The Duke's Bride: Book 5 (The Clearbrooks)

by Teresa McCarthy

  “Ah, I see,” he replied confidently. “Lord Garette thought my wife would go along with him quite easily, did he not?”

  She giggled. “Of course he did. I mean, truly, after Captain Argyle showed his interest in her, the lady was fair game. She was no longer married to you. Or at least that’s what everyone thought. Nevertheless, while you were gone, I heard she has been flaunting the captain about wherever she went.”

  Roderick shot a keen gaze in the captain’s direction. The man lifted his head and smiled back.

  “Who could deny those emerald green eyes?” the lady sighed. “And such a nice specimen of muscle and power.”

  Roderick stuffed a fork full of peas into his mouth, hoping he could hold back his anger. He had been whispering at the beginning of their conversation, but with the increased chatter among the guests, he had to lean in the lady’s direction to hear her.

  “You do not care for him, do you?” she asked softly. “I understand perfectly, of course. If they had been more discreet, it would not matter to a man such as you. Society, you know. I could help you out, if you wish. I do not mind. Sometimes one has to take action when one does not like the circumstances.” She shot him a meaningful smile. “If you know what I mean.”

  Roderick raised his black brows, almost strangling on his own spit. A sudden chill ran down his spine. Was the captain her target now? He may not care for the fellow, but by Jove, Roderick was not about to let the man be killed in cold blood. The lady was more than daft. She was evil.

  He shifted his gaze toward Jane. Hell’s teeth! He did not want Lady Trayton anywhere near his wife. There was no telling what she would do. Still, he needed proof she was the killer.

  He cleared his throat and turned a smiling gaze back to the crazed lady. “What exactly do you have in mind?”

  Jane lifted her gaze to the crystal chandelier above the dining table. The light shimmered off the pale yellow walls, providing a festive glow. But she did not feel like celebrating anything this evening. A sinking feeling gripped her stomach. Would she be able to tell Roderick about their child? Or would he find out before the night was done?

  The conversation in the room had reached a noise level that was making her deaf. She glanced at Roderick sitting beside Lady Trayton, and her nerves began to unravel. Was he enjoying the lady’s company? Or was he trying to find Lord Garette’s killer?

  Frustrated and still a bit shaken over the night’s happenings, Jane picked at her food. A few hours ago, a young lord had died. Yes, Lord Garette had not been a pleasant man. But murder? It chilled her to the bone.

  She glanced about the room. How could people eat and drink to their hearts’ content when a man was dead?

  It was a fickle crowd, she thought glumly. The guests seemed to be against her one minute, and her best friend the next. Oh, how she wanted to go home and be with her baby.

  She lifted her chin and nodded to the king when he spoke to her. But in truth, she had no idea what he had said.

  Beside her, Agatha cleared her throat. Though Jane still loved Agatha, she was deeply hurt by her actions, and at the moment, Jane did now know how much more drama she could handle in one night.

  Agatha clasped Jane’s hand beneath the table. “You do forgive me, don’t you, dear?”

  Jane felt a lump in her throat when she saw the tears glittering in the lady’s eyes. Yet how could Agatha have invited her to Hemmingly without mentioning anything about the altered marriage license?

  “I cannot believe you did what you did,” Jane said a bit more harshly than she wanted. But her entire world seemed to be caving in. “I loved you like my own mother, and after all I went through with the baby, you never told me the truth. The entire mess could have affected my health.”

  Agatha’s face turned white with regret. “I thought it would make Roderick realize what he was missing. I did not expect the situation to last more than a day. And later, there were, uh, reasons I did not tell you. After the baby, well, I was called to London.”

  Jane frowned in exasperation. She was a changed woman now. Whether it was Agatha or Roderick, the two people she held dearest to her heart, she could not let them think they could make decisions affecting her life without her consent. She had hidden behind their strength after her parents had died, but no more.

  “Do not dance about the subject,” she said firmly. “You could have told me.”

  Agatha’s eyes began to fill with tears. “I will not play the devil’s advocate. But I think you might be more understanding if you thought about your own reasons for not telling Roderick about the baby.”

  Jane’s cheeks pinkened. Was keeping the truth from Roderick the same as Agatha’s ploy about the marriage license? She had to admit, the two of them had withheld vital information to protect someone they loved. But Jane realized her situation was not premeditated. Agatha’s was. Losing the previous babies had caused the rift between Jane and Roderick. Her reasons to use Mrs. Hobbs, as well as a doctor, had added complications to her marriage. But Agatha, on the other hand, had deliberately altered the date on the marriage license.

  Jane hated to be firm with the older lady, but things needed to change. “It was not the same,” Jane said tightly. “I cannot let you make these decisions for me. And as you can see, I will not let Roderick make decisions for me either. I am a different person now.” Yet Jane wondered if Roderick would ever see to her way of thinking.

  Agatha’s forehead creased. “You are right. But I did have good intentions. I believed Roderick would return from France straight away. Actually, I thought he would change his ways before he left for France. I had no idea this would last so long. But when Roderick did not return for months, I believe if I told you the truth, you would banish me from seeing the baby. However, when you had the baby, I knew I had to tell you. But well, I just could not face you after what I had done. I was sick with remorse.”

  The lady let out a light sob, dabbing a napkin to her eyes. “I hid in London until Roderick returned.”

  Jane clasped the lady’s hand in a firm hold. “You must promise me that you will never interfere in anyone’s life like this again. It is not right, and you know it.”

  Agatha looked at the king and pressed her lips together. “What about—”

  “Promise me,” Jane demanded.

  Agatha sighed. “Oh, very well. But I told you I did it for your own good. And that stubborn husband of yours. I did not like his behavior, and I was going to set him straight.”

  Jane patted Agatha’s hand. “That’s that then.”

  “I am sorry, dearest,” Agatha said in a trembling voice. “You will still let me see the baby, will you not?”

  Jane rolled her eyes. “If I tried to keep him from you, you would probably figure out some way to worm into his life. I would rather know what you were doing every minute with my son, than discover you have been sneaking about with him, doing who knows what!”

  Agatha chuckled, but she did not deny it. “Thank you, dear. I do not deserve you.”

  Jane grinned and cast a curious gaze down the table where Lady Trayton’s bosom was almost hanging over Roderick’s plate of beef! His eyes seemed to widen in appreciation, stirring Jane’s anger. “What a nincompoop!”

  Beside her, Agatha groaned in distress. “Oh, dear.”

  Jane realized Agatha thought she was talking about her. “Oh Agatha, it is not you. It’s Lady Trayton and my husband, who, by the way, is a halfwit!”

  Agatha tilted her head toward the couple. “Ah, I take it you are trying to crack the lady’s façade, are you not? Rather advantageous for you that the guests are engaged in lively discussions.”

  “What?” Jane asked in surprise.

  Agatha’s lips tipped into a knowing smile. “The better to converse. Loud conversation always helps in times like these.”

  “Times like these?” Jane repeated, her eyes narrowing.

  “Certainly,” Agatha said confidently. “You are trying to find evidence that the lady murd
ered Lord Garette, and I applaud you.”

  Jane’s fork clanked against her plate. They had not told Agatha a thing. “Is there anything you don’t know?”

  Agatha shrugged. “Actually, no.”

  Roderick could feel Jane’s glare from the other side of the room. But he was not about to stop his interrogation. He believed Lady Trayton more dangerous than then they had first thought. If he was correct, the lady had killed her husband and Lord Garette.

  He had to wonder if she had murdered other men as well. And what about women? He was half listening to the lady beside him as he glanced at Jane.

  Confound it. He could have a serial killer on his hands.

  “I must say, your decision to accept the baby as yours was quite a surprise to me. Goodness, you are the duke, after all. The boy would be your heir.”

  Roderick’s fork halted midway to his mouth. Lady Trayton’s words finally penetrated his brain. Was he saying Jane had a baby? What lies was this lady spreading?

  “Heir?” he asked confused.

  Her eyes widened with glee. “Ah, so you have not accepted the boy as your own. Well, I cannot blame you. I suppose husbands always wonder. I have a child myself. A son.”

  He kept staring at her. An heir? Baby? What the devil?

  The lady’s cheeks turned a deep red when she caught the skeptical look on his face. “It was the earl’s,” she replied emphatically. “Truly. I had the boy a year after we married.”

  Roderick arched his right brow. “I am not questioning your son’s bloodline, madam.” But the thought of the child belonging to her late husband was rather doubtful, he thought.

  She laughed nervously. “My son is now the Earl of Trayton. He is quite a handsome child.”

  “He must look much like his mama.”

  She fluttered a hand over her chest, clearly pleased with his flattering remark. “He is a good boy. Has my eyes.”

  “And the other baby?” he asked, peering over the rim of his wineglass, acting as if he not a care in the world.

  “Oh, I forgot,” she replied in her sweetest voice. “You have yet to see the child. Heard from the king the babe was born in the country. All of it in secret, mind you.” The lady let out a wicked laugh. “Most likely because the duchess assumed you and she were not married. I fear, you did not take that jest too lightly.”

  She sighed, taking a peek at Jane, then shifting a possessive glance back to him. “La, I do not know why I am telling you this. You went to France knowing everything. It must have been quite a relief getting away from her. But I am surprised you did not consider how much the captain would encourage her. Or the other way around. Society does not look upon that very lightly. Must be discreet at all times.”

  Her leg brushed against his, and he almost jumped from his seat.

  “Yes, indeed,” he drawled, trying to contain his emotions. “Discreet is most important.”

  Discreet, Roderick thought angrily Thunderation! He went to France knowing nothing!

  He took a sip of his wine, sending a hard gaze toward Jane. She was in deep conversation with Agatha.

  Lady Trayton laughed, bringing him back to their conversation. “Well, at least she was discreet about the baby,” she continued. “No one in the ton heard anything about him. The duchess kept it rather hush-hush.”

  Roderick’s lips thinned.

  “Yet I admit, I am on pins and needles, Roderick. I may call you Roderick, may I not?” She touched his arm. “Is the child yours or the captain’s? I can keep a secret.”

  Keep a secret? Roderick want to laugh out loud. That was an outright lie.

  “Well,” the lady sighed, realizing he was not about to speak. “If I had not come to this weekend party, I would not have known anything. The king told me all. We have become quite close.”

  Roderick had nothing to say. He was at a complete loss. He dropped one of his hands beneath the table and clenched his fist. Confound it all! So, the king knew about the baby? He felt as if someone had kicked him in the stomach. Jane’s baby? It was inconceivable. Had she adopted some child, declaring it was his? Was any of this information true?

  Lady Trayton kept talking. “I am beginning to understand.” One of her fingers trailed along his leg. “You did not want to claim another man’s child when you thought you were married, yet you were in a difficult position. But later, when you thought you were single, it was not at all the thing.”

  His head swung to hers, his eyes blazing. “I think that is quite enough.”

  The lady’s cheeks flamed. She was obviously shocked by his sharp retort.

  Roderick’s mind swirled with questions. A baby? Was that why Jane had looked so beautiful? Her body had seemed more curvy. More womanly. Was she a mother? And worse, was she the mother of another man’s child?

  He shot a withering gaze toward the captain. The man glanced up in question.

  “They say the babe was a bit early,” Lady Trayton continued in a low voice.

  Roderick’s head jerked her way. She seemed to have recovered quite nicely from his harsh reply. Good grief! He suddenly realized she thought his words had been directed toward the footman whom she was now telling not to bring the raspberry tarts around again because the duke had quite enough to eat. Roderick regarded the lady in utter astonishment.

  The lady flipped her hands helplessly in the air. “That’s how it usually goes. My dear Peter was four weeks early.”

  Early? Jane’s babe was early? He tried counting the months. He looked at the captain who was sat beside Vexfield’s daughter.

  “Did they say much about Lord Garette?” the lady asked, changing the direction of her conversation.

  Roderick wanted to take the captain by the collar and shake him senseless. “What was that?” he asked sharply, putting down his fork.

  “I said, did Lord Vexfield mention anything else about Lord Garette?” She batted her eyes at him and smiled sweetly.

  He stared at her, his mind going a hundred different directions.

  She chuckled, taking his mute attention as a compliment. “You know, Roderick, we could do well together. I can see your mind spinning. You already have a plan for the captain and your wife.”

  “Do you think so?” His words were clipped as he stabbed the leftover beef on his plate. Did she know his plan was to plow the captain in the jaw?

  She stiffened. “Well, I do think the meat is a bit overdone, but you do not have get cross about it.”

  “Indeed,” he said through clenched teeth. “A bit overdone.”

  Roderick wanted to shake himself for getting involved with this woman years ago. She had moved from him to many men, including Jared at one point. The lady was pretty. He would give her that. But she was a self-centered female who could not have a sane conversation if she were paid a thousand pounds.

  He had no idea if he could sit through dessert, listening to her rattle on. He was supposed to be learning about her and Lord Garette. But all his thoughts were on Jane. Jane and the baby. Jane, the baby, and that blasted Captain Argyle!

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Roderick stood when the ladies withdrew from the dining room to take a tour of Lady Vexfield’s new wing, leaving the men to their port. As Roderick looked on, his heart pumped with a dangerous mix of emotions. Disbelief. Frustration. But most of all, anger.

  To his annoyance, the king had retired for the night, and therefore, any questions about Lady Trayton’s comments would have to wait until morning.

  Quite honestly, he wasn’t sure he could hold his temper talking to anyone tonight, least of all Jane. If the babe were his, she would have told him.

  While the men began to converse, he sought out the captain who seemed to be leaving. Was the man avoiding him? By Jove, Roderick would follow him to hell and back before he let the man go.

  How could he ever have thought the captain his friend?

  “So,” Roderick said, his fists clenching as he cornered the captain in an alcove off the ballroom. “You are av
oiding me?”

  The captain spun around, his green eyes gleaming with amusement. “You think too much of yourself, Roderick. I am retiring to my bedchambers. Nothing to do with you at all.”

  “The baby is a boy,” Roderick spat out.

  Crossing his arms over his chest, the captain leaned against the wall, and appeared relieved. “Ah, I am pleased Jane finally told you. To say it has been on my mind is an understatement. But I am glad you are taking it so well. Keeping it a secret was not something I would wish to do again.”

  The blood boiled in Roderick’s veins. He glared at the man in complete amazement. “Who the devil said I am taking it well?”

  The captain frowned. “I understand completely. It would have disturbed me too, if she were my wife. Don’t like secrets.”

  “Secrets?” Roderick replied harshly. “You must be insane!”

  Candlelight lit the captain’s handsome face as he laughed. “I would have paid ten thousand pounds to have seen the look on your face when she told you.”

  Roderick could barely keep himself in check. “I fail to see the humor in this. We are speaking about my wife.”

  The harsh tone of his words finally broke through to the captain. The man narrowed his eyes. “You know, Roderick, I have a strange feeling you have something more to tell me.”

  “You do, do you?”

  The captain’s face turned hard. “I do not believe this is the place to do it, do you?”

  Roderick let out a curse and directed the man toward the back door. “I believe outside would be best,” he ground out. “The earl has some nice grounds that I would dearly like you to see.”

  “Ah, so that’s the way of it, is it?” the captain replied, his eyes blazing. “To tell you the truth, the way you have treated Jane has been intolerable. By Jove, I shall enjoy boxing your ears. You look quite recovered after your accident in France. Yes, I won’t mind at all.”

  Roderick shot him a threatening look. “You can try, but I may kill you first.”