Regency Romance: Duke’s Forbidden Love (The Fairbanks Series - Love & Hearts) (Historical Romance Fiction)

by Jessie Bennett

  He moved to stand next to Bryan. They both leaned over the papers. Frank used his index finger to trace several of the names on the surface. “These are the accounts your company holds with Duke Doughtery.”

  The mention of his name made the hairs on the back of Bryan’s neck stand up.

  “Oh?” He took the paper in his hands and stared at the words, as if they had something to say to him.

  “Yes, you see?”

  “I am not fully aware of the owners of each business.”

  “He is not the owner. He does their financial dealings. He works as the accountant specifically for these accounts.”

  “This must mean something.” Bryan looked up at the older man. “I do not trust Duke Doughtery, sir, I must confess.”

  “I know you don’t, son, though I suspect there are other reasons why you do not.” He glanced at his daughter. “I know the two of you have been… conversing. I have expressed my disappointment in my daughter about this and must also express it to you. The age difference between you two is too vast and must be taken into consideration.

  “Father…”

  Frank lifted one hand to stop her. “Please, my dear. I have been over this with you.”

  “My lord, I have no intention of harming your daughter in any way.”

  Frank shook his head. “I will not be able to give my blessing to a courtship between you and my daughter, Lord Watson. Not now or in the future.”

  “But how can you say that, father?” Anna said, her voice rising in pitch, her frustration showing. The earnest look on her face made Bryan’s heart melt for her. It was obvious that her feelings for him were as strong as his were for her. “You don’t know the future. You cannot see it just on a whim. You will not give it another thought and have simply set your mind to your decision.”

  “That is right, my dear.”

  “My lord, if I could beseech you to…” Bryan began.

  “No, Your Grace. I’m sorry but I must cut you off. We have more pressing needs than to go over this right now.”

  “Father…”

  “Hush.” This time it was Bryan who cut off Anna’s words. Her eyes darted to his face and softened immediately as an obvious look of longing covered her face. Bryan pulled in a sharp breath and resisted the urge to grab her up in his arms and plant a firm, loving kiss on her lips. “We won’t discuss it right now. We must find out what is going on with these documents. I suggest our first stop should be at Duke Doughtery’s offices. Perhaps he can shed some light on these problems. His books should be accurate, wouldn’t you say?”

  “I would certainly hope so.” Frank turned to Anna. “We will return later. You stay here.”

  “I would like to come along, father.” Anna retorted. She wanted to know what was linking this supposed theft to her father and what it had to do with Duke Doughtery.

  “No, daughter, you stay here. You are not needed in business matters you know nothing about.”

  “But, father, you have been accused! You could be jailed!”

  Bryan raised one hand. “Calm yourself, Anna, that is highly unlikely. We must investigate this before anything is discovered. I do believe that your father will be found innocent.”

  “I certainly hope you agree that I am innocent.” Frank huffed. Anna chuckled softly and took her father’s hand.

  “Of course, I know you are innocent, father. You are a good man and would never do something such as this.”

  “That’s correct. Come, Lord Watson. Let us find out what is going on here.”

  The two men turned to the door. Bryan let Frank go ahead of him and turned when the older man’s back was turned to give Anna a silent longing look. She wanted to run into his arms and drown in his blue eyes. She noticed they had turned a darker blue than they were the last time she had seen them. They almost had a green tint to them. He looked at her with a passion she had not seen even in the eyes of her husband before his death.

  She couldn’t remember if he had ever looked at her the way Bryan did.

  Bryan clutched the top of his coat together as they stepped up into the carriage. The snow had fallen steadily while he’d been inside the mansion. As they pulled out, he could hear the wheels crunching on the wet snow. He disapproved of wet snow. It made for very messy situations. The only good thing that came of it was that people were hired to clean up the mess that was left; and that got some of the people off the streets.

  Bryan was the kind of man who believed that even one person who had to live on the streets was a bad thing. But it was inevitable, as some made choices they would later regret. He didn’t mind throwing a few pence toward the street people. It was the least he could do for them.

  “These are the documents that came directly from me, are they not?” Frank was still holding the documents and looked them over. “Yes, this is my handwriting.”

  “But if those are your documents, how did you not see the differences yourself?”

  “This document is mine. This one was put together by someone in your office. This is my handwriting and this is not.” He showed Bryan what he was talking about. “You can see how they are all pushed over to the side in this column and brought forward in that column. These are numbers that are accounts in good standing. These are not.”

  “I see.” Bryan nodded. “And these?”

  “They are still being determined. The accounts are too new to have a good projection of how well they will do.”

  “What can we deem from this, Lord Duprey?”

  Frank pulled in a deep sigh and let it out slowly. “I’m afraid not much. Frankly, I don’t see how I could have missed the differences in these numbers. It is not like me. I have never committed a mistake of this nature.”

  “Anna speaks highly of your skills, my lord. And I have never had a need to call them into question.” He didn’t add the word “before” as he didn’t want to give Frank the impression that he was calling them into question now.

  Lord Duprey gave him a blank look before saying, “I do wish that you had not spent so much time with Anna, my lord. I do recognize your authority as a businessman and a fine gentleman. But you are too young for my Anna. She has already lived much of her life. She cannot start over now. Nor should you put your future at risk with a woman twice your age.”

  “I do not see it in that way, my lord. Allow me to speak frankly.”

  “Go ahead.”

  “I wish to ask for your blessing to court Anna, simply because I felt an immediate connection with her. When I look at her, I do not see her age. I do see her beauty. Anna is a smart, a well put-together woman. A woman that can hold her own. I am intrigued by her.” He hoped he wasn’t stating the facts as he saw them too plainly. He tried to keep his tone from being disrespectful.

  “That is very similar to what she had to say about you, son.” Lord Duprey’s voice softened. “I simply cannot agree with such a courtship.”

  “Even if it is also what she desires?”

  “Anna can be a bit cloudy when it comes to judgment, son.”

  “Please, my lord. Reconsider. This is not coming from a place of lust, I can assure you. I would never disrespect or hurt your daughter. I desire to make her happy, to lift her spirits, to support her and keep her safe from harm. I am handy with a pistol and unafraid to stand up for the woman I love.”

  “I cannot imagine what Drake would think of such a union.” Lord Duprey shook his head.

  “I have spoken with Drake.”

  Lord Duprey’s eyebrows raised. He looked somewhat miffed. “You spoke with Drake about this?”

  “Not about this topic, sir, no. But I have become acquainted with him. We have spent some time together talking about life in general. It was a very uplifting and inspirational talk. Drake is a brilliant young man.”

  “Yes, he is. And he is only six years younger than you are now.”

  “I understand that, sir. But…“

  “Have you considered that the reason you get along so well with the y
oung man; is because you are so close in age?”

  “I had considered it, yes.” Bryan responded hurriedly, wanting to get out his point before the older man could go any further. “But I have also considered the fact that Drake and his mother are very much alike. This tells me that I will get along with Anna just as well as with Drake. We are happy and content in each other’s presence.”

  Frank shook his head. “We have arrived at the Duke’s offices. His estate is just over the hill. If he is not here, we will go there. We will reserve this discussion for another time, shall we?”

  Bryan felt somewhat defeated. He was going to keep fighting for what he believed, what he felt. But in the meantime, they did have other problems to deal with.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  SPEAKING WITH DUKE DOUGHTERY

  SPEAKING WITH DUKE DOUGHTERY

  Several hours later, Bryan was seated in a large room in Duke Ben Doughtery’s mansion. He was silently seething. As well as not being able to keep the look of rage from his face, while he listened to the Duke shovel out excuses. The behavior completely confused him and he wished he could talk to Anna about it.

  Unfortunately, she wasn’t there to give her opinion on what was happening.

  In his mind, Bryan could not believe what the Duke was doing. Bryan and Frank had started out the conversation as cordially as possible, since the accusation was against Frank and not Ben. But as the conversation progressed, it was obvious to Bryan that the Duke was hiding something. He deflected most of the questions. As well as responding in riddles and metaphors. Duke Doughtery also claimed that his own books were unavailable. His reasons why kept changing. There was no way to nail down the truth, when there were so many gaping holes to be filled.

  “It is my money that has been taken, Duke Doughtery.” Bryan said in a low, cold voice. “It would be appreciated if I could get some cooperation from you in this matter. You say, you do not have books so that we may compare the accounts?”

  “I am saying that they are not available now, my lord.” Ben answered. Bryan could see through his façade to the conniving rat behind it. He knew something about this. But how? Ben turned his narrow eyes to Frank, running a hand down over his long face. “I do not believe you are a thief, Lord Duprey. I would never suspect anything from a man such as you. However, there are those who might believe such a thing. Those who don’t know you, of course. It may be difficult to prove that you did not take it.”

  “He didn’t take any money.” Bryan growled. His skin was tingling with rage.

  “That is…most likely true, Your Grace,” Ben responded, nodding. “However, I know that it is not always easy to prove that which is true. I want you to know, Lord Duprey, that if something should happen to you; you do not need to worry about Lady Anna. I will take care of her.”

  That was the statement that made Bryan’s rage so fierce. He wanted to pick the Duke up and fling him from the window over the balcony, down to the hard ground below.

  He stood up and went to the window, dreading what Lord Duprey would say in response to the Duke.

  “That is very kind of you, Duke Doughtery.” Frank solemnly answered. “I think that Anna will be well taken care of should anything happen to me. However, this is a fabrication. I am innocent. I would not steal money from my clients, nor anyone whom I work with.”

  “I do understand and I believe you.”

  “When will you be able to provide your account books to help us with this, my lord?” Bryan turned around, forcing his voice to be steady. Bryan knew when the Duke locked eyes with him that they were on the same page. Duke Doughtery was keeping something from them.

  Bryan was at a loss to know what it was. He looked at Lord Duprey, shaking his head. “We will find no help here, my lord. Let’s go to the bank. We will straighten it out there.”

  Lord Duprey was very disheartened. He stood up reluctantly. The look he was giving Duke Doughtery was one of confusion.

  Bryan frowned. He walked toward the door. “Thank you, Duke Doughtery, we will contact you if we need further assistance.”

  He left the room without a word, knowing Lord Duprey was behind him. The older man did not say another word as the two left the mansion.

  They were silent with their thoughts as the carriage pulled away from the Doughtery Mansion. Bryan ran through the conversation with the Duke in his mind; angered that he could not pinpoint what the man was hiding from them. When Lord Duprey spoke, it drew him out of his thoughts abruptly.

  “I am upset by what has happened here, my lord. I am unsure what to do at this point. I have not stolen any money as I will show to you when we get to the bank. I do not have any accounts that have the kind of money those papers show that I have taken. There will be no deposits in my accounts that will indicate any type of fraud.”

  “I see a problem with proving that there are no alternate accounts, we do not know about.” Bryan said. “Please know that I believe you have not stolen the money. The papers that we have been looking over were drawn up by you and submitted by you. It does not seem logical to me that you would return to us any papers that show you have claimed money that was not yours.”

  “This is very true, my lord.”

  “I must say that it appears – and I do emphasize appears – that you have two sets of account books. You may have given us the wrong set. This is what I believe others will claim. You will need to contact a solicitor immediately.”

  “Yes, my lord, I agree.”

  He hesitated, but decided to say what was on his mind. “I do hope that you will not consider allowing Lady Anna to marry Duke Doughtery as a means of repaying him any money that seems to be taken from his accounts.”

  “It seems that is what he is vying for, my lord.” Lord Duprey sounded depressed by the notion. Bryan was hopeful. The older man had just told him that a courtship between Lady Anna and himself was not a possibility. Bryan did not want the current situation to press that further, allowing Duke Doughtery to work his way into the courtship he so desired. Lord Duprey sighed. “I fear that it may come to that, should Duke Doughtery decide to pursue the matter.”

  “You cannot allow that to happen, Lord Duprey.” Bryan said quickly. “Lady Anna would not be happy about that.”

  “I suspect you would not be happy with it either.”

  “I admit I would not.”

  Lord Duprey shook his head. “You must understand my predicament, though, my lord. You must see that I must do what it takes to resolve this.”

  “Giving your daughter to a man who is not worthy of her, is not a resolution. It forces a life of misery on someone you love. Is that truly what you want?”

  “You know, it is not. But, I must do what I must do.”

  Bryan shook his head. “You must protect your daughter, as well, my lord.”

  “Duke Doughtery is a man of substance and wealth. He would take care of her very well.”

  Bryan pulled in a sigh, trying not to reveal his frustration. He could feel Lady Anna slipping through his fingers. “We will determine what has happened. We will resolve this another way.”

  “Even if it is resolved, my lord, you cannot court my daughter.”

  Bryan clenched his hands into fists and looked out the window. He had to change the man’s mind before something dreadful happened to the woman he loved. “I am a very wealthy man myself, my lord, which you properly know. I am fully capable of giving her a good life.”

  “You are a young man with a full life ahead of you, Your Grace. You cannot and should not strap yourself down with a woman who is so much older and has lived so much more of life than you.”

  “Please tell me why you feel that is so.”

  Lord Duprey shook his head. “When you get to be a man of my age, you will understand.”

  “I am not willing to wait to understand.” Bryan shook his head. “I am determined to change your mind.”

  “That may not be possible, my lord. I must apologize. However, there is no way to know the f
uture, is there? Let us not discuss this further today. Allow me some time to think about this.”

  Bryan was stunned into silence. Even if he had wanted to speak at that point, his throat had closed and he was unable to. Could it be possible that Lord Duprey was pondering a change of heart? He couldn’t help feeling pleased.

  A moment later, his pleasure disintegrated when reality snuck into his thoughts. He was riding with a man who was accused of stealing money from a client. It was a sum that was noteworthy enough for the attention of everyone in the businesses involved. He would be torn between his loyalty to Anna and his loyalty to his business. He was sure he is capable of holding a neutral position, as these were serious charges. But, he knew he could never believe Lord Duprey would stoop to such a low level.

  He scanned the landscape as they went past, noting how busy the street was. It was alive with people. They were going in and out of stores and businesses, walking down the street. Vendors were selling their wares and employees lingered outside the door to their establishment, sweeping the walkway whenever it cleared of people.

  He focused on a few. They passed a family, a woman, man and young child, walking into a restaurant. The man reached forward, around his wife and opened the door. With a smile, he gently pressed the child to enter first. Then he gave his hand to the woman and went in behind her. It was a simple move and they were gone in mere seconds, going to fill their bellies with delicious meals.

  They passed a young woman with a baby sling around her, holding a large child against her bosom. She looked haggard and tired. As they passed, she and Bryan locked eyes for just a moment. Her head turned as she followed his carriage. She dropped her eyes first, closing them and turning back to continue walking.

  He realized with intensity how differently people reacted based on what they had experienced in their lives. He was not accustomed to standing on a porch in front of a small store, sweeping. He was accustomed to standing in front of a table where many men were seated, waiting for him to speak. In his travels, he was still treated with honor and respect. His name carried a lot of weight.