Richard followed his wife into their home on Cavendish Street. Caroline stormed into the hallway and threw her reticule on the floor. The ride from the duke’s house had only served to increase her anger.
“There has to be something we can do!” she shouted.
Richard picked up the small purse and handed it to a maid. He followed his irate wife into the small salon. “I’m afraid there is nothing we can do.”
“You saw the way he was looking at Elizabeth. And she called him by his Christian name! He probably has plans to marry her and have a passel of children like his father.”
Richard took a seat and leaned his head back. Why did he think a younger woman would be a good thing? She was driving him mad, and further into debt.
“Caroline, he is the duke. As long as he is alive, I shall only be a baron. You must accept that.”
“My—our children deserve better than that. Of course, you are now the heir presumptive. If something should happen to befall the new duke before he has children…”
Richard tilted his head back up and stared at his wife. “Do not even think it, Caroline.”
His wife cackled. “I most certainly was not thinking of murdering him.”
“Then what exactly are you thinking of?”
She crossed her arms over her extended belly. “As long as he does not have children, you or one of our children will become the next duke.”
The woman had lost her mind. “And how do you presume to keep him from procreating? He is only eight and twenty. Hardly an old man.”
“He must not ever marry,” she answered simply.
“I’m afraid he doesn’t need our permission, my dear. And there did seem to be something between the duke and Elizabeth.”
“Agreed. So it is up to us to keep them apart.”
Richard shook his head, exhausted from this conversation already. “And how do you propose we do that?”
“Rumors can be deadly to any relationship, dear husband. Especially amongst the ton.”
“And what happens when he finds another woman?”
Caroline laughed. “I shall figure something out. If we keep his reputation in tatters, it might not matter.”
Richard only shook his head. He knew better, and she should, too. Reputation be damned, when a lady can be a duchess, she will marry the devil.
Over the next few days, Elizabeth hired a tutor and governess. She brought in a valet for Will, made sure the boys had new clothing, and attempted to teach the boys their manners at the dinner table. For the most part, they had done quite well. Her only issue was the boy in front of her.
“Try it again,” Elizabeth implored him.
William clenched his fists so tight she thought he might explode. For the past hour, she’d been attempting to teach him the complex rules of Society, starting with social rank. While she presumed he was an intelligent man, he could be as stubborn as a mule when he wished it.
“A duke is higher than all others in the social rank, except the king or queen,” he repeated.
“And what about the prince regent?”
“Of course, how could I have forgotten about the man who has to pretend to be king because his father is insane.”
He paced the confines of his study. With him striding closer to her and then retreating, her heart pounded erratically in her chest.
“But how does his rank compare to yours?”
He glared over at her until she felt forced to stare at the large Debrett’s The New Peerage book on her lap.
“The prince is a higher rank but other princes are not.”
She smiled at him. “That is correct. Princes can be raised to the rank of duke. Now, please list the ranks under yours.”
William narrowed his eyes at her but quickly listed the titles. “This is the most trivial thing I have ever been taught,” he said once he finished reciting the list.
“You cannot leave this house and interact with your peers until you understand and accept your position in Society.”
“And why not?”
She pressed her lips together and closed her eyes, trying to gain a measure of patience. “You will be a laughingstock, if you do.”
He sat in the chair directly across from her. “And if I am?”
“Then none of the gentlemen of your rank will have anything to do with you. They will refuse to speak with you regarding the sale of the estates. And you bring that disrespect upon your sisters…and me,” she said softly.
He released a frustrated sigh.
She stared at him for a long moment. For the first time, she believed William realized exactly what was at stake if he didn’t heed her lessons.
“When do you think I will be ready to face the world?”
“I would say another week or two.” Perhaps by then she would be so immune to him that she would not feel this strange pull of attraction.
Will shook his head. “No, too long. Is there something we could do together with Ellie and Lucy before they take their bow? We’re all going mad in this house.”
“The opera would be an acceptable outing,” she replied in a hesitant tone. “But I’m not certain you and the girls will be ready.”
“We will all be ready,” he said in a confident tone.
“I shall make the arrangements.”
“Now, back to our lessons.” He leaned back and questioned her about the condition of the king.
She answered him quickly but continued to stare at his face. The valet she had hired for him had trimmed his hair, but it was still unfashionably long. Perhaps she should ask William about it. After all, if Mr. Stevenson wasn’t doing his job properly then it was her duty to remove him.
A part of her hoped it was William’s idea to keep his hair longer. It rather suited him. He would never be a conventional duke. The sun chose that moment to peek out from a cloud and brighten his hair such that strands of red could be seen.
As the late afternoon sun hit his face, she noticed the faint shadows of a beard. She wondered what it would feel like to touch his jaw. Or kiss his jaw. Was the hair bristly or soft? She had such a yearning to find out.
“Elizabeth?”
Elizabeth blinked and saw the confusion on his face. “Yes?”
A deep laugh escaped him. “What were you daydreaming about?”
“Nothing important.” Well, she wasn’t about to tell him! She had a problem. Some people drank too much or used opium. Not her—she was obsessed with a man she barely knew.
“Are you certain?”
“Yes! Now where were we with our lessons?”
“I believe you were telling me about Princess Charlotte,” he replied with a slight grin.
“Yes, Princess Charlotte,” she said with a nod. “She is enceinte, and a late fall delivery is expected. Hopefully all will go well with this one…”
She continued to regale him with stories of the princess, but her mind wandered again. This time, she realized her major mistake of only moments ago. He’d wanted to know of things to do with the children and she’d only come up with the opera. There were still five rooms to recheck, and with all of them roaming the house at all hours of the day, she’d had no time to search those areas again.
“I believe we should be done for the day,” she finally said, placing the book on the table.
William looked up at the clock and frowned. “It is only two in the afternoon.”
“And a perfect time and day to take the children to Hyde Park for a ride. They must be dreadfully tired of staying in the house all day.”
He tilted his head and nodded slightly. “I believe you are right about that. I thought those boys were about to kill each other yesterday.”
“Perfect, then. I will tell them all to get ready.” She stood ready to take her leave.
“You will be joining us, then?”
Elizabeth opened her mouth to speak and nothing came out. She needed a very good excuse. “I must decline. I need to call on a friend who is with child and cannot get o
ut much.”
“Of course.”
Before he could say another word, she left the room. After telling the children to make themselves ready, she went to her room and stared out the window. Once they had departed, she would return to the boys’ room and examine it again. Hopefully, she would find the diary and be done with this mess.
Of course, finding the journal might just lead to even more troubles. While she wanted and needed to discover the truth of her parentage, a part of her dreaded it. She would finally learn all about who she really was, and which man among the ton had had an affair with her mother.
Elizabeth hoped her mother’s reasons for the affair would be justified in the diary. Many women had liaisons and dalliances, but perhaps her mother had fallen in love with the man. Elizabeth closed her eyes and shut out the pain. She wondered if her lustful thoughts about William had to do with her mother’s influence. Was she just like her mother? Until she discovered the diary, Elizabeth would never know.
She glanced down and watched as the children and William crowded into two carriages. As the coaches drove down the street, she raced to the boys’ room. She would check for any panels in the walls or by the fireplace, and if she had time, she would check for secret compartments in all the bureaus.
She would find that diary, and discover who she was.
Will breathed in deeply and tried to remember his stepmother’s words about patience being the friend of wisdom, or something to that effect. “Boys, stay still or we will return to the house immediately,” he barked.
So much for wisdom today, he thought.
Michael and Ethan gave each other one more slap to the thigh.
“Boys!”
Ethan’s blue eyes widened in trepidation. “I’m sorry, Will. Michael keeps pestering me today.”
“And what do you have to say for yourself, Michael?” Will asked, using his best father voice.
“I hate it here, Will. I want to go back home. I want to…”
“To what?”
Michael looked down at his legs. “I want to do chores, again. I want to go fishing and hunting with you.”
James shook his head. “I love it here. No chores, only learning.”
Will sighed. He should have realized it was boredom making the boys act out. While James, Lucy, and Ellie loved not having to do their chores, the work helped to tire the younger boys. He would have to find something for them to do that would keep them active.
“Look at the swans!”
Will glanced over at the other carriage where Sarah sat, pointing to the body of water with ducks and swans. He could feel her excitement even from this distance. A few riders passed them and nodded. He doubted any of them knew to whom they nodded and waved, but he reciprocated the gestures. He just had to play their games for a few months, and then he could return home.
And if he was lucky, Abigail would be waiting for him.
Abigail.
He hadn’t thought of her in days. Could he be forgetting about her? The thought was like a cold bucket of water over his head. Wasn’t the heart supposed to grow fonder with distance?
His heart wasn’t, and that terrified him.
She was supposed to be his wife. Forever. And yet the more time he spent away from her, the more he thought about her faults, and not all her good points.
“Will?”
Will looked over at Ellie and said, “Yes?”
“It’s getting rather dark. I think we should return before it decides to rain on us.”
He tilted back his head and realized his sister was correct. After ordering the carriage home, his thoughts returned to Abigail. Distance had to be the problem. Once he arrived in Virginia, he would call on her and court her until she agreed to marry him.
In fact, when he returned to the house, he would write her a long letter. While communicating would still be difficult with the distance, at least this would keep him in her heart.
Just as they arrived home, fat raindrops fell on their heads. The boys shouted and Sarah laughed, while Lucy and Ellie shrieked. They all raced to the door as the butler opened it for them.
A door slammed upstairs and Elizabeth raced to the stairway. “You are home already?”
Will chuckled as he glanced up to see Elizabeth’s red tresses falling out of her stylish chignon. Even from here, he could see she could not have called upon her friend. “What happened to you?”
“What do you mean?”
“I thought you were going to call on a friend while we were at the park?”
“I…I…I tried but she wasn’t at home.”
Strange, he could have sworn she’d said her friend could not get out since she was with child. “When you have a moment, I would like to speak with you in my study.”
She looked down at her clothing and gasped. “I really must change before dinner.”
“Very well. But I would like to talk before dinner.”
“I will be down presently,” she answered, and then walked toward her room.
He turned to go to his study when his butler stopped him.
“Your Grace, I placed the post on your desk. There is quite an amount today. I believe word of your arrival has found its way through the ton.”
“Thank you, Jeffers.” At least reading the mail would give him something to do while he waited for Elizabeth.
He walked into the study and his mouth gaped. His previously empty desk was now littered with letters and invitations. Never in his twenty-eight years had he seen so much nonsense. He opened the first invitation and shrugged. The note was from the dowager Countess of Cantwell. He could only assume such a ball would be an important occasion, but he really didn’t know if they would be ready to attend.
After dropping it into the “read” pile, he moved on to the next one. Another ball, this one held by the Earl of Hereshire and his wife. He tossed it into the same pile as the previous invitation. The next one contained vouchers for a place called Almack’s.
Elizabeth walked into the room, then looked at the vouchers and laughed. “Well, that didn’t take Lady Jersey long.”
“Excuse me?”
“Almack’s. You and your sisters need vouchers to attend on Wednesdays.”
“So, it’s like a club?” he asked, confused.
“Well, the ladies would never say such a thing, but truly, it’s not that different. The patronesses decide who is acceptable based on social position and titles. However, even a duke can have his vouchers lost if one of the ladies deems you inappropriate.”
Will just rolled his eyes. “Yet another example of why this country is crumbling.”
She placed her hands on her hips and scowled at him. “There is nothing wrong with this country. I believe we proved ourselves quite nicely at Waterloo.”
“Elizabeth, sit down,” he said, pointing to the seat across the desk from him. “I didn’t call you down here to argue about your country.”
“Our country,” she corrected.
Will barely restrained a growl. He refused to tell her this would never be his country.
“So why did you call me into your study?” she asked as she finally took her seat.
“I’ve been thinking about the boys. I know the tutor will start on Friday with them, but they are not getting enough physical activity.”
“You can take them riding every morning,” she suggested.
“Yes, but they still need more. I was thinking we should go to one of the estates for a while. That would give them space to wear themselves out every day, and the girls and I would have a quiet space for our daily etiquette lessons.”
Her face drew pale. “You want to go to the estate?”
“Yes, I do believe it is a sound decision. Don’t you agree?”
“Actually, I think it is far better to stay in town. I mean, here you can slowly immerse yourself into Society without attending every function. At the estate you would be sequestered, except for the local squires who would, no doubt, pester you tirelessly to com
e to their soirees and musicals, put on solely for your benefit.”
How did she get that all out in what sounded like one sentence? Her eyes darted from him to the papers on his desk as if she were suddenly nervous around him.
“Elizabeth, what is the real reason you don’t wish to go to the estate?”
She opened her mouth and then shut it quickly. She pressed her lips together and then shook her head slightly. “I have two dear friends who are both with child, and I don’t wish to leave them when they might need me.”
Again, it sounded like a feigned excuse. She obviously wasn’t about to tell him the truth. “Very well, if you think of some activities the boys can do to get them out of this house to expel some energy, we will stay here.”
“I will make certain they have plenty of outside activities.” She leaned back into the chair looking very relieved.
“Would you like to help me with this?” he said, pointing to the piles on his desk. “I have no idea who any of these people are but they all seem to want me to attend a function of theirs.”
She smiled softly, making his heart beat a little faster. Her full rosy lips seemed to beckon to him. He couldn’t think of her in such manner. Abigail was the woman he wanted. Not Elizabeth.
And yet, Elizabeth was here and Abigail refused to consider coming with him. Elizabeth was the woman helping him sort through this mess. Even though doing so might make her lose her home.
“I would be happy to help you sort through the invitations. I should have mentioned that most men of your position do hire a secretary to assist them with all this.” She grabbed a pile of invitations and quickly collated them into three piles.
“I will not be here long enough for a personal secretary,” he said.
“Right,” she said with a nod. “This stack is the definite refusals.” She handed him the first mound of papers. “This is your personal mail.”
Finally, she pointed to the third stack. “These are the invitations that we will need to determine if you wish to attend. Some are balls, a few musicales, and dinners.”
Will looked at the third pile and sighed. There still had to be at least fifteen invitations to sort through. He quickly scanned his personal mail and paused at the familiar handwriting.
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