‘Good afternoon, Miss Allen,’ Leo said. Then, he said to his brother, ‘Keep them moving along, Vern, will you?’ And he indicated the small knot of onlookers who were gathering.
Rosalind had no chance to reply. With a squeal, Susie ripped her hand from Rosalind’s and launched herself at Leo, wrapping her arms around his thighs.
‘Where’s Conqueror?’ she shouted. ‘Can I ride him again? Please?’
Rosalind’s aunts, and her cousin Amelia, turned as one, mouths agape.
‘Susie!’ Rosalind pried her loose from Leo as she tried to convey her apology with a look. ‘You must not do that. You must curtsy to the Duke when you see him.’
Vernon laughed outright. ‘Oh, indeed. A duke must be afforded due deference at all times.’
Rosalind shot him a scathing look, which merely served to widen his grin.
‘Do not scold the child,’ Leo said. ‘It is not her fault her upbringing failed to prepare her for how to behave in polite society.’
Rosalind bit back the retort that hovered on her lips, irritated to realise he was right. A few weeks’ tuition in good manners could not override years of neglect in the way to behave.
‘I am sorry,’ she said. ‘You are right.’
Lascelles stirred. He was so close by her side, his sleeve brushed hers and she could smell the bay rum cologne he favoured. ‘You have no need to apologise, Miss Allen. The child has as much right as you or I to walk in the park on a pleasant afternoon.’
His words prompted a shocked response from her aunts and a murmur of disapproval from the small knot of onlookers, still hovering despite Vernon’s best efforts. Rosalind wished Lascelles had not said something that seemed designed to put them—together with Susie—on one side of a divide and everyone else on the other.
‘Lady Tring.’
The words were softly spoken, but an immediate hush fell over all present, the attention of every one of them, Rosalind included, focussed on Leo.
This was his power: his quiet strength, his presence, his poise. This was how people responded to him—what Rosalind loved, but also what she feared.
‘I gather you have something to say regarding those who choose to associate with Miss Allen?’
He waited, brows raised, gaze unwavering. Lady Tring’s face bloomed beetroot red and Rosalind felt the beginnings of sympathy stir deep inside. She would not care to be on the receiving end of that penetrating stare or that menacing tone.
‘You do not know the whole, Your Grace,’ Lady Tring said. ‘This woman’s father was a common soldier. She is not fit to mix with decent people—and now, to discover she has a child and her not even wed! I cannot countenance her behaviour. It is more than my conscience will allow, family or not.’
‘I must say, I cannot fathom what so upsets you about Miss Allen’s presence. She has come to London to chaperon her young sister, Lady Helena Caldicot. What can be so troubling about that? To be perfectly frank, madam, I find your attitude to your niece incomprehensible.’
‘But her father, Your Grace. He was—’
‘So you said before. And yet, her father was married to Miss Allen’s mother, your sister. I venture to suggest that if my family and I are happy to accept my cousin here then you have no grounds for shunning your niece. Or, come to that, your nephew who, as of this very day, happens to be in my employ and resident within my household.’
‘But...Your Grace...the child...’
‘Was a runaway. I happened to be with Miss Allen when we found her and she has been in Miss Allen’s care a matter of weeks only. I am very much afraid I cannot countenance your continuing objection. I bid you good day, madam. If you will not acknowledge your own legitimate flesh and blood that must be your right. But it shall be my right to decide not to—’
‘No!’ Lady Slough stepped forward, urging her daughter with her. ‘Surely, Your Grace, that is unnecessarily harsh? It has been a shock to my dear sister. I am sure we shall come to terms with our niece’s presence given time to adjust.’ She stretched her lips, directing a somewhat sickly smile at Rosalind. ‘There is no need for any unpleasantness.’
‘Quite,’ Leo said. ‘Good afternoon, ladies.’
It was a blatant dismissal and Rosalind’s relatives took the hint. They nodded to Rosalind, and walked away, followed eagerly by their audience, presumably intent on learning more.
Leo’s attention did not waver from Rosalind’s face as he said, ‘Vern, be a good chap and walk ahead of us with Anthony, will you? I wish to have a word with Miss Allen. Oh, and take Susie with you. We shall follow behind.’
Rosalind swallowed at the steely gaze that promised dire consequences if she dared to object. Vernon, with a flashed smile of sympathy at Rosalind, slung his arm around Lascelles’s shoulder and reached for Susie’s hand.
‘Come, tiddler. Let us go and find some swans to watch.’
Lascelles glared at Leo, but nevertheless went with Vernon. Everyone had fallen in with what Leo decreed without a murmur of protest.
Leaving Rosalind facing Leo.
His power—it was intoxicating but also terrifying. Was this what married life would be like—him commanding and her obeying, without any chance to have her say?
Leo proffered his arm and Rosalind laid her hand on his sleeve.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Leo and Rosalind strolled in the wake of the others.
‘Where is your sister?’
‘I left her at home. Lady Cecily and Lady Olivia were to collect her in their carriage.’
‘And you chose not to wait for them? Would you care to tell me why?’
Her own shame made her sharp. ‘I do not answer to you.’
An exasperated noise erupted from Leo and she sneaked a sideways look at him. He captured her gaze and their steps faltered.
‘I am not,’ he said, ‘trying to force you to my will. If you would only lower those prickly defences of yours for a minute or two, you might realise I am trying to help.’
She tore her hand from his sleeve and faced him. ‘And if I declare I do not need your help?’
‘If, my dearest Rosalind, you do not see that you need someone’s help, then you are not the intelligent woman I believe you to be. Your aunts’ opinions are nothing. There was no need to agitate them by appearing with Susie. Did you not stop to think of the connotation they would put upon her existence?’
‘I do not care what they think of me. They disowned Mama—until she remarried a man with a title. She was so happy her family received her again, it didn’t matter to her that they refused to acknowledge m-me and F-Freddie.’ Her voice had risen throughout her speech and now it cracked and a painful lump lodged in her throat.
‘Oh, sweetheart. What am I to do with you?’ Leo shook his head, captured her hand, placed it back on his sleeve and began once more to stroll. ‘You cannot battle the world. You cannot force others to hold a particular opinion when they are determined they are in the right. All you can do is leave them to their lives whilst you continue with yours.’
‘I am continuing with my life. Or I was, until I was forced into coming here.’ She swiped a lone tear from her cheek with her gloved hand. ‘What was I supposed to do, when my Aunt Tring was so foul to me yesterday?’
Leo halted. He nudged her chin up so she must look into his face. She settled her gaze on his lips. She could not cope with those all-seeing silvery eyes of his.
‘You could have confided in me.’
‘And what would you have done? Scolded them and f-forced them to be nice?’
His lips curved slightly, then pursed as though he were trying to conceal his grin. She was being childish, she knew, but her wits had scattered to the wind and she did not wish to be sensible and logical.
‘I am a duke, my darling girl. Where I lead, societ
y follows. I have no need to force anybody to do anything. With me and my family on your side there is not a house in London that would deny you access.’
How must it feel to be so...so sure?
‘Have you any idea how arrogant that sounds?’
He quirked a brow and shrugged. ‘It is how it has always been. Just as you have grown up with the shadow of your mother’s disgrace, and have carried that burden, so I have grown up with the privilege and authority of knowing I would follow my uncle and my father to the dukedom.’
‘Your uncle? Was that Lascelles’s father?’
‘Yes. He was the Duke, as the elder of the two brothers. He never married, so the title passed first to my father and then to me.’
No wonder Lascelles is so bitter. She had known Lascelles was illegitimate, but not that his father had actually been the Duke.
‘Come, we had better keep walking or I shall not be responsible for my actions.’
‘What actions?’
They began to stroll once more. Ahead of them, Vernon, Lascelles and Susie had paused on the bank. Vernon and Susie watched the swans, but Lascelles was staring in their direction.
‘Why, that I shall not be able to resist kissing those luscious lips of yours, my sweet Rosalind. We do not wish to set tongues wagging more than they are already, do we?’
Rosalind heaved a sigh. ‘I realise I was wrong, confronting my aunts like that.’ She hated to humble herself, but the truth must be said if she were to retain her self-respect. ‘I allowed my emotions to overrule my good sense. I felt so small and, somehow, unclean when they cut me yesterday in the park. I was determined to prove their opinions did not matter to me, that I did not care.’
‘When, in actual fact, all you have done is proved how very much you do care.’
‘I see that now and I do regret it.’
‘Promise me in future you will come to me for help.’
‘I promise.’
‘I do wish, however, that you had not so recklessly dragged Susie into such a public altercation.’
Rosalind hung her head, guilt swirling. She would make it up to Susie.
‘Perhaps,’ Leo went on, ‘you can now see why she would be happier going to Westfield, where her origins will not cause comment.’
‘I have not changed my mind,’ Rosalind said. ‘Susie will stay with me.’
‘But that is entirely illogical. You have your own experiences to tell you that.’
‘It is not about logic, it is about the heart. I will not—oh, no!’
Rosalind snatched her hand from Leo’s arm.
‘Rosalind? What is wrong?’
‘It is Sir Peter Tadlow. Nell’s guardian.’
‘And there—’ Leo pointed at the path ahead of Sir Peter ‘—if I am not mistaken, is Helena herself, together with Cecily and Olivia. How opportune.’
‘Opportune?’ Rosalind glared at him. ‘What if he...? Oh! You would not understand. I must go.’
She half-expected Leo to try and stop her as she left the pathway they were following and hurried across the grass, but he did not. When she reached Nell, she glanced over her shoulder to where Leo followed in her footsteps, taking his time, his hat set at a rakish angle as he gently swung his cane. Then he paused, to allow Vernon, Lascelles and Susie to catch him up.
Rosalind swallowed her humph of disgust. For all his fine talk of confiding in him and allowing him to help, he was not there when she needed him. Facing Sir Peter was a far more daunting prospect than facing her aunts.
‘Good afternoon, Lady Cecily, Lady Olivia,’ Rosalind said, puffing slightly after her quick dash across the grass. ‘Thank you for bringing Nell to the park. Nell, do not be alarmed, but Sir Peter is approaching.’
‘Sir Peter? Oh, Rosalind, what if he makes me go with him?’
Olivia moved closer to Nell and put her arm around her. ‘He shan’t take you, Nell,’ she said. ‘We shall not let him.’
Rosalind stepped in front of Nell, shielding her from Sir Peter, her legs shaking at his overt fury. He stopped in front of her, too close for comfort. She steeled herself not to retreat.
‘Well, sir?’
‘I wish to speak to my ward.’
‘Say what you must, sir. Lady Helena is able to hear you quite adequately.’
‘What? Are you afraid I might snatch her? I would be within my rights, you know.’
‘Forgive my intervention...’ Cecily moved alongside Rosalind, standing shoulder to shoulder ‘...but it is my understanding that you are unmarried, Sir Peter, in which case you are unable to present Lady Helena to society. I should have thought you would be grateful Lady Glenlochrie has undertaken that duty.’
‘Helena has no need for a come-out. I have a husband lined up, ready and waiting for her...and an excellent match it is too. A viscount, no less. And who are you, madam, to busy yourself in matters which are no business of yours?’
‘She is,’ interjected a calm voice, ‘my sister.’
Sir Peter’s gaze swivelled to take in Leo and the others, who had now joined them. Rosalind smiled to see him blanch. That was the advantage of having a duke on your side. But then Sir Peter’s expression turned mutinous.
‘Lady Helena Caldicot is my ward,’ he said. ‘I am sure you will agree with me, Your Grace, that a ward’s affairs should be under the sole control of her rightful and legal guardian.’
‘Oh, indubitably so,’ Leo murmured.
Rosalind stiffened in dismay.
I might have known! How could he?
Sir Peter’s darting, triumphal look followed by Nell’s quiet moan from behind her set Rosalind’s pulse pounding.
‘You shall not take her,’ she cried. ‘She will not be sacrificed to that...that...scoundrel, Bulbridge.’
Sir Peter thrust his face into Rosalind’s and, despite her best efforts to stand her ground, she stumbled back and she heard Leo emit a low growl.
‘She will do as I say, madam.’ Spittle flew from Sir Peter’s lips, landing on Rosalind’s cheek. ‘You are fortunate I do not haul you before the courts to answer for your actions.’
In a daze, Rosalind reached to wipe her cheek, but was beaten to it by Leo, who cleaned away the saliva with a dab of his handkerchief.
‘Stand aside, my sweet. Leave this to me.’
He set his hands to her shoulders and gently pushed her back to stand next to Helena, then turned to face Sir Peter. Nell’s hand crept into Rosalind’s and clung tight. It went against the grain to relinquish control of her family business to Leo, but she had to admit she had no idea how she could withstand Sir Peter if he would not agree to Nell remaining in the care of Lady Glenlochrie.
‘I have no quarrel with you, Your Grace. Hand over my ward and I shall forget Miss Allen’s part in all this.’
‘How very generous.’
Leo’s voice—low, menacing—sent a shiver snaking down Rosalind’s spine. She cast a surreptitious glance around. Once again, everyone appeared mesmerised, their full attention on the Duke. Sir Peter retreated a couple of steps. Leo followed.
‘All I want is my ward.’ Tadlow’s voice trembled. ‘You agreed that a ward should obey her guardian.’
‘Ah but, you see...’ Leo cocked his head to one side ‘...I am very much afraid you are no longer Lady Helena’s guardian.’
Nell clutched harder at Rosalind’s hand and they exchanged startled glances.
‘What?’ Sir Peter shook his head in denial. ‘You jest, Your Grace.’
‘Oh, trust me—I am in no mood to jest with you, Tadlow.’
‘But...but...’
‘And whilst I am correcting your misconceptions, I should also inform you that neither are you any longer the guardian of the young Earl of Lydney.’
Rosalind released Nell�
��s hand and started forward. What was going on? A large hand closed around her upper arm. Vernon. He shook his head, mouthed shh to her and tugged her back to take her place next to Nell, exactly where Leo had placed her.
Humph! Despite her irritation, however, she stayed put whilst Sir Peter blustered about his rights.
‘I have the papers to prove my guardianship, signed by the Lord Chancellor himself,’ he said.
‘And I am very much afraid I have papers—signed by Eldon only yesterday—transferring the guardianship of both Lord Lydney and Lady Helena Caldicot to me.’
‘You?’
‘Me.’
Leo was now Nell and Jack’s guardian? Rosalind struggled to draw breath.
‘But...but...’
‘You sound confused, Tadlow, but there really is nothing to puzzle over,’ Leo said. ‘You abused your position of trust over those two youngsters and I was asked to take action to protect their interests.’
‘You?’
‘As I have already confirmed. Do not ask me to repeat myself.’
‘But how?’
‘I do have a certain amount of influence with both Eldon and Sir William Grant, you understand.’ Leo’s confident stance belied the note of apology in his voice. ‘I...er...persuaded them to expedite my petition.’
‘This is preposterous, sir!’
‘No! What is preposterous is an uncle fleecing his young nephew and attempting to marry off his young niece in order to reduce his own debts. That, sir, is preposterous and I suggest that a prolonged sojourn in the country would be to your great advantage.’
Sir Peter, shoulders slumped, swung his head from side to side in bewilderment. ‘I cannot believe this,’ he muttered. He straightened. ‘Where is the proof?’
‘Come to Beauchamp House tomorrow at ten and you shall see the papers.’ Leo’s voice was laced with boredom. ‘Good day, sir.’
As soon as Sir Peter was out of earshot, Rosalind said, ‘Is this true?’
‘Of course it is true.’
‘But who asked you to take over the guardianship?’
‘Sir William Rockbeare. He asked me to investigate Tadlow upon my return to London,’ Leo said. He studied Rosalind’s expression. ‘Cecily, would you walk on with Olivia and Helena, please?’
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