by Ella Edon
He was causing a scandal in his own head.
Derby put the letters aside and sat forward.
“I’ll see what I can do. I can’t promise anything, but I’m sure we can make some headway on it.”
“You’ll do this?” Amy blinked at him. “Really?”
It was like she hadn’t expected him to accept. Derby smiled.
“Of course. I’ll always help you whenever I can, Miss Hartley.”
Amy smiled, this one reaching her eyes enough for them to sparkle. She sat forward and clasped Derby’s hands.
“Thank you.” She bowed her head quickly, meeting his gaze with one of relief. “I’ll always be grateful for this.”
Derby planned on remembering that.
Chapter Five
“You feel better now, don’t you?”
Amy looked at her mother. They were walking along the street, just around the corner from Hartley’s home. Amy had wanted to get a carriage due to her mother’s health, but Anna had declared she wanted to walk. It wasn’t far from Derby’s residence back to Amy’s. There was no arguing with her, so Amy had accepted. With Robinson following close behind, the two women headed through the streets of London. People nodded in greeting as they passed, and the sun beat down on them. It was a particularly warm day, even with the cool breeze that brushed against Amy’s face. She was glad they hadn’t taken a carriage now; they would have been even warmer, which wouldn’t have been good for Anna.
As it was, Anna was looking much better than before. The air was bringing some color to her cheeks, and the sparkle in her eyes had come back. Amy had missed seeing this side of her mother. She smiled and slipped her arm through Anna’s.
“I do, just a little bit,” Amy admitted. “Knowing that someone has taken me seriously and is willing to help me is comforting.”
“Don’t forget, I believe you as well.”
“You know what I mean, Mother.”
“I do know.” Anna squeezed her daughter’s hand. “I figured Derby would help you. You two have known each other for a long time, haven’t you? Ten years or something, isn’t it?”
“I…” Amy wondered where her mother was going with this. “I don’t know him as well as you think I do. We’ve grown apart since we were children. I was always much closer to Sarah.”
“Maybe you don’t. But I was right. He is fond of you.” Anna gave Amy a sly look. “More than fond, I would say, considering the interaction between you two earlier.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Derby was staring at you. A lot. And when you touched his hands, I was surprised he didn’t jump out of his seat.” Anna laughed. “I haven’t seen anyone act quite like that before. Whatever is going on between you two, it’s certainly intense.”
It began to dawn on Amy. Anna was talking about Derby having feelings towards her. Had she and Sarah been talking? Sarah was sure that there was something between her friend and her brother. Amy had seen Derby watching her with an expression that made her belly heat up and her core throb between her legs, which made sitting down uncomfortable, but she didn’t think anything of it. Derby was someone she had known for years, and he knew Amy. He knew all her faults, her flaws. Why would he look at her like he desired her?
There wasn’t anything there. Was there? Amy sighed and shook her head.
“Please, Mother, don’t try and look for something that isn’t there between us. I don’t want my hopes raised and then crushed if I’ve guessed wrong.”
“All right, I won’t press it any further.” Anna giggled. “But I would advise you to keep him as an option. I think the two of you would balance each other out perfectly.”
“Mother, enough!”
Anna fell silent, but Amy glanced over and saw her mother still smiling. She looked behind her, up at Robinson. The footman hadn’t said anything at all on the journey, and he didn’t meet Amy’s eye as they walked along, but Amy could tell he was doing his best not to laugh. His mouth was screwed up in an attempt to hide a smile, and his eyes were glinting. He obviously found this amusing. Amy glared at him and turned away. Servants listened far too much.
“Here we are.”
Anna slowed to a stop at the corner. Amy could see her father’s house further down the street, opposite the small park where she had spent a lot of her childhood, running in and out of trees and climbing them whenever her nanny wasn’t looking. It had driven her parents to despair, one of the few things they agreed on. Girls were not supposed to be climbing trees.
That felt a long time ago now.
Anna turned to her daughter.
“Are you sure you don’t want me to walk you to the door, love?”
“No, it’s best that you don’t. Father will be furious if he sees you.” Amy gave her mother a reassuring smile and squeezed her hands. “You get home and rest. That’s what James told you to do. Robinson will escort you home.”
“I will.” Anna grinned as she indicated the strapping young man. “I’m not going to come to any harm with this handsome fellow looking after me.”
Amy bit back a laugh as she saw Robinson’s face go red.
“Now, you’re embarrassing him, Mother.”
Anna’s eyes twinkled. She kissed Amy on the cheek.
“Stay safe, Amy.”
“Love you, Mother.”
“Love you, too.”
Anna walked away, crossing the road with Robinson in tow. Amy watched them go until they turned a corner and disappeared. It wrenched at her heart to be separated, but it had to be. Even with her strength, Anna was terrified of her former husband. Hartley had declared he wouldn’t hold back if he ever saw Anna close to her former home again. Amy didn’t want to get her mother into any trouble.
She set off towards her home. Hopefully, Hartley would either be in his study or out at the club, and Beatrice would be having afternoon lunch with some of her friends and gossiping about the latest scandals at one of the many tearooms. Amy would be alone apart from the servants, which was how she liked it.
She entered the house and handed her cloak and hat to one of the footmen who opened the door to her. As he walked away, and Amy headed towards the stairs, a loud, booming voice came out of nowhere, making her jump.
“Where have you been?”
Amy spun around, finding Hartley storming towards her from the library. He hadn’t gone to the club, after all. Amy pressed a hand to her chest, trying to slow her sudden, increased heartbeat.
“Father! You gave me a fright!”
“Answer me, young lady!” Hartley snapped. “Where have you been?”
“I went out.”
“Out?” Hartley stopped before her, towering over her. Amy had to resist the urge to take a step back. “Without a chaperone? Are you trying to get yourself into a scandalous position?”
“I wasn’t alone. Robinson was with me.”
“I see.” Hartley’s eyes narrowed. “And where is Robinson? Shouldn’t he be with you right now?”
Amy bit her lip and squared her shoulders. She had been hoping not to explain herself, but Hartley would not back down. He was going to demand it out of her. Amy looked at her father in the eye.
“He’s escorting Mother home, just to make sure she returns safely.”
Hartley’s expression hardened. His jaw tightened. Then he snorted rudely with a shake of his head.
“Stupid fool. If he had any sense, he’d leave that woman to the footpads.”
“That is my mother you’re talking about, Father.”
“That woman is a harlot. Always has been. She committed atrocities that weren’t tolerated by anyone. She’s not allowed in our Society anymore, not after what she’s done.” Hartley sneered at his daughter. “You shouldn’t be around her at all.”
Amy hated it when Hartley spoke of Anna like this. Even as she trembled, Amy faced her father down. She would not hear a word against the woman who had given birth to her.
“She is my mother,” she said in a tight
voice. “And she wasn’t the one who committed atrocities, that was you. You were the one who committed adultery and violence. It was why Mother divorced you in the first place.” Amy watched as Hartley’s face went even redder, his eyes practically bulging out of his head. “The only crime she committed was getting married to you.”
Hartley looked apoplectic. Amy moved back as Hartley jabbed a finger into her face, narrowly missing her eye as he waved it furiously.
“You need to watch what you say, you little brat,” he hissed.
“Do I? Mother’s a good woman, and she’s never broken the sanctity of marriage.”
“She broke it by divorcing me!” Hartley bellowed. “She shouldn’t have gotten the divorce, either.”
Amy snorted.
“So, you say she should have stayed with you and allowed you to beat her for breathing the wrong way?”
Hartley snarled, and suddenly his hand was at Amy’s throat. Amy gasped and tried to pull away, but the grip on her neck tightened. She could feel her breath being squeezed out of her. Hartley shook her, bringing her close to his face.
“You will not see your mother anymore,” he hissed. “I will not allow it.”
He thrust her away, causing Amy to stumble. She caught her foot in her skirts and fell, landing on the stairs. Pain shot up her elbow, jarring her arm. Sitting up, Amy glared at him.
“You can’t tell me whether I can or cannot see my mother!” she shouted. “I’m not a child anymore.”
“I can. You’re under my roof, so I can tell you to do whatever I want.” Hartley’s eyes were blazing as he pointed a finger at his daughter. “You see her again, and I’ll have you locked up in your room until someone thinks you decent enough for a marriage, not that I think that will happen anytime soon.” He turned away and strode off down the hall. “Now get out of my sight.”
Amy heard his footsteps fade away, and then a door slamming. The noise echoed around the hall, vibrating in Amy’s ears. Cradling her injured arm to her body, Amy rose unsteadily to her feet.
Not for the first time, Amy wished she didn’t have a father. No father would lay their hands on a child they were supposed to love. But Hartley clearly didn’t love her.
Amy was sobered by the thought as she climbed the stairs. To know her father didn’t care about her was more painful than she cared to admit.
* * *
“My lord?”
Derby looked up. Dobson was standing by his desk, watching him with a frown. Derby hadn’t heard the door open. His valet was very good at moving around like a ghost.
“Yes, Dobson?”
“It’s almost five-thirty. You need to get yourself ready?”
“For what?” Derby straightened up, wincing as his back screamed at him. He had been bent over for too long. “What are you talking about?”
“You’re due to go to a dinner party at the Maudlin household.” Dobson looked pointedly at the clock on the mantelpiece. “The carriage is taking you in about an hour.”
Derby groaned. He had forgotten all about that. Amy’s visit earlier with the letters had gotten him intrigued. He loved a challenge, a mystery. And if it meant helping Amy at the same time, that suited him fine. The rest of the day had been spent sending out notes to various contacts asking for help and pouring over the letters, trying to find a connection. The man was not consistent in anything other than how the letters were sent. Three letters were romantic, sweet, and kindly, and then the fourth would be vicious, often threatening death.
Nothing seemed to stand out, and Derby’s head was spinning with it. All the letters were scattered across his desk, some of them now on the floor. The words were beginning to run together.
Now he had to go to a dinner party, something that Derby detested. He just wanted to stay in and hide away, but his title said he couldn’t do that. There had to be a presence.
“Do I really have to go?”
“I’m afraid so, my lord.” Dobson spread his hands. “It’s best to keep Baron Maudlin on the side. He was a friend of your father’s, after all. His contacts are vital.”
“You know I detest these gatherings.”
“I know you do, but you do have to go. People will question your solitude otherwise. Much as you dislike it, you have to show your face.”
Dobson was right, as always. Derby wished he wasn’t. He sighed and started to tidy up the letters.
“I suppose I couldn’t do any worse than Baron Maudlin’s company,” he grunted.
“I always considered Baron Maudlin a decent man. A little uncouth, maybe, but very likable.”
“And he is. It’s not him that’s the problem. It’s the rest of his family.” Derby made a face. “His wife means well, but she’s a very pushy lady. Everything has to be just so with her. And those sons of theirs, Michael and Andrew, are arrogant bastards.”
“Steady on there, my lord.”
“You know I don’t mean they’re actually bastards, Dobson. The words I have for them, in reality, would make your ears burn.” Derby turned and leaned back on his desk, folding his arms as he scowled at the open door. “I don’t care for them. And as for Baron Maudlin’s ward, Rebecca…”
Derby didn’t need to say more. Dobson knew about her all too well. Rebecca Colburn was the daughter of the late Earl of Taunton. Since she had been a minor at the time, Rebecca had been put under Maudlin’s guardianship. Derby had met her on several occasions since she had started her first Season six months previously, and Rebecca had made it very clear that she found him attractive. She did whatever she could to be in his company, sidling up to him and looking up at him adoringly.
Derby found her annoying, spoiled, and pretentious. He had gone past the point of being polite and gently pushing her away to almost physically shoving her back. It wouldn’t take much more before he actually did that. Rebecca got far too close for his liking.
“I see.” Dobson’s expression said he knew all too well. “Is she still showing her desires towards you?”
“I don’t think she ever stopped.” Derby shook his head. “You’d think a woman would take the hint that a man wasn’t interested in her. I can’t begin to count the number of times I’ve actually told her that I want nothing to do with her, and yet she keeps seeking my presence whenever we’re at a social gathering together.”
“It sounds like someone’s been whispering in her ear about persevering until you give in. And from what I’ve heard of Miss Colburn, if she’s told something and she wants to believe it, she won’t stop until it comes true.”
“That sounds like you’re speaking from personal experience.”
Dobson smiled.
“I know women like her. In my opinion, all women think like that. They believe they’re worthy of a man’s time, but they’re sadly misinformed.”
“I see.” Derby surveyed his valet closely. “And what about Amy Hartley? Do you consider her the same way you consider Miss Colburn? Is she worthy of my time?”
“Miss Hartley is the exception to the rule, my lord,” Dobson replied without hesitation. He chuckled. “Besides, she doesn’t run around after you. If anything, she runs the other way. Any interaction between the two of you has her flustered and mostly tongue-tied.”
Of course, Derby would notice that. He was an observant man. Nothing got past him. And Amy often got red-faced and flustered with everyone, not just Derby. She had always been shy. Derby surmised, with a father like Viscount Hartley, it was no surprise that Amy wanted to become a wallflower. Hartley was enough to terrify anyone into the background. Most people tolerated him, but they didn’t like him, in spite of what he thought.
Hartley was far too high above his station, but no one was brave enough to knock him back down to where he belonged.
“You do need to get ready, my lord.” Dobson reminded him.
Derby hadn’t forgotten. He really just didn’t want to go. He sighed.
“I’d rather give myself a bad back and look over these letters again.”
“The letters you’ve been reading all afternoon?” Dobson looked down at the desk. “Is this what Miss Hartley brought you?”
“Yes. Someone’s been writing anonymously to her, and their feelings towards her vary greatly.”
Derby watched as Dobson picked up one of the letters and read it, his brow furrowing. His valet gave a low whistle.
