitation in.

  Jules pursed his lips and said, “I think I could manage that.” His eyes darted over to Lady Withersfield who looked rather pleased as well. “Leander, go and have Stedman pull the coach around, would you?”

  “Of course, Your Grace,” Leander said with so much relief that Jules was surprised the Winchesters did not take immediate offence. However, the couple seemed not to even notice the man’s quick exit.

  Jules gave Lady Winchester a bow before turning to her husband to extend his hand to the man. “Thank you both for your kind generosity in allowing me into your home.”

  Lord Winchester grasped Jules’ hand in a crushing grip and shook hands as if he were wrestling a wild boar. Jules was glad to get his hand away from him. Lord Winchester laughed uproariously and slapped Jules on the shoulder. “It was merely our duty as good citizens, Your Grace,” Lord Winchester said. Lady Winchester echoed the sentiment with a dip of her head towards Jules.

  “Yes, well, I thank you all the same.” Jules turned towards Lady Withersfield. Jules took her hand which she offered to him with a timidity that Jules wondered at from what he knew of the young woman. He held her fingertips gently and gave her knuckles a light kiss before he released her hand. The feeling of her fingertips lingered as if they still touched his hand. He gave her a smile. “And thank you for your bravery, Lady Withersfield, without which I might not be here to say anything at all.”

  Lady Withersfield laughed lightly. “Something tells me, Your Grace, that you are a bit too stubborn to give up that easily.”

  “You could be right,” Jules said with a laugh. “That sounds like the carriage now. Until the party then.”

  Lady Withersfield nodded. “Until then, Your Grace.”

  Jules gave the young woman a bow before the front door came open revealing Leander on the front steps. “We are ready when you are, Your Grace.”

  “Good,” Jules said crisply. He hated to leave, but he knew that there really were things that needed attending to. He gave the family next to him one last dip of his head before he swiftly followed Leander out the door. Leaving quickly was better, lest he talked himself out of going at all.

  ***

  The carriage bumped ever so slightly, and for the first time, Jules felt a stab of pain. He hissed between his teeth. Leander looked over at him in concern. Jules saw the man lift up his hand as if to bump on the ceiling to chastise the driver, but Jules motioned for Leander to put his hand down.

  “It is not his fault the roads are in a wretched state,” Jules explained. “I think he has done remarkably well all things considered.”

  Leander pressed his lips together and leaned back against the seat once again. The man’s sharply-angled face reminded Jules of the man’s father who had also worked for the Duchy. Leander’s family had worked for the Dukes of Richmond for generations.

  Jules chided him, “Come now, Leander, do not make such a sour face. All is well.”

  “For now,” Leander said stiffly. “I feel wretched for putting you in such a position.”

  A sigh escaped Jules. “Nonsense, I should thank you.” Leander looked over at Jules at his words. Jules nodded and said in conspiracy, “It paid off, did it not? I think an attack on my person is a fairly good indication that we have found a lead.”

  “Lady Winchester’s letter said you had suffered injuries in an alley. Why would you go into such a place?” Leander folded his arms across his chest as he eyed Jules sternly. The man was a good bit older than Jules, so he understood that Leander probably felt responsible for him.

  Jules flipped over his hand helplessly. “I simply could do nothing else. I met Lord Portland at the party, and his behaviour did not sit well with me.”

  “It was he you followed into the alley then?” Leander leaned forward curiously, his voice low with conspiracy.

  Jules nodded. “I am sure he went down the alley, but I fear I lost sight of him.”

  “Do you think it was he that attacked you?” The man’s hands were in fists, so tight that his knuckles were white.

  With a sigh, Jules admitted, “I do not know. It was very dark in the alley.”

  “You mean that you have no idea who attacked you?” Leander shook his head. “What if it was just some random scum off the streets? We can’t make accusations against Lord Portland without evidence.”

  Jules nodded. “I do not think that the person who attacked me was a nobleman. If they were, then they were disguising themselves, and he hardly had time change clothes.”

  Leander seemed to deflate as he sank back in his seat. They sat in silence for a long while before Jules said, “I do not know if Lady Winchester told you what wounds I received, but I was stabbed.” Leander’s eyes darted over to Jules, and Jules nodded at him. “If it had not been for Lady Withersfield and her mother, I would have likely died right there.”

  Leander’s face took on a look of such guilt that Jules put his hand on the man’s shoulder. “You have nothing to feel guilty for,” Jules told him. “Fate favours the righteous, after all.”

  “I know several heroes of fable that would disagree with that,” Leander snapped back.

  Jules chuckled. “True enough,” he admitted. “But in this poignant story of ours, fate saw me through and into the hands of an angel of mercy.”

  “I have never heard you speak much of young women before,” Leander said, his eyebrows rising.

  Jules smiled broadly and leaned his head back against the seat. “I had never known a young lady until I met Lady Withersfield. Comparing Lady Withersfield to other young ladies is as if you were comparing dressmaker’s mannequins to a flesh and blood woman.”

  “She seems to have made quite the impression then.” Leander smiled and put his hands in his lap.

  Jules nodded, and then he frowned. “Do you think this is what my parents want for me?”

  Leander took a deep breath, his fingers worrying a bit with his trouser leg. “What do you mean?”

  “It is just that since I have met Lady Withersfield, Leander, I feel as if I have been a fool.” Jules rocked his head from side to side on the back of the seat. “I keep looking for something to blame, someone to blame … but what is all this anger doing for me? My friends will barely tolerate me, and I live in constant paranoia that the person is out there somewhere waiting.”

  Leander frowned at Jules. When the man did not speak, Jules pressed on, “I do not think my parents would want me to spend my whole life on revenge and anger. My mother always said that anger was a foul thing that consumed men, and here I am letting it consume me in her name.” Jules sighed. “I am thinking of giving up the search for the person responsible and courting Lady Withersfield. If I do not do so now, she may slip from my fingers for good.”

  “I can’t believe what I am hearing.” Leander scowled. “When you were stabbed, did you also hit your head? It certainly seems you have taken leave of your senses.”

  Jules looked down at his hands taken quite by surprise at the venom in his old friend’s words. He was at a loss for anything to say. He should have talked Leander down about his words, but Jules found he did not have the strength to do so.

  “Forgive me for speaking out of my station, Your Grace. I just keep thinking about your parents and what this has done to you, to all of us. Anne can’t even serve anymore. She blames herself, and your name was left covered in the mud of it all. There has to be some justice in this world, Your Grace.” Leander shook his head and stared out the carriage window.

  Jules looked down at his hands. �
�I had thought Anne was doing better.”

  “She was for a time,” Leander said in a quiet voice. “She’s been having nightmares lately. The kitchen girls said she can’t even carry a tray without trembling.”

  With a frown, Jules said, “It was not her fault. She knew nothing of the plot.” He breathed out a sigh. “That poor girl. At thirteen she is ruined for life over something outside her power.”

  “Should she not have justice, Your Grace? Perhaps if the person responsible were caught, she would not have this dread that every morsel she served was tainted.” Leander leaned forward, his elbows on his knees as if warming himself by an imaginary fire. “Truth is I understand why you seek to run away from this pursuit. It is a hard one, but it is not one I can give up.”

  The rumble of the carriage filled in the space between Leander’s words and the guilt that welled up inside Jules. Here he was being selfish when this man who was not bound by blood to his family was willing to continue through hardship for his sake. Jules’ words were mere whispers when he spoke. “You speak with loyalty, and although my ears do not wish to understand it, my heart does. You are right. I cannot just throw off the yoke of this investigation. We all need answers.”

  Leander gave Jules a look that he swore was sad. “And for that, I am so sorry, Your Grace.”

  “It is not your place, Leander. It is mine, and you had to remind me of that. I think nothing but the best of you for it,” Jules promised the man beside him.

  Outside the carriage, the morning was warming up the stones of London, wisps of steam rising up from each one towards the sky. Jules frowned at the passing houses. They were almost home, but it was just a house filled with ghosts now.

  ***

  “Your Grace!” Eva, the housekeeper, exclaimed as Jules stepped down out of the carriage. The woman fell into step beside him as she asked him questions. “Are you well? Is it true that you were attacked?”

  Jules let the housekeeper ramble out her questions as he walked up the steps of the house that the servants of the Duchy had lined to welcome him home. Jules gave smiles and nods to the staff as he passed them. “I am fine,” he assured Eva and the rest of the staff. “Please, do not dote on me so. Go back to work. Everything is as it has been.”

  “Your Grace, can’t we help you in some way?” It was a young stable hand by the name of Daniel.

  Jules gave the young man a thoughtful look. “I can get around sufficiently with my cane here, but I do need someone to go to the hatter’s shop and see about a replacement hat for the one I lost.”

  “Certainly, Your Grace,” Daniel said with a nod of his head.

  Jules smiled. “Very good. Come to the study, and I will write up a specific order. He has all the necessary measurements already.”

  With that, Jules went on into the house. The staff filed in behind him. They wished him well as he turned toward his study and began dispersing back to their own sections of the manor house.

  Leander followed Jules, and when they reached the study, Jules ushered the man inside. Leander had been his co-conspirator in the wee dark hours after his parents’ murder. The man had been the surest voice in Jules’ mind for so long that the guilt he felt at the man’s words still weighed him down.

  Jules closed the door to the study and sat down at his desk. He pulled out a piece of stationery and began writing out the note for Daniel. Leander, who had taken a seat in one of the high-backed leather chairs asked, “Is it so necessary, this hat of yours, Your Grace?”

  With a chuckle, Jules nodded. “It is indeed. You see, it is a thing of normalcy. A hat is just a hat, but to them, it is a sign that I have nothing more to worry about than such a trifling thing.”

  “Very clever, Your Grace,” Leander said with a smile. “And that is why you are the Duke and me just a footman.”

  Jules clucked his tongue as he wrote. He looked up at Leander. “You are ever so much more than just a footman. Why your family has been alongside mine for so long, I should think we are brothers by now. Besides, you have not done the job of a footman in a long while. No, you are more likened to a valet than any common sort.”

  “That is very kind of you.” Leander’s head dipped in an embarrassed way. The man’s normally neat blond strands brushed just above his eyes, making him look uncharacteristically ruffled.

  Jules finished writing the note and set it aside to dry. “It is actually quite practical. I need a valet now more than ever with my condition and footmen are easily enough to come by. It is a job for a less experienced man.”

  “Of course, Your Grace,” Leander said. Jules caught the smile on the man’s face. It did his heart good to know that he had at least made Leander happy.

  There was a crisp knock on the door, and Jules told whoever it was to come in. Daniel’s head appeared in the door as the man peered in. “That did not take you long,” Jules said. Jules warmed the letter over a candle on his desk for a moment before he folded it and put it into an envelope. “The letter might still be a bit wet, so careful not to smudge it.”

  “Yes, Your Grace,” Daniel said with a nod of his head as he took the envelope from Jules.

  After Daniel left the room, Jules looked over at Leander. “I know that you do not think my giving up the search is a good idea, but does it not put Daniel and the others in more danger if I continue?”

  Leander frowned. “Truthfully, I do not know. There’s something I did not want to tell you.”

  Jules looked at Leander in surprise. “What could be so horrible that you would seek to keep it to yourself?”

  “A letter. It arrived this morning,” Leander spoke slowly, his voice low to keep it from carrying. “It seemed to threaten you. I did not want to alarm the others …”

  Jules leaned back in his chair. “You read a letter of mine? Why?”

  “I was worried,” Leander said as he wrung his hands together. “When you failed to return, I opened the letter, and what I read chilled me. I did not know what else to do. I set out myself to see if I could find you, but I did not. When I returned, I could do nothing more than wait.”

  Jules frowned and sighed. “Where is this letter?”

  “I put it up to keep the maids from stumbling on it. I thought it better at the time,” Leander explained.

  He could not really fault Leander for his logic, and Jules nodded. “Yes, it would have done little good to get them worked up. I should like to see this letter.”

  “Of course, Your Grace,” Leander said then added, “But do you not think you should bathe and change your bandages? Shall I call your doctor to see to you?”

  Jules pursed out his lips. “You can alert him to what happened. The doctor who saw to me at the Marquis’ residence did a splendid job, though. I completely forgot to alert the man that I had changed residences.”

  “Surely the Lady Winchester did so, Your Grace,” Leander said.

  Jules had to admit that his former hostess did seem the sort to remember such things. “Yes, she probably did. That bath does sound passing well, though. I think I shall go up and get myself into something not ripped and torn before I take on any further developments.”

  “I shall send the maids up to run the bath,” Leander said as he stood up. “Then I shall go straight to fetch the letter.”

  Jules nodded. “Very good,” he said with a sigh. It was good to be home. Jules stood up and braced himself on the cane. “I think breakfast shall be in order as well. I feel quite hungry after missing the morning meal before our departure.”

  “I had not even thought of that, Your Grace. Forgive me.” Leander frowned, but Jules waved off the man’s apology.