The Wild Duchess/The Willful Duchess (The Duchess Club Book 1)

by Renee Bernard

“You betrayed my secret to him?”

  Scarlett sighed. “No. I couldn’t.”

  “What are you saying, Miss Blackwell?”

  “I went to him tonight and told him that I would marry him on one condition. First, that the engagement would last for at least a year, if not longer to allow me to be available to attend the people I love in their illnesses and to be with them as much as I need to be with them—without question.” She reached up to push back a curl that had fallen onto her cheek. “I told him I could not begin a new life with him if it tore me apart to be away from my own heart.”

  “He’ll assume you meant your mother. And I am…you don’t love me, Miss Blackwell. I would hardly qualify for—”

  “Love isn’t a gem with one facet or one color to shine out into the world, Your Grace, remember? It has depth and infinite possibilities. That’s what you said to me that day. You said we could love each other as friends and put the rest of the world to shame with the purity of it.”

  “Talon Rush will not…appreciate the arrangement. I doubt he’ll wish to share you with…even with me under those conditions. You’re asking too much of him and I don’t think he…would wish…you to be…”

  “You underestimate me but you also underestimate the Duke of Stafford. Talon loves you. I think you are like a father to him in many ways and you are wrong to leave him from this.” She reached over to touch Elgin’s hand. “You are wrong to leave out Lord Hayle, and your sister, and all those who love you, Your Grace. It is not my place to direct you but I am begging you to open up to the depth and infinite possibilities that might mean a good man deserves to feel loved before he leaves this world. You deserve so much. I will do my best but alone, it seems unfair to place it all into my hands, don’t you think?”

  “I don’t know what to think. I meant for it to be so tidy.”

  She leaned back in her chair. “I’m glad it’s not. I am being the selfish one now, Your Grace. I get to be with my friend and do all that I can for him for as long as he’ll allow it—and then I get to marry the man I love and spend the rest of my life with him. It just so happens that they are two different men. I am apparently a very fortunate woman.”

  “I will tell them. Ryder and Stafford and my family. I want them to know and for there to be no shadow, no question of your honor and your commitment to me as a friend.” He smiled. “And you’ll be a duchess, after all.”

  “A very wild duchess by all accounts, Your Grace. What do you say?”

  “You truly mean it? You’re certain?”

  She nodded, the tears coming at last. “If you still want me…I would like to be the one to sit with you and when the time comes, I want to hold your hand.”

  “Thank God…oh, thank God…for you Scarlett Blackwell.”

  He stood and pulled her into his arms for a great bear hug and they wept shamelessly, two souls clinging together to face the storms ahead.

  Chapter 30

  Grey blanketed the landscape as the rain fell in unrelenting sheets, a tangible mist giving weight to every leaf, petal and branch, soaking the mourners to the bone and even making the black ostrich feathers on the undertaker’s horses’ heads look like melted beetle-like antennas that bobbed inconsolably. The black crepe draped carriage had become a bedraggled affair as the procession made its way to the graveyard.

  The small crowd that braved the weather and the cold stood in a bleak semi-circle around the open gash in the earth’s crust, so fresh a wound that it was painful to look at. Starr leaned heavily against Ryder as his arm encircled his wife protectively, her rounded belly making her steps clumsy and uncertain. She stole a glance at Scarlett and both of them knew that there was nothing to say to alleviate the pain of the day.

  Scarlett had a firm hold on Talon’s supportive arm, her grief threatening to break like a storm against the shore. Through her tears, she watched her father make his way to stand between them, his two daughters and the men they loved.

  A lump formed in her throat and she put her gloved hand to her neck as if to dismiss the choking ache. She and Talon had put the wedding off a few more months. It felt right to wait while she grieved and recovered from their loss.

  Scarlett looked again at her father, alone in the rain but not alone. She hated the way his black wool coat made him seem gaunt and lifeless. She hated the way he was staring into the open grave as the casket was lowered down. The raw distress in his eyes sent shivers down her spine.

  He shouldn’t be here. He cannot bear this. Any of this. We should have spared him.

  “Ashes to ashes and dust to dust…” The minister intoned and Scarlett heard little more but the drone and cadence of his voice barely audible over the sound of the rain pattering against her bonnet. She was grateful for the black lace veil that covered her face. It isn’t ladylike to bray like a donkey. Mother would be mortified…

  At last, it was over and they all made their way to their family home without any conversation.

  Godwin met them at the door with hot toddies, relieving them of their wet coats and wraps and providing them with warm dry blankets and scarves. “There is a fire in the drawing room and I took the liberty of setting out some luncheon in case anyone is hungry.”

  “Thank you, Godwin,” Scarlett said. “It is so thoughtful of you. Please thank Cook and Mrs. Clark.”

  “I hate funerals,” Ashe said at last.

  No one argued to the contrary. “Father, why don’t you go upstairs and check on Mother? I’m sure she’s anxious to see that you didn’t melt in the rain.”

  “I’m not that sweet, Starr, like sugar to disintegrate in the rain but you’re right. If you’ll excuse me, I shall leave you four to it.” He went over to Scarlett to place a kiss on her forehead. “Elgin was a good man, Lettie.”

  “Thank you, Father. I’m going to miss him.”

  “Of course, you will. He was your friend and it is the best tribute you can give him.” He stepped back and then offered his hand to Talon. “I’m sorry for your loss as well.”

  Talon shook his hand, grateful for how far they’d come in the last few months. The truce had done more than hold, it had strengthened as time went on and as Chesterton had brought them together. “Thank you, Mr. Blackwell.”

  Ashe left them alone and they sat down, the four of them, to console and commiserate as best they could. The men poured themselves a brandy while the ladies refrained from the indulgence. “What an ugly day,” Ryder sighed. “I’m never sure why anyone thinks rain at a funeral is appropriate—or welcome.”

  “I don’t know where the custom comes from,” Starr said. “I shall…try to look it up.”

  Ryder smiled and shared a look across the way with Talon. They both enjoyed the way the women’s minds worked, even in the midst of sorrow.

  “He was the wisest man I ever knew,” Talon offered.

  “He would not argue against that claim,” Ryder said with a laugh. “My uncle was many things, but shy about claiming a compliment, I’m afraid not.”

  “He used to say he was a work in progress, a draft of the better man he hoped to become. But I swear, I cannot see where he meant to make improvements.” Talon looked to Scarlett. “He made me a better man for knowing him.”

  Scarlett nodded then shifted to stand and moved to stand near the fireplace, willing herself not to cry. “We all owe him so much.” She turned back to them with a smile. “He was above all, a very talented matchmaker.”

  “The best,” they all agreed nearly in one voice.

  Starr stood as well to join Scarlett and to hold her hand. “You meant the world to him, Lettie. I never thought it possible, but you defied convention and you proved what it means to love someone—and in doing so, I think Talon knows he is the luckiest man in the world to have you.”

  Scarlett sighed. “I feel the same way about him. Father was right about being a Blackwell, about how we don’t do anything in half measures. I finally discovered my gift, my purpose, my passion. I think it’s just to love.
I loved Elgin enough to…stay by him when he needed me most and now, Talon is my world. When we’re married and children come, I cannot think of wanting anything more. It’s all I ever really wanted, Tara.”

  Starr smiled, with tears in her eyes. “Then you have conquered the world, after all.”

  “We both have, Starr.”

  We have followed our hearts and conquered the world.

  All hail the Duchess Club!

  THE END

  Also by Renee Bernard

  Blind Aphrodite

  * * *

  THE JADED GENTLEMEN

  Revenge Wears Rubies

  Seduction Wears Sapphires

  Ecstasy Wears Emeralds

  Passion Wears Pearls

  Obsession Wears Opals

  Desire Wears Diamonds

  * * *

  THE BLACK ROSE TRILOGY

  Lady Falls

  Lady Rises

  Lady Triumphs

  * * *

  THE MISTRESS TRILOGY

  A Lady’s Pleasure

  Madame’s Deception

  A Rogue’s Game

  * * *

  Also with novellas in these Anthologies:

  The School for Heiresses – Mischief’s Holiday

  A Very Matchmaker Christmas – To Win a Quiet Heart

  * * *

  MODERN PENNY DREADFULS Series writing as A.R. Crimson:

  The Beauty and the Buccaneer

  The Viking and the Vixen (Coming Soon!)

  * * *

  LOST WORLD CHRONICLES writing as Robin Geoffreys:

  Treason’s Heart

  * * *

  Books in The Eternity Gambit© Series:

  Devil to Pay

  Devil May Care

  Devil of a Job – Coming SOON!

  Devil in the Details – Coming October 2016

  Azrael’s Girl – Comic Book Available Now!

  * * *

  To Contact Renee (the author loves to hear from readers and will do her best to respond if she can!)

  http://www.FaceBook.com/ReneeBernardAuthor

  Twitter: @ReneeBernard

  http://www.reneebernardauthor.com

  Chapter 4

  Talon stepped out from his carriage without a glance at the footman. It was late in the afternoon and he’d deliberately timed it so that he would be the last of the day’s social calls. He subtly straightened his coat as he assessed the house. The Blackwell home was more elegant and imposing than he’d expected for a family who’d made their fortunes in trade. Even so, he made his way easily up the steps where the door was opened and the butler stood at the ready.

  Talon held out his card before submitting to the rituals of a call. He had not sent it ahead of time and given them warning of his arrival. He watched closely for the servant’s reaction to his title and was disappointed as the man calmly perused it as if dukes and princes of the realm were a daily occurrence.

  “The ladies are in the ground floor salon. I’ll let them know you are here, Your Grace. If you’d be so kind as to wait here in the library.” The man led him from the foyer into a large and well-appointed library.

  Talon wondered if his London home’s library were a match for it and then fought with a sense of irritation that it may not be. “Mr. Blackwell is fond of reading then?”

  “Mrs. Blackwell loves her books and is a firm believer in the benefits of education.”

  “Indeed. This is her entire collection?”

  “No, Your Grace. The bulk of her collection is at Bellewood University.”

  Talon said nothing, absorbing the new reality that a woman existed who would amass books and house them at a seat of learning. The butler left without a word to let the ladies know of his visit and Talon settled in confidently for the short wait. He circled the room, awed at the selections and the quality of the tomes, unsettled at the notion that Mr. Blackwell had not reined in his wife’s odd proclivities. Not a slice of light fiction to be seen which makes it like no collection of books of any woman I have ever encountered. Is it all a show? A pretense to hide her rustic American manners? It is the most expensive window-dressing in history and a shameless waste since one conversation will out her weaker understanding of—

  “If you’ll follow me, Your Grace.”

  Talon dropped a self-conscious hand from a shelf of texts on the history of Rome and swept out after Blackwell’s butler. He braced himself for the call, silently marveling that he’d made so few social calls in his lifetime. It was generally the purview of women and his rank had exempted him from most of the tangle. Generally, people were calling on him, petitions in hand but this was different.

  After Elgin had confessed his infatuation with one of the Blackwell Beauties, Talon had decided that it was not a matter to be put off. Rather than meet them in public on the pretense of chance, he was going to run directly into the line of fire. Except at the moment, as he neared the threshold, it struck him that he hadn’t really come up with a strategy for this social call. He wanted to see this girl for himself and assess the threat to his friend’s happiness but how one dissuaded a child from breaking an older man’s heart like a toy eluded him.

  “The Duke of Stafford,” the butler announced solemnly.

  The ladies rose to curtsey as he crossed the threshold and Talon’s steps slowed. The settee was occupied by two mature beauties. I have no small talk for debutantes but probably less on hand for mothers. But such is the nature of the battlefield…

  “I am Caroline Blackwell, Your Grace.” A petite woman in coral silks stepped forward to greet him, her smile warm. “This is my dearest friend, Mrs. Eleanor Hastings. She came to offer me moral support as I’m far too prone to speak without censure or worse, to forget to mind the clock and make strangely subtle signals to wonderful guests I don’t wish to see leave.”

  “Mrs. Blackwell. Mrs. Hastings.” He nodded to each, fighting not to grin back at Mrs. Blackwell. She was a woman without guile but with such natural charm, it was nearly impossible not to be immediately disarmed.

  “My friend’s candor is a talent we treasure in her, Your Grace,” Mrs. Hastings said. “And punctuality is a weakness of mine so I am happy to be of service.”

  “It is for the guest to mind the time and not overstay. I will not be long, Mrs. Blackwell.”

  “These are my daughters, Scarlett and Starr,” Caroline said gesturing to the two young ladies who had been perched quietly in the window seat. Talon shifted to accept that he’d failed to see them there and then marveled that he hadn’t spotted them instantly.

  The Blackwell Beauties didn’t disappoint. Taller than their mother, they were breath-taking cameos in patrician lines, with the coloring of English roses in afternoon dresses of sea foam green and enigmatic blue. Blonde curls of burnished-gold framed identical faces with huge eyes the color of amber and each young woman gazed at him with open intelligence and a sweet curiosity.

  Damn it. Elgin is…no fool.

  “It is a pleasure to meet you both,” he said. “Which is Scarlett? And which Starr?”

  “The question of the day,” one of them said. “I know if we embroidered our names on our blouses we’d save everyone a great deal of worry but I’m too stubborn and my sister is extremely averse to drawing attention to her décolletage.” She stepped forward fearlessly and did not curtsey. “I am Scarlett Blackwell, Your Grace. I am the eldest by minutes I am told but at introductions such as these, it is a good chance to mention it and watch Starr’s color change, wouldn’t you agree?”

  “She has no proof of being eldest and it’s largely a fable up for debate,” Starr countered smoothly. “But now that we’ve revealed what contentious creatures we are, I think she deserves a demotion to youngest.”

  Hell, best not to let that beautiful exterior deceive a man—the Blackwell twins could hold their own and were not hollow fragile shells of feminine beauty. Nor were they as demure and restrained as one expected in good society…

  “Girls,” Caroline said
as firmly as she could. “Stop showing off.” She gestured toward an empty chair across from the settee. “I apologize, Your Grace. It’s been a long afternoon and my daughters are inherently lively company on any given day but today has been particularly…entertaining.”

  Everyone took their seats and Talon watched in fascination at the interplay of the women.

  Scarlett shifted her skirts to sit back down next to her sister. “We were merely trying to participate.”

  “A mistake, I suspect,” Starr said as she pushed a rebellious curl from her forehead. “We meant to lighten the mood of our visitors but have learned that not everyone appreciates witty humor in a woman.”

  “Or a lengthy treatise on the components of western civilization.” Scarlett added wryly making her twin’s cheeks flush pink. “Though I’m sure Mrs. Saltzman was much improved after her visit and grateful for the education.”

  Starr playfully swiped at her sister’s shoulder, as if they would wrestle like bear cubs. “One cannot lump the Greeks and Romans into one philosophical soup.”

  “Not in your presence in any case,” Scarlett quipped.

  “Your daughters are…quite educated,” Talon said to Mrs. Blackwell. “How unique.”

  A strange hush fell over the room and finally Caroline Blackwell answered him. “It is my belief that it is a tragedy to give girls only a passing acquaintance with education and that ignorance does not enhance a woman’s appeal. Or a man’s for that matter.”

  “I see.” It was all Talon could manage at that moment. He didn’t really see the point in overeducating women but he was not stupid enough to argue politics and social reforms on a social call.

  “Were you introduced at Aldridge’s?” Mrs. Hastings asked directly.

  “I did not have that pleasure.” Talon tried not to look at the twins as he spoke. “I was not at the ball but my good friend met one of your daughters and I…” This was the moment when he should make his disapproval clear or hint that Chesterton’s act had more to do with temporary insanity than a young woman’s social graces but words failed him.