Something Scandalous

by Christie Kelley

  She walked in the ladies’ retiring room to find it empty, save for Caroline.

  “You do not take my warnings well, do you?” Caroline said, folding her arms over her extended belly.

  “Warning? What warning?”

  “About the duke. And you were just dancing with him. Have you no sense at all?”

  “All you said is he might be my brother. I had not realized that meant I could not dance with him.” Elizabeth moved slightly to get past Caroline.

  Caroline placed a hand on Elizabeth’s arm. “A dance is innocent enough, but anything more is highly suspect.”

  “It really is none of your concern, Caroline.”

  “It is my concern if you make a mockery of this family. Your sisters will be hurt, and Richard and I will be also. I will not allow it.” Caroline released her arm but not before giving Elizabeth a tight squeeze.

  A sense of fear raced through Elizabeth. She had never seen Caroline quite so venomous.

  “You and my sisters have nothing to fear from my behavior.”

  “A rumor is a very hard thing to live down, Elizabeth.”

  Elizabeth had been about to walk out but she stopped and stared at Caroline. “Exactly what rumor, Caroline? The idea that perhaps the duke is my half brother? Hardly scandalous. Nearly half the ton has half siblings. I was born legally to the prior duke. He never repudiated me to the world and that is all that matters.”

  Caroline raised one blond eyebrow at her. “Is it?”

  “Yes.”

  “Even if you have been intimate with the current duke?”

  “That is a lie.”

  Caroline tilted her head and gave her a half smile. “Is it, my dear? We both know that many rumors are based in falsehoods, but that does not keep the tongues from wagging.”

  Will entered the gaming room and glanced around for a friendly face. Instead, he noticed Richard, once more deep in his cups and losing funds. The man looked old and weary. Perhaps that was what a much younger wife did to a man.

  “We should talk,” Somerton said next to him.

  “You are the sneakiest man I have ever met. I did not hear you approach.”

  Somerton smirked. “That is the way I like it.”

  They walked toward the gardens and searched out a private spot. “I could not find anything on Richard other than his recent gambling issues. But that may be just to get away from the shrew he married.”

  “And Caroline?” Will asked.

  “I would never turn my back on that woman. She will cut anyone down to get what she wants.”

  Will didn’t doubt that. “And she wants to be duchess.”

  “True, but if she cannot manage that,” Somerton said, “then seeing one of her children become duke will do.”

  “And keeping me apart from Elizabeth might just help her gain one of her desires.” Will had a terrible feeling about this. Caroline seemed just the type of woman who could start a false rumor about them.

  “I need proof,” Will quietly said aloud.

  “I am working on that, too,” Somerton replied.

  “How did you know?”

  Somerton shook his head. “A man like myself would never reveal his sources.”

  “Do you think you can help us?”

  Somerton glanced away and stared at a rosebush. “I pray I can.”

  Chapter 20

  Lady Cantwell lived in a large home on Cavendish Square, and as Will approached the house with Elizabeth, an unnerving sense of foreboding stretched across his body. Something about the older lady reminded him of his late grandmother. She was a forbidding lady with a temper far worse than his grandfather. While she died when he was only seven, Will had never forgotten her.

  “Come along, Will,” Elizabeth urged as they walked toward the door.

  “You are in quite the hurry this afternoon.”

  “Don’t you want to know what she has to say?”

  A part of him did, but a bigger part didn’t want to know if there was a possibility they were related. “I suppose I do,” he said for her benefit.

  Elizabeth glowed with anticipation. Her cheeks were rosy and her green eyes sparkled. Will hoped Lady Cantwell would not disappoint her.

  A young footman opened the door as they approached it. “Good afternoon,” he said.

  Will handed the man a card and watched as the footman immediately stepped back to allow him entry.

  “Please come in, Your Grace. Lady Cantwell is expecting you both.”

  “Very good.” Will still didn’t understand all the deference given him just because he was a duke. He took Elizabeth’s arm and felt her tremble. “Are you all right?”

  She nodded. “Suddenly I am a little nervous.”

  He patted her arm. “That’s understandable.”

  They walked together up the steps to the countess’s salon. When they arrived, they found Lady Cantwell waiting for them in a large green wingback chair.

  “It is about time you both arrived. I have been waiting for hours.”

  Will glanced over at the clock and noticed it was only one in the afternoon. How long could the woman have been waiting?

  “Your Grace, please sit down. I’m too old a woman to be craning my neck to see you.”

  Will chuckled at the older woman’s demands. “Yes, ma’am.”

  He took the seat closest to Lady Cantwell on a large sofa, while Elizabeth sat next to him. “So you have information that might help Lady Elizabeth?”

  “Tsk, tsk, Your Grace,” she reprimanded. “Sidwell, close this door.” Lady Cantwell waited until the salon door shut before continuing. “First we pour the tea. Lady Elizabeth, please pour a cup for us all.”

  “Yes, ma’am.” Elizabeth poured tea for everyone before sitting back against the sofa.

  “Now, Elizabeth,” Lady Cantwell started slowly, “before we begin, you should know that I shall keep anything said here in my strictest confidence. I believe you are troubled by your heritage, is that correct?”

  “Yes, ma’am. I fear I may not be my father’s daughter.”

  Lady Cantwell laughed soundly. “Let us hope you are not. A more miserable man I have never met.”

  “We both thank you for your time, Lady Cantwell,” Will spoke up. “Do you know anything about who might be Lady Elizabeth’s true father?”

  Lady Cantwell leaned back and closed her eyes. “There were many rumors regarding your parents, Lady Elizabeth. They tended to run with a very fast crowd, even as they progressed in age. After the duchess was delivered of your brother, God rest his soul, your mother became far more open with her affairs.”

  Will reached over and clasped Elizabeth’s cold hand. Her face paled and she trembled. “It is all right, Elizabeth.”

  She only nodded and bit down on her lower lip. “Please go on, Lady Cantwell.”

  “As you wish, my dear.” Lady Cantwell sipped her tea before continuing. “Your father allowed her infidelities most likely to salve his own guilt for having mistresses throughout their marriage.”

  Will glanced over at Elizabeth’s face and almost requested Lady Cantwell stop. Elizabeth looked as if she might faint. He wondered if he should have shown her the late duke’s journal.

  “Shall I go on?” Lady Cantwell asked, staring at Elizabeth.

  “Yes,” Elizabeth replied. “I need to know this.”

  “I agree. Unfortunately, you might not enjoy the tale.”

  “Please, Lady Cantwell, I must know,” Elizabeth said.

  “Very well. The affairs became folly for the ton. People were making wagers at White’s on the next person to take a turn in your mother’s bed. I am sorry to say, your mother was not very discreet. As I was saying, in the summer of 1789, something changed between your mother and the duke. To all appearances, they had reconciled and were remaining faithful to each other.”

  Elizabeth frowned. “Then how…?”

  “I am getting to that, my dear. Slowly there came rumors that they were involved with a group of
people who did not believe in fidelity in marriage.”

  “What do you mean, Lady Cantwell?” Elizabeth asked.

  Will had a very bad feeling about this topic. Lady Cantwell glanced over at him as if to verify that she should go on. He gave her a quick nod.

  “There were reports that at your mother’s country parties, a room was set aside for groups of people to enter and have…”

  “Have what?” Elizabeth asked.

  “Sexual congress,” Lady Cantwell whispered.

  “I don’t understand,” Elizabeth said, shaking her head.

  Lady Cantwell sent Will a pleading look.

  “Elizabeth, I believe Lady Cantwell is trying to say that your parents may have set the room aside for groups of people to have sex at the same time. An orgy.”

  Elizabeth stood up and then reached for the sofa to steady herself. “You are wrong, Lady Cantwell. My mother would never do such a thing.”

  Will knew he had to speak up, but hated the idea of hurting her. “Elizabeth, I believe Lady Cantwell.”

  She turned her emerald eyes on him. “You what?”

  “I didn’t want to tell you this, but I found the late duke’s journal in my bedroom.”

  Slowly, she sat back down on the sofa. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “Because there was nothing in there about your mother. And what was written was mostly about his affairs.” Will turned and held her hands. “I am sorry. I didn’t want to hurt you.”

  She pulled her hands away and began rubbing her temples. “I had always assumed they had both been unfaithful, but never could I have imagined something as depraved as this.”

  “Lady Cantwell, do you have any information regarding exactly who Elizabeth’s father might be?” Will asked, suddenly tired of this conversation. More than anything, he wanted to hold Elizabeth and comfort her.

  Lady Cantwell pulled out a few old journals of her own. She flipped through some pages before stopping and glancing up at them. “Based on Elizabeth’s birth date, I would assume it was someone at the Langford country party. Unfortunately, the Langfords were much like the duke and duchess. They assumed everyone had only one thing on their mind—sex. Not that I approved or participated in such goings on, but I knew they happened. Let me read this for a moment.”

  The room went silent while Lady Cantwell read from her diary. “Ah, here it is. ‘The party lasted for close to a month, starting in early July.’”

  Something about that bothered Will. He couldn’t put his finger on it, but a sense of unease filled him. “Lady Cantwell, would you happen to know if my father attended the party?”

  She leveled him a strange look but then flipped through several pages rather quickly. “I do not mention him but that doesn’t mean he wasn’t there. Your father tended not to go to such frivolous things. He was a very serious man.”

  Will agreed. “Yes, he was.” And he loved his wife far too much to have an affair with the duchess.

  “So all we know is my father most likely attended a country party and that is where I was conceived,” Elizabeth stated with no emotion.

  “Elizabeth, I do have several men listed whom I know either had red hair or had red-haired children. Perhaps it might help if I made you a list of those gentlemen.”

  “Thank you, ma’am.”

  Somerton might find that list helpful, Will thought. Now that they knew where her mother was at the time of conception, perhaps Somerton would be able to discover his father’s whereabouts, too. Then they could be done with this sordid mess.

  Lady Cantwell wrote down the names of five gentlemen and handed it to Elizabeth. “I know this is hard on you, my dear. But to the world, you are the duke’s daughter. He never denounced you. He accepted you as his own.”

  Even Will knew that was not true. The old duke made Elizabeth’s life a nightmare by telling her the truth of her parentage.

  “Thank you, Lady Cantwell,” Elizabeth said, standing up.

  “If I can think of anything else that might help you, I will let you know.”

  Elizabeth nodded.

  They walked silently out to the carriage. As the door shut and the horses ambled away, the tears flowed down Elizabeth’s cheeks. Will quickly shifted and pulled her into his arms. She clung to him as her tears told of her heartbreak.

  “How could she have done this?” she sobbed.

  “I don’t know,” Will replied. He didn’t think there was anything he could say or do that would make her feel better. Only time would heal this wound.

  “Will, I can’t go home yet. Please, can we drive somewhere quiet?”

  “Yes.” Will pounded on the carriage roof to get the groomsman’s attention and the carriage came to a stop. He ordered the driver to take a trip through Hyde Park, and they were off again.

  “You should sit over there,” Elizabeth said, pointing to the other seat. “It would look improper to be seen together like this.”

  “Of course.” He moved back to his original seat across from her as she wiped her eyes.

  “Will, I think I should leave the house.”

  “What?” he barely contained his voice.

  “I have been thinking,” she said, looking out the window as they drove into the park. “If this gets out, Ellie and Lucy will have no chance of a decent match. We will be scorned by the entire ton.”

  “You have no place to go.”

  “I can live with Sophie.”

  Impotent anger surged in him. “So it is better to go live with a woman who is a bastard?”

  “That is dreadfully unkind,” Elizabeth retorted.

  “Yes, it is. But that is exactly what people will say. Leaving the house will only cause more talk, not less.” He could not let her go. There had to be some way he could convince her to stay.

  “I realize that, but I can say I am staying with her while her aunt goes to visit relatives.”

  “No.”

  Elizabeth frowned. “What do you mean, no?”

  “I will not allow you to leave.” After all, he was the duke and that had to mean something. Surely, he must have some power over her.

  “You have no say in this.”

  He finally remembered the one thing that would make her stay. “If you leave the house, then I shall, too.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I will pack up the house and return to America. Immediately. I shall install Richard and Caroline to manage the estates and send me an allowance from the returns. They will control the properties.”

  “You would not dare!”

  He leaned forward. “Oh, yes I would.”

  “I hate you,” she whispered.

  “No, you do not,” he whispered back. “And that is the real problem, isn’t it?”

  Elizabeth refused to answer his question because she would never admit that he was right. At least, not now. If they ever got this disaster sorted out, then she would tell him the truth of how she felt about him. But not until then.

  Sitting back against the velvet squabs, she crossed her arms over her chest. “Please take me home, Will.”

  “As you wish.” He signaled the groomsman to return to the house. “What invitations do we have for this evening?”

  “Only dinner at Lord Selby’s home.”

  “Very well. I believe we should contact Somerton with the information from Lady Cantwell.”

  “Of course. He may be at the dinner tonight. He and Selby have become close since he acted as Selby’s second last year.” Elizabeth fidgeted with the decorative flowers on her skirts. She hated this distance between them, even if she knew it was necessary.

  “Selby was in a duel?”

  “Yes, a dreadful man hurt Avis, and Selby demanded satisfaction.”

  “Good for him,” Will said.

  “How can you say such a thing? He might have been killed.”

  “But he wasn’t.”

  They arrived at the house and walked inside. Elizabeth followed Will up the stairs to his room.
/>   “Are you coming in?” he asked in a seductive voice that almost made her consider it.

  “I would like to read the late duke’s journal.”

  Will breathed in deeply. “I don’t think that is a good idea.”

  “Why not?”

  “There are some entries not fit for an unmarried woman to read,” he replied stiffly.

  “I want the journal,” she demanded. The infuriating man just stood there blocking the door.

  “No. It is highly improper.”

  “So is what we did on the sofa in the music room. And what we did in my bedroom.” Heat crossed her cheeks as she remembered exactly what happened in both those rooms.

  He opened the door to his bedroom and pulled her inside. Shutting the door, he backed her against it until she was caught between the door and his hard body.

  “Elizabeth,” he murmured.

  No matter how much she wanted him, it wasn’t right. Until they knew the truth, one of them had to be the strong one and today it was her. She placed her hands on his chest and pushed him away.

  “We cannot do this, Will.”

  “I know.” He picked up a book from his desk and hurled it across the room. “I hate this, Elizabeth.”

  “So do I,” she whispered. “Please let me have the book and I will leave your room.”

  “Very well, but I did warn you. This is a very sordid book.” Will moved to the fireplace and slid open a panel. He removed a book and tossed it to her.

  “Thank you, Will.” Her hands shook as she stared down at the book. Apprehension crept around her. She had always assumed her father had kept a mistress but Will insinuated there was much worse in here.

  “Elizabeth, if you need someone to talk to about it…”

  “Thank you.” Elizabeth left and walked into her room. After sitting in the chair by the window, she skimmed her fingers over the leather binding. With a deep breath, she slowly opened the book.

  The first entry, dated January 1, 1790, spoke only of the daily routine. The duke had visited the tenants at Kendal and given small presents for the new year. There was no mention of her mother.