The Bachelor Duke (The Bachelor Series Book 1)

by Cecilia Rene

  He would clear his name and then he would prove to her that she was all that mattered in this world.

  Hempstead’s features were hard, no sign of the jovial gentleman Remington became friends with. “Is that true Bromswell, did you kill the girl and now accuse Karrington? Why would you do that? Why would you come into my home and lie?” Hempstead looked between the two enemies.

  “The girl is dead, Hempstead. There is no proof, and now everyone knows that the great Duke of Karrington is a murderer. Your daughter is ruined, regardless.” Baron Bromswell’s cold voice made Remington want to pound the man even more.

  “Your lies won’t get you Lady Olivia’s dowry,” Remington stressed, glaring at the detestable man in front of him.

  The baron shrugged his shoulders. “Maybe not, but now I have received something much more satisfying.”

  “What’s that?” Remington clenched his hands, ready to land another punch on the baron’s smug face.

  “I got to take away the one person you really love. There will be other heiresses for me, but seeing you crumble was worth it.” Bromswell straightened his jacket before walking to leave the room.

  “Get out of my house, Bromswell.” Hempstead stared at the other man in total disgust.

  Bromswell shrugged his shoulders before he walked out of the room. Remington released the breath he was holding, the fear that Hempstead would force Livie to marry Bromswell gone.

  Silence hovered over them. His head was bowed and he looked as if he aged years in the minutes that Remington had been there.

  “I’m sorry, Karrington, you should leave as well.” Hempstead turned around, his eyes wary as he looked at Remington.

  “Please. I beg you to come with me so that I can prove my innocence,” Remington pleaded, feeling a stray tear fall.

  He hadn’t cried since his mother died, but the fact that he may have lost Livie forever sliced through him like a knife.

  “Even if you do prove your innocence, I’m afraid that Olivia may not forgive you,” Hempstead said gravely.

  “If she won’t forgive me once I have cleared my name, then I will live without her forever, but I must try. Hempstead, I must try … I love her.” Remington’s voice broke, and he bowed his head ashamed of his tears.

  “Very well,” the earl agreed. I will go with you, and once your name is cleared, the rest is up to my daughter.”

  Remington breathed a sigh of relief. He would prove his innocence and he would win Livie back. If it was the last thing he ever did.

  The Bachelor Duke and Lady O are no more! It appears that the duke’s deep dark secret was too much for her. Or was there something more? Is the Bachelor Duke really the father of Lady E’s child?

  Remington rapped on the door of the small home that sat behind a grocer in Cheapside.

  The door opened, revealing a shocked Benedict Cooper, Remington’s valet. “Your Grace, we saw the papers. My family is outraged.”

  “Yes, there’s been a mistake. May we speak to your parents about … Lillian.” Remington whispered the last part, watching as the younger man’s face filled with sadness.

  “Of course. Please come in.” Benedict opened the door wider and moved aside, allowing the two gentlemen to pass.

  The hall was filled with old paintings with a discolored wooden table against the wall.

  “Benedict, allow me to introduce the Earl of Hempstead.” Remington introduced the two men, waving his hand between them. “Hempstead, this is my valet.”

  The earl nodded in greeting, before they followed the young man to a tiny room where his parents were sitting, enjoying tea.

  Mr. and Mrs. Cooper both looked up when Remington and Hempstead entered the tidy space that was filled with well-worn furnishings. A painting of Lillian Cooper sat above the mantle in a place of honor, fresh flowers on either side. She had been a lovely girl. The combination of her long red hair and hazel eyes made her look as if she was painted from a dream.

  Her face had haunted him for years, her hazel eyes lifeless as he held her hand in his.

  Mrs. Cooper, a robust, serious-looking woman with graying, brown hair, stood hurriedly when she saw the two gentlemen enter her parlor. “Yer Grace! We saw the lies in the gossip!”

  “Mr. and Mrs. Cooper, forgive us for intruding. This is my acquaintance, the Earl of Hempstead—”

  “Yes, Lady Olivia’s father! We’re sorry that all this is coming up now with yer wedding so close,” Mrs. Cooper interrupted, her head shaking from side to side.

  “Please make yerselves comfortable.” Mr. Cooper nodded toward the sofa.

  “Thank you.” Remington looked from husband to wife as they sat down. “If you both are up to it, I would ask that we speak of Lillian’s death. Baron Bromswell has wrongly accused me and I need to clear my name.”

  “That’s a lie! It was Baron Bromswell who killed our Lilly and got away with it. No one cares about a girl from da slums. They didn’t lay a finger on him, just let him walk free after he killed her. The nerve of that man accusing you, Your Grace.” Her body shook with grief and anger, tears ran down her round face. “Lilly ran off fer a better life when she was only fifteen. Mr. Cooper was in da army, sending his commission home, but it wasn’t enough ta feed us and keep a roof over our heads.”

  “After I lost me leg in da war, we could barely live. Both Lilly and Ben went to work, sending money home.” Mr. Cooper shook his head, his hands gripping the armchair as if he was struggling to tell the story.

  Mrs. Cooper nodded her head in agreement, continuing the story. “One day da constable came to where we were staying and informed us that our girl was murdered by a gentleman. They wouldn’t tell us his name, but her friend Mary was with her. We went to visit her in da hospital, and that’s where she told us everything.

  “Mary was in da room as well, seems as if the gentleman was having a bit of fun with both of them. But Mary said he liked our Lilly best fer pain, yew see.” Mrs. Cooper dabbed at her eyes, trying to catch the tears that fell freely.

  Mr. Cooper pulled himself up, adjusting what was left of his leg. “We met the duke in the hospital, he was making arrangements for Lilly’s body. Mary had told us everything, how da duke came into da room and stopped da bloody baron. He took both the girls to the hospital and stayed with them. Lilly died holding his hand and asking him to tell us that she loved us. Mary says that if it wasn’t for the duke, she would’ve perished along with Lilly.”

  “No,” Remington said, his voice full of pain and regret. “If it wasn’t for me, Lillian would still be alive, and Mary wouldn’t have suffered so greatly.”

  “What do you mean?” the earl asked, the shape of his round eyes reminding Remington of Livie.

  “The night we went to the brothel, we were drinking to excess, gambling.” Remington’s shoulders slumped at the memories of his foolishness. “I was inebriated, hardly able to stand on my own. I was in another room with a girl when I heard the screams … I thought they were in my head at first, but they grew louder and louder. They were horrible, and I felt as if my heart were being gripped within my body. In a place like that, no one would dare interrupt a lord to protect a working girl, but I couldn’t stand by and allow it to continue.”

  He stopped to take a much-needed breath, his hands shook in his lap. After years of watching his father abuse his mother as a child, he knew the sounds of a woman being abused.

  “I had to hold on to the wall to stand upright, but I followed the screams to where I knew Bromswell was with two girls. I burst in and was shocked at the scene in front of me.” He stopped abruptly, taking a moment to compose himself. He could see it as if he was in that room once again. “Rage filled me, and I attacked Bromswell. I could not believe I had befriended such an animal.”

  What Remington did not reveal to the earl and the Coopers was that the entire scene reminded him of his childhood. Finding his father standing over his beaten mother when he was just a boy of five years old, Remington ran to him, hitting him
with his small fist to no avail.

  When he found Baron Bromswell standing over Lillian and Mary with his bloody walking stick, he had to save them. It was as if he was a little boy all over again, unable to protect his mother from his father. And yet he still could not save Lillian, a regret he would always carry.

  “What you have done for our family is a far greater deed than we could ask for.” Benedict gave his employer a small smile.

  “Lilly chose her own path. It wasn’t your fault.” Mr. Cooper sat back in his chair, tears glistening in his eyes.

  “If I were not so inebriated that night, Lillian would still be alive, and for that, I am very sorry.” Remington placed his hand to his chest.

  “Benedict has a good job, we have da store and a home. Mary is now a respectable woman living in Ireland with her husband. Yew did not have ta do any of those things fer us. But yew did, Your Grace.” Mrs. Cooper turned to the earl. “He’s a kind man, nothing like Baron Bromswell.”

  “Thank you for saying that and for reliving the ordeal for the earl.” Remington stood and turned to Hempstead, who sat shocked at the story. “We should be going; we’ve taken up enough of your time. I may need you all to confirm my innocence to the gossips as well.”

  “Whatever yew need, we will be happy to do it.” Mr. Cooper gave him a firm stare, and Remington was relieved that he could depend on the Coopers.

  “Thank yew fer coming, Your Grace. Yew know you’re always welcome, and I expect yew ta bring Lady Olivia for dinner when she’s da next Duchess of Karrington.” She walked over to the duke, patting his shoulder as if he was a boy.

  He nodded his head, unable to voice out loud that Livie would not be his duchess. To admit it would bring attention to the pain he felt in his chest. “Hempstead, are you ready?” Remington looked over to the earl, wondering if he had sealed his fate by revealing his deepest, darkest secret.

  The earl shook his head, standing abruptly. “Yes, thank you both for telling me the truth.”

  Silence followed them out of the small home and into the waiting carriage. Hempstead stared out into the crowded streets of London.

  “Hempstead …” Remington said, waiting on the man to acknowledge him. When their eyes met, Remington cleared his throat. He knew what he wanted, more than anything in this world. “If Livie will forgive me for keeping the truth about Lillian from her, I am going to marry her. Do you have any objections?”

  Hempstead shook his head vehemently. “No, I have none. What about the rumors about you and Lady Evers?”

  Remington pinched the bridge of his nose, tired of the damned gossips and their assumptions. “They are false. I assisted Heartford with Lady Evers yesterday evening, and they both stayed at my townhome because the lady and her child were put out on the street like trash. Heartford took her to look for a new place this morning. Once I saw the gossips, I came straight to speak with Livie.” He felt exhausted from the day he had and wanted nothing but to lay himself at Livie’s mercy.

  He was nothing without her, and he had to win her back. He loved her, more than his own life. Now he just had to prove it.

  Does the Bachelor Duke have a child?

  It seems our duke may be the father of Lady E’s child! Witnesses saw him come to their aid, and now she and the babe are staying at his townhome. No word on how Lady O is taking the news.

  Nathan, the Baron of Bromswell, stormed into his meager home in a rage. Damn Karrington and damn Lady Olivia for refusing to marry him. He had hoped that the information he gave the gossips and Hempstead would’ve made the spineless man make his daughter marry him.

  Walking into the small empty parlor, Nathan found Josephine, Lady Windchester, sitting on his threadbare sofa drinking the last of his wine. Curse her, she knew his funds were low, and simple things like wine were becoming further and further out of his reach.

  “What are you doing here? Isn’t your mother or husband wondering where you are?” He removed his hat and threw it on an armchair.

  “My mother is having tea with Lady Wilcox and Lady Jameson. As for my husband, if I have to see his fucking happy face another second, I’m sure I’ll kill him.” She took a sip of wine. “Especially after the news he delivered to me this morning.”

  He sat down beside her, eyeing her suspiciously. “What has the oaf done now? You really could’ve married better.”

  She sat back in a huff shaking her head. “He’s gone and ruined every damn thing. He is the father of that harlot Lady Evers’ child, and he wants to be with them.”

  “I’m sure your mama will delight in cutting you both off. That was her one rule, was it not, no bastards from either of you?” Nathan raised an eyebrow in challenge, crossing his long legs.

  “Yes. That’s precisely why I must handle the brat and the whore who had her.” Josephine took a gulp of wine, grimacing slightly. “The nerve of Windchester, thinking I would allow him to leave me for her.”

  “That entire group has always been a pain, especially Karrington. I needed that fucking dowry!” His voice was cold, his fist balled tight. “I was looking forward to breaking Lady Olivia, too, but she had to go and insist that she wouldn’t marry me.”

  “So, your plan for Karrington and Lady Olivia didn’t work? Did she forgive him?” she asked with interest.

  “No, she ended their engagement, and I swear he was going to cry like a babe. I think he loves the chit.”

  He couldn’t believe that the cold Karrington he hated all these years was in love. Karrington’s suffering brought Nathan immense pleasure. If only he could cause him pain permanently.

  “Well, that’s disappointing, but I knew he had terrible taste when he refused me last Season. Perhaps I can get him into bed now with Lady Olivia gone.” Josephine stood a little perkier at the thought.

  “Don’t get too excited, I’m sure she will forgive him. Karrington always wins.” He propped his feet up on the table thinking of how to make the duke pay.

  Nathan watched as she deflated before she turned to face him. “I need your help getting rid of the whore and bastard.”

  He sat up suddenly; an idea had come to him. “I’m in, only if we add Lady Olivia to our plans.”

  Lady Windchester barked out a sinister laugh. “You want to kill Lady Olivia? Why?”

  “Because I want him to know what it’s like to have nothing.” Nathan rose, feeling much better now that he had vengeance on his mind.

  Josephine walked over to him, seductively running her hand up his chest. “I’m listening.”

  Karrington and that cow would pay for ruining his plans. He was tired of having nothing, of being nothing, while men like Karrington had everything. Nathan had used the duke’s hatred of his father to help him squander the dukedom’s coffers.

  It was all going splendid until the night he took Karrington to one of his preferred brothels, where they never cared what Nathan did to the girls. It all went up in flames.

  Damn Karrington for interrupting. It wasn’t really Nathan’s fault he killed her, he simply got carried away. It was the first time he had lost himself completely, but not the last.

  After that incident, Karrington made his life a living hell for years, shutting doors that would usually be open to him. No, it was time he knew exactly what it felt like to be Nathan. The only way to make that happen was to take away the one person the duke had allowed himself to love.

  Lady Olivia St. John.

  After returning Hempstead to his townhome, a despondent Remington walked up the steps of his home. Livie had refused to see him.

  He’d lost her.

  “Your mother is in the parlor, along with Lady Evers and Lord Heartford,” Dayton said.

  Remington stopped walking and ran his hand through his hair. He didn’t feel like being around anyone, especially his mother, and why the hell was Lady Evers still here?

  “Please have the staff prepare for my departure tomorrow. When Benedict returns from his parents, have him pack my things.” Remington instructed
in a lifeless tone.

  “Sir? What about the new duchess?” Dayton asked, his voice sounding as confused as Remington felt.

  She would not be his duchess.

  “There will not be a new duchess, Dayton.” A part of him crumbled as the words came out of his mouth.

  Remington wanted nothing more than to drown himself in a glass of brandy. Deciding it was best to face his mother now, he took a deep breath before he walked into the parlor.

  His mother was bouncing Emily on her lap but looked up when she heard him enter. “All will be well,” she said, and it unnerved him that she was always tried to be positive when he was upset.

  When he was a boy, she had an uncanny ability of knowing just when he needed her, but even she would not be able to help him.

  “It is not important. May I ask why all of you are in my home?” He saw Lady Evers bristle, and he felt bad for being so disagreeable, but he just wanted to be alone with his heartbreak.

  “Lady Evers’ new townhome will not be ready until tomorrow. So we wanted to impose on your good nature one more day,” Heartford said in his usual cheery voice.

  “Of course, please stay as long as you need. I’m leaving for Hemsworth Place tomorrow, so the townhome will be empty—”

  His mother passed the baby to Lady Evers before she stood. “What are you talking about? The wedding is in four days.”

  Remington swallowed and avoided eye contact with his mother. “Lady Olivia called the wedding off and is refusing to see me. I’m sure the St. Johns will inform everyone soon.”

  Silence filled the room, and Remington saw pity in everyone’s eyes. He hated that look, and couldn’t bear it at the moment. He didn’t deserve or want their pity, he wanted Livie.

  He wanted to grow old, have children, and make love to her for eternity, but she no longer wanted him.

  “I’m sure it’s just a misunderstanding. Surely she doesn’t believe you killed that girl?” Mother Di asked, and he forced a sad smile.