“That is all right, Jane. I was just resting.” The presence of her maid pushed aside her musing over Gabe. “Do you know where Phoebe is?”
“I believe the young miss is with your aunt.” Jane smiled. “They are off on one of their adventures.”
“I don’t see how the two of them can manage to find so many new things to explore. You’d think my aunt was in the prime of her youth the way she scampers off with Phoebe.” The child’s youthful exuberance was exactly what she needed to keep from dwelling on Gabe’s past. “I think I will join them. It is a perfect day for an adventure.”
After Elizabeth changed into a light pink day dress, she grabbed her spencer and went to locate Aunt Millie and Phoebe. She hoped the two adventure seekers wouldn’t be too hard to find. During the last few days, they had managed to traipse over the entire estate; luckily they never wandered far from the main house.
Elizabeth rounded the east side of the house and spotted them sitting on the floor of the pavilion with a large document of some sort spread out. Engrossed in what lay before them, Elizabeth managed to walk up without their notice.
“How are the two finest explorers around?” Elizabeth asked, climbing the shallow steps.
“Lizzy!” Phoebe exclaimed as she jumped to her feet and scurried to Elizabeth, barely missing stepping upon what appeared to be a hastily drawn map.
Elizabeth caught the imp in her arms and gave her a tight squeeze before she set the child down. “I hope I’m not interrupting some important discovery?”
“Oh no, dear,” her aunt assured. “You are never an interruption. We are always in need of further assistance with our scouting efforts.”
“We are looking for hidden treasure,” Phoebe added, confirming they were indeed perusing a treasure map.
Elizabeth stepped closer to the parchment and took in the various lines and markings, and finally a large X in the bottom right corner where the treasure must be located. “A hidden treasure? I’ve never seen a hidden treasure before.” Elizabeth bent to reach Phoebe’s height. “Phoebe, would you mind if I join your expedition?”
“Please!” She jumped up and down.
“Why thank you, sweet. I am most pleased.” Elizabeth took a seat next to her aunt. “Now, tell me about this treasure and how you found the map.”
Phoebe plopped next to Elizabeth and began to relate a very interestingly detailed story only a three-year-old could conjure. “We took the map from the dirty pirates. Aunt Millie fought them with her sword. Before we fled, we took the dirty captain’s map.”
Elizabeth was quite surprised at what the child relayed. Aunt Millie had without a doubt expanded Phoebe’s teachings to topics beyond proper manners. Finding no reason for alarm, Elizabeth couldn’t keep a smile from her lips, pleased Phoebe was partaking in normal juvenile antics. Even if they seemed a little bloodthirsty.
“Now we are hiding from the pirates and trying to find the treasure before they do,” Phoebe concluded.
Elizabeth pondered seriously. “Well, in that case, we should get on with it and locate the treasure before the blackguards find us. I don’t believe I’m dressed properly for fighting dirty pirates.”
Over the next hour, Elizabeth, her aunt, and a captivated Phoebe darted around the estate in search of the hidden treasure. Wrapped in their game of make-believe, Elizabeth never once thought of Gabe and her new undertaking.
Her reprieve proved to be short lived. Soon after the treasure had been found—a silver snuffbox filled with paste jewelry Aunt Millie had been wise to have a servant hide beforehand—Phoebe retired to her room with a maid to rest. Which allowed Elizabeth’s thoughts to return to Mary and the young woman’s demise.
An urge to find more answers caused her to head downstairs in search of Wilkes.
She found him in the hall speaking with a servant. “Wilkes, may I have a word with you?”
“Of course, my lady.” Wilkes nodded before addressing his underling. “That will be all, Jack.”
As Jack gave Elizabeth a bow of his head and retreated down the hall, Wilkes offered his full attention. “Do you require something, madam?”
“Would you be able to direct me to Nate’s residence?” Elizabeth strove to appear as if asking for an unmarried man’s address was not unseemly.
“Master Nate resides here at Frenton Hall. I believe he is currently in the green parlor.”
“Why haven’t I met him before today?” she asked, confused.
“I believe he just returned from a trip late last night. He has been away for several weeks.”
Well, that explained how they’d never crossed paths before today. “I see. Thank you, Wilkes.”
“My pleasure,” he returned with a bob of his head.
She left Wilkes to seek out Nate. Never having cause, she’d yet to visit the green parlor situated on the main level. It wasn’t difficult to determine the correct room.
As Wilkes had suggested, she found Nate as soon as she entered. However, after taking in his relaxed posture and closed eyes, she thought twice about disturbing him.
She started to back out the door when his voice reached her. “My lady, it is too late to make a hasty retreat. I became aware of your captivating presence the moment you stepped over the threshold.”
Chapter 25
Alarmed at being caught, her eyes darted to his face. His were now slightly open, their cobalt blue nearly covered by his lowered lashes. Even so, there was no disguising the fact they were locked on her.
“As much as I love opening my eyes to your exquisiteness, I have to wonder, did you mistakenly enter a room I occupied or did you deliberately ferret me out?” he continued with a voice so charmingly seductive it could melt honey.
It was a blessing this man never graced the ballrooms of London. Mothers would have to resort to locking up their daughters to keep them from falling into his arms.
“So tell me, which one is it? Am I merely fortunate you happened to stumble upon me or am I even luckier and you purposely sought me out?”
The lines surrounding his wide smile dimpled neatly and set off a sparkle in his now fully open eyes. Somehow it made him even more handsome and endearing. Luckily for Elizabeth, love for Gabe already filled her heart to capacity; there was nothing left for this very appealing man to steal.
Yet whenever Nate directed his complete attention to her, she felt a slight flutter in her chest. The purpose for pursuing the man tickled the back of her mind, so she brushed off his effect on her and stepped further into the room, stopping a few feet from the settee. “Actually, I do have something specific I wanted to discuss with you.”
He sat up, clearly interested. “And here I thought my dear brother would have warned you away from me. I could have sworn I felt daggers flying in my direction when he came upon us earlier.”
“Yes, well, Gabe should know better than to forbid me from doing something.” She grinned. “It is his miscalculation not to realize all it causes me to do is dig my heels in further.”
He laughed openly. The deep sound reminded her of Gabe’s laughter and how she rarely heard it anymore. “I’ll wager my brother is just thrilled with your blatant disregard for his authority. You do realize he is the Duke of Wesbrook, and all shall bow before him?”
There was no mistaking the deliberate mockery in his words. Clearly, she wasn’t the only one who couldn’t resist prodding the lion that was the overinflated ego of Gabriel St. James. Nate would be the exact ally she needed.
But, how to broach the subject of Mary?
“Out with it.”
“Excuse me?” Her eyebrows rose at his directness.
“I can see something is bothering you.” He straightened and moved over slightly, creating a spot for her next to him. “If I promise not to pounce on you the moment you come withi
n three feet of me, will you sit and let me know what is so troublesome that your worry is marring your sweet face?”
Nate offered her the opportunity she needed, but still she hesitated. Would Gabe view this as a betrayal? What if Nate didn’t know as much as she thought? She gnawed her bottom lip, mulling over what to do.
“No need for you damage to your delicate lip. Sit and we’ll talk. I can be a good listener when need be.”
She studied him and this time looked past what was so apparent. The easy charm was still present in his golden features, but hidden beneath was a glimpse of seriousness, caring. The brothers apparently shared a penchant to display a persona that had the least chance to break through whatever it protected.
For Nate it was a carefree, flirty exterior. Gabe, on the other hand, hid behind a screen of aloofness, using his status as a duke to keep others from getting close.
Taking a fortifying breath, she threw away her misgivings and sat beside Nate, leaving plenty of room between them. No need to ignore proper decorum entirely. She adjusted the skirt of her dress, laying it out perfectly, fighting for more time to determine how to begin.
He chuckled softly. The lighthearted sound eased some of her anxiety. “I believe your dress is in order and will be subjected to very few wrinkles.” He relaxed against the settee, resting his arm along the back, his fingers hanging just above her shoulder, facing her squarely. “I’ll make this easier for you. Let’s start with you asking me something about myself. Ask me anything and I promise to be an open book.”
It wasn’t what she’d come here for. And she wouldn’t normally be so forward, but he’d given her the opportunity and she wasn’t about to pass on the chance to ask something that had been nagging her. She turned to him and blurted, “Who is your mother?”
Once spoken, she realized how rude her question had been, and tried to take it back. “I’m sorry. I have no right to ask.”
Nate’s hand dropped from the settee and patted her shoulder briefly. “None of that. I gave you the freedom to ask anything. No need to steer clear of the tough questions.” When his half smile never reached his eyes, she knew, despite what he’d said, he wasn’t completely at ease with her choice of topic.
“Nate, you don’t have to tell me.”
His smile grew. “Truly, it isn’t a topic I avoid as if a plague. I’ve accepted my parentage long ago. It’s not a secret, especially here at Frenton Hall. In truth, I’m astonished you haven’t heard before now. My mother was a maid here. She started when she was seventeen.”
Shock from learning of his mother’s position pushed the air from her lungs. She tried to keep her reaction from showing, but she knew she hadn’t succeeded as Nate continued, “I know, a typical pattern. For the first six months she managed to do her job with no complication. Regrettably, soon after, the duke took notice of her.”
All trace of a smile vanished and something similar to disgust twisted his lips. “At the time, my mother was a green girl with no experience when it came to men. Being a beauty, my father saw something he wanted and laid on the charm. A thing he’d perfected in order to lure unsuspecting women to his bed. She by no means stood a chance against such a practiced seducer.”
She didn’t expect him to continue. True to his pledge to be open with her, he didn’t even pause before divulging more. “I was fourteen when I learned who my father was. At first, I was filled with rage, wanting to accuse him of forcing himself on my mother, but she confessed everything. Even though he’d used her and held no affection besides lust, there’d been no force. Often as it is with a man like my father, he’d seduced her with pretty words and false promises. After it became apparent she was with child, he reverted to his true self. He threw her out of the household with no reference and only a pittance of what she was due.”
Elizabeth’s heart bled for yet another helpless person the evil man had destroyed. She was starting to think there was no end to the misery he’d caused.
Nate went on in a flat tone, almost as if the old pain no longer touched him. If not for the hurt reflected in his eyes, she might have believed it. “Luckily, no one had known of the affair and my mother’s sister and her husband took her in after my grandparents had banished her. If not, I shudder to imagine what would have become of my mother.”
He glanced off into a distant corner, undoubtedly caught in memories of the past, before he gave a slight shake of his head. “In more detail than you probably ever wished for, that is the meager story of my inception. As a child, I lived in the shadows, no one ever knowing who I really was. My mother concocted a tale that my father had been a young man who went off to strike his fortune and died tragically. It didn’t save her from scorn, but it did give her some reprieve.”
Elizabeth fought back tears for all the struggles his mother had had to endure. No one, especially someone so young, should have to face such torment.
The fact his mother had done it without the support of her family seemed all the more heartbreaking. It made Elizabeth appreciate the relationship she’d had with her parents and the continued love and support she received from Marcus.
She sat quietly, reluctant to break him from his grasp on the past. All the while, stowing new anger at the disreputable man Gabe and Nate had the misfortune of calling ‘father.’
“My mother died shortly after I reached my majority. I couldn’t live with her being the only one to deal with the consequences of his dishonorable actions, so after her death, I confronted the man. It pained me to undo all she’d done to protect me, but I couldn’t let him go on without at least acknowledging what he’d subjected her to.” Nate let out a light snort. “I should have known how little it would concern him. He simply pushed me aside like he had my mother. Despite everything, he went on to act as if I didn’t exist and continued with his despicable ways.”
He trailed off. And when he didn’t continue, she asked in a soft voice, “How did you and Gabe meet?”
Another of Nate’s quick smiles washed away his previous anguish. “My unusual friendship with my brother is a completely different story and not nearly as stirring. Are you sure you want me to bore you with the details? Besides, wasn’t there something else you wanted to ask me?”
He was right. She had come to him for a reason. She should use this time to speak of Mary. To find the answers she sought. Even with a house this size, it wouldn’t be long before they were disrupted and she would lose her opportunity.
And yet, she couldn’t give up the chance to learn how they’d become friends.
Before she could change her mind, she said, “I’d like to know.”
“Of course you do. I never thought you would eschew a chance to learn more about Gabe.” His chuckle sent embarrassment through her. The knowing look he bestowed made it clear he’d discovered the extent of her feelings.
A place deep inside screamed for her to say nothing. To protect her fragile heart. But she couldn’t. Tired of storing all she felt inside, locked where no one could see, she decided to be direct and asked, “How did you know?”
His eyes still danced with mirth. “Don’t worry, my lovely. You are not entirely transparent. When we first met, I wasn’t quite honest with you. I knew who you were the moment I crashed into you. I’ve lost count of the number of times Gabe has spoken of the little minx from his childhood currently taking London by storm.”
Her cheeks flamed anew, this time with a hint of humiliation. What must she do for Gabe to see her as anything other than a child? Unable to speak through her mounting misery, she sat in silence.
“Oh, and Gabe might have informed me that you and your aunt had arrived at Frenton Hall a few days ago. He also mentioned the extra bundle you brought along.”
His expression never changed; keeping her from discovering what he thought of his brother’s child being born on the wrong side of the blanket. N
ow aware of his origins, she suspected if there were anyone who wouldn’t hold Phoebe’s illegitimate status against her, it would be Nate.
“That explains how you knew who I was, but . . . how did you discover my feelings?” She almost cringed to speak it aloud.
“Now, that was a tad more difficult. But not much of a leap after seeing your face beam at the sight of him.” A spark of naughtiness entered his blue eyes. “Besides, only someone who either hated him or loved him would chance his wrath by challenging him. Your reaction to him was far from hate.”
“Well . . .”
“Don’t worry, sweet, your secret is safe with me.” He produced an exaggerated wink. “Now that you know more about me than people I’ve known my entire life, it is your turn. What sent you in my direction?”
“Gabe.”
“I surmised as much. I might have a vast intelligence that is matched only by my exceptional good looks, but you’ll need to give me more than that.”
She hesitated. The idea of speaking to Nate regarding Mary’s death had been very well in her head, but now that she had to voice it, she found herself wavering.
Elizabeth lowered her eyes and whispered, “Mary.”
He sat in silence. Focused on her hands clasped tightly in her lap, she had no way of knowing if he understood. Finally, she found the courage to look at him.
His features were smooth, calm. Only his eyes told a different story. Silent misery pooled in their depths.
“He told you about Mary?”
She nodded, her throat too tight to answer.
“And about her death?”
“Yes,” she managed to croak.
“What would you like to know?”
Her eyes widened in surprise. “That’s all? You are just going to tell me?”
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