His Michaelmas Mistress

by Marly Mathews

  Julia would need all of her strength to survive this trying task.

  *****

  Freddie groaned, as Beatrice continued to go on and on about absolutely nothing. Julia’s mother was never at a loss for words, it seemed. He was grateful that he wouldn’t have to live with Beatrice, after he and Julia were married. If he had to, he would probably end up going mad!

  Julia looked lovely in a muslin dress that had what seemed to be forget-me-nots on it, and the blue in the flower pattern made her blue eyes seem even brighter.

  The Duke didn’t seem worn out at all, from the night of drinking they’d done, and he sat and ate his breakfast with gusto, and kept raving about the marmalade they had. He would have to tell Lewis that the man approved of the fruit preserve that gave Lewis so much pride.

  He still didn’t know how he was going to deal with the Duke seemingly not wanting to return to Scotland. He couldn’t imagine having him stay at Wilton Park, even though he had allowed his carriages and his retinue to bed down there for the night. He couldn’t abide Hamish, and had wanted the man away from him.

  Now that they were at Wilton Park, he had the challenge of finding a way to remove them from his estate without coming off as being a churl. No matter what happened, Freddie had to away to London to procure the special wedding license, so he didn’t want to leave the Duke behind in Wiltshire. And, he still didn’t know what the fate of Enoch Smith would be…he could hope the man would be hanged, but he didn’t think that Edward Lovett would hand out that kind of a grim sentence. The best he could hope for was an exiling.

  “Castleton Court is a feast for the eyes, Lady Tisbury,” the Duke said approvingly.

  “Thank you,” Beatrice said. “The Lovetts spared no expense on this palatial home. They wanted it to be one of the grandest in the County. Before this building stood, they had a Tudor Manor House, but it was destroyed in a fire, after being damaged during the Civil War.”

  “This county was mainly Parliamentarian wasn’t it?” The Duke asked.

  “Aye,” Beatrice said softly. “The Earl during that troubling period, favoured Cromwell, but his son and his heir sided with the Royalists. It made for a dramatic little part of Lovett family history. Have you thought of where you shall go now, Your Grace?” Beatrice asked, obviously seeking to shift the subject.

  “I…well…” he said uneasily.

  “His retinue and carriages are both at Wilton Park. I agreed to allow them to stay there last night, but I’m certain the Duke won’t want to stay here for long. His valet remained here with what he would need for today,” Freddie muttered.

  “I do have an estate just over the border in Gloucestershire, but I did want to stay here a while longer, at least until you and Lady Julia are married, Son.”

  Freddie grimaced. Every time the man called him Son, he wanted to retch. He didn’t like the sound of it, and he didn’t like the fact that he had to resign himself to be a Duke’s son, and as a consequence, a marquess by courtesy. He was still getting used to being a baron, and pretending he was something he wasn’t, and now…now he’d have to face one day being referred to as His Grace, and Your Grace. While he thought that it suited, Julia, he didn’t think it suited him.

  Society would probably label him the Marquess of Mouse or something like that.

  “I wish I had found you before you bought Wilton Park. There is an estate in Scotland, and one here in England that has been set aside for the firstborn son.”

  “Wilton Park suits me fine,” he said, reaching for his coffee.

  “And yet, it is your right to claim the other estates. Fortunately, our family is like the Lovetts, we do not want for money.”

  “Splendid,” Beatrice said, sipping at her tea. “And where is the Estate that the Marquess of Knightwick can use?”

  “It is in Gloucestershire. It is a lovely little estate.”

  “I’m still fine with being the Baron of Axbridge,” Freddie said sullenly.

  “My dear boy,” Beatrice started, “You are the Duke’s heir apparent. You can’t deny who you are. You now have a higher title to use. You can be styled the Marquess of Knightwick.”

  “So there is no way I can refuse it?” he asked.

  “No possible way,” the Duke said. “It is a cross you shall have to bear, Freddie.”

  Freddie didn’t like the turn his life was taking one bit. Tiny and Lucky would have a hell of a good time teasing him when they returned. He couldn’t believe how many times he’d been treated like dirt beneath the feet of the very men who were born into the Peerage, and come to find out…he was one of those blasted bloody men!

  It was a bitter pill for him to swallow.

  Julia seemed to sense his unhappiness, because her eyes had been on him for the entire meal.

  The Countess sighed. “Lord Knightwick, you must have dropped this last night,” she produced his gold pocket watch. He swallowed thickly. “You must take more care with your valuables, sir. Why, just imagine if you hadn’t been in a private residence. You would have lost this lovely piece.”

  “I suppose it wouldn’t matter. I would have to buy another, and I certainly have the funds for it. It holds no sentimental value to me, Lady Tisbury, but thank you for recovering it, and bringing it back to me.”

  Beatrice snorted, and handed him his watch, as she sat at one end of the table, while Richard sat at the other end. Richard had been conspicuously silent, telling Freddie that he must have been nursing one hell of headache!

  “And you shall have to buy another pocket watch, Freddie, because that pocket watch has your old initials on it. You are Frederick Hamilton now,” Julia said.

  “Indeed he is,” the Duke said. “We shall have to do something about that, Son.”

  “You could always go and stay at your place in Gloucestershire. I don’t require your presence here any longer,” Freddie said glumly.

  The Duke looked hurt, he looked as if Freddie had just drawn his cork, and Freddie probably should have felt a little bit guilty for hurting him, but he didn’t. He supposed it would take him a while longer to come to terms with everything, and to move past being raised by such a monster when he should have been raised as a Hamilton. He didn’t bemoan the riches he could have had, only the family love he had missed out on.

  “Alas, I shan’t be able to leave the area until after Michaelmas, as Mr. and Mrs. Lovett invited me to their Michaelmas Ball. It would be rude of me not to attend after I accepted their invitation last night,” the Duke said.

  “Of course it would,” Freddie sighed.

  Julia smiled serenely at him, and her eyes filled with a mischievous glint. She was up to something, and he probably wouldn’t like whatever it was.

  “Mayhap, you could go with Freddie to London, sir? He must travel there so he can procure a special license for us. You can make it quite clear to those in London that he is your son,” Julia proposed. “And you could ensure he received a new pocket watch while there. Something befitting his new position as your heir.”

  The little chit! The next time they met, she was due for a good spanking. ‘Course he didn’t know if he could manage giving it to her without them being married, but he wasn’t going to forget what she had done to him.

  Not on her life.

  “I had hoped to rest for a few days from my travels. However, if we must away at once, I am sure I can find the energy. I’m getting on in years, but I’m not that stricken yet.”

  Freddie narrowed his eyes at Julia. She looked as if she were valiantly attempting to hold back a giggle. The fact that she gleaned such amusement out of his discomfort almost made him smile.

  She was his perfect match.

  “I don’t even think I can travel today. We shall away tomorrow,” Freddie said, finishing off the last of his coffee. His head had a dull ache to it, and by the way that Richard sat drinking tea as if his life depended upon it, and gobbling up toast, he knew the man felt it, too.

  “I think I shall retire back to my chamb
ers, and take some laudanum. I have an awful headache,” Richard moaned. “Pray excuse me, Your Grace,” he said, standing up.

  “Of course, of course,” the Duke said, watching Richard leave.

  Freddie wished he could beg off and return to Julia’s bedchamber and finish what they hadn’t started last night.

  “Richard shouldn’t imbibe so much. He has inherited the Lovett tolerance for alcohol, poor dear,” Beatrice said.

  Julia laughed. “Oh, Mama. Not everyone can drink brandy the way you can. Speaking of which, I expect the ladies to show up promptly at two this afternoon.”

  “The ladies?” the Duke asked, completely befogged, and a little intrigued.

  “I am the head of the Moonrakers Ladies Society. We convene weekly, and talk about books, and other issues of importance, whilst drinking brandy.”

  “Ah, I see,” the Duke said. “My mother used to do that with her lady friends, minus the books…she liked to convene and be like their little queen, while they told her the current on-dit. They might have their tongues wagging about what was printed in The Times right after your first attempt at marrying Freddie. I see now that you are not intent upon marrying Lord Charles Tempest.”

  “What? Whatever do you mean? Are you saying that I was mentioned in The Times? That we…that our wedding that wasn’t…was mentioned in The times?” Julia asked horrified. She swallowed thickly, and reached for her tea. Freddie watched as she shakily brought the teacup up to her lips. It was a bloody wonder she didn’t spill any of it.

  “Aye, in the scandal section. I wish I could give my thanks to those women who sniff out scandal and gossip for them.”

  “Well, I don’t have any such feeling of gratitude. Those women are dreadful. They speak lies!” Julia said, her face colouring up, as her passions were riled.

  Freddie wanted to plant a facer on his own father. The fact that the Duke looked so much like him, showed Freddie how he looked when being such a pugnacious arsehole. And he didn’t like it one bit. From now on, he vowed not to be such a nincompoop.

  “I do apologize. I hadn’t meant to offend you, Lady Julia. It is quite apparent that you love my son. I had worried when I saw the article that he would have his heart broken, but without those women, I would not have found out about Freddie until possibly your family published the announcement of your marriage to him, and I am content to know that I shall now be present when the two of you are married.

  “I am normally a recluse, and have kept to myself up in the Highlands, since well…since Freddie was born, though I did hire men to search for you, Freddie, and they didn’t turn anything up. I even hired a few Bow Street Runners, who were obviously not worth what I paid them, because they didn’t find you or your mother. Once I read that article that mentioned Freddie in The Times, I sent word to have my London Townhouse opened and aired, and to have those in Gloucestershire at my estate there to be ready for me, and I set off, bound for Wiltshire. I was determined to find you and hoped beyond hope that my quest wouldn’t be fruitless. You will never know how relieved I was to clap eyes on you, Freddie. I have never been so happy to see anyone in all of my life.”

  “Well, my dear, it had a positive outcome, so I see no harm in it,” Beatrice said. “Alas, the time has quite escaped all of us. Our day must start.”

  Freddie sighed. What exactly would Beatrice’s day entail? She hardly left her sofa.

  “Indeed, and we should take our leave of you, Lady Tisbury. Your hospitality has been unparalleled. It does you justice,” the Duke said gallantly.

  They all stood up and went their separate ways, and as much as Freddie was to loathe it, he would have to take his father back to Wilton Park.

  He followed Julia from the Breakfast Room, and gripped a hold of her arm. Pulling her back to him, he wanted to throttle his father, as he caught sight of the tears in her eyes.

  “Have we become a laughingstock of the ton, Freddie?” she asked, in a small voice, gazing up at him with her beautiful blue eyes. His stomach sunk. He wished he could make it all better for her.

  “I think you might have become that as soon as you accepted my proposal of marriage, Julia, my love.”

  “I do not care about that. I only seek to…oh, it doesn’t matter, anyway. I suppose they will think I am a faithless woman, who is as fickle as they come.”

  “You are not fickle, Julia.”

  “And how do you think some regard me? Either way, I am not painted in a favourable light, am I? I love you desperately, Freddie, but some must think I am an utter little chit for forsaking Charles the way I have done.”

  His heart sunk. Was she still having second thoughts? Did she still wonder what life would be like if she had turned away from him?

  She must have seen the look on his face, for she quickly rushed out, “Pray, don’t misconstrue my words, Freddie. I don’t regret the choices I have made. I only wonder how others will view them.”

  “Devil take them all. Why do you care what others think of you? You are allowing them to have power over your life—over our lives. Don’t give them that control. We are in love. We have done nothing wrong, and if you had chosen Charles out of some sense of misplaced duty, you and I both know you would have regretted it, until your dying day, and that’s not a hell I wish on anyone, least of all you.”

  “That is true. Why don’t we just runaway, Freddie? We could both flee to London, and be married as soon as our special license was issued.”

  “We couldn’t do that. You deserve more than that. As much as I am tempted, Julia, we can’t shut the rest of the world out. You have a family that adores you, and I’m quite certain they want to see you marry me.”

  She sighed. “I want to be married by Michaelmas. So make all haste to ensure that, sir.” She stood up on her tiptoes, in an effort to lock lips with him, and still couldn’t make it. Sighing, she stood on his feet, and he laughed, as he pulled her close and lifted her so her feet dangled off the ground. “You are my beloved, Mouse,” she murmured.

  “Aye, and don’t ever forget that,” he said, as he claimed her lips.

  They stood together for a few more blissful minutes. His father broke their reverie with a loud clearing of his throat.

  *****

  Julia was under Freddie’s spell.

  She was bewitched by him, and she never wanted to come out of the dreamy haze his presence had cast her into. They stood in the room that looked like a basilica. It was a riot of coloured marble while the Three Graces stood watch over them. It was one of the prettiest rooms in Castleton Court, and if they were married outside of the church, this would be a perfect room to be wed in.

  She clung to Freddie. She was serious about them running to London and marrying there. Her heart pounded in her chest, as she thought about losing him. She wanted him so badly, their hopes couldn’t be dashed now. Even though the Duke had interrupted them, she didn’t want to let him go, and yet, she had to. He wouldn’t like staying for the meeting with the ladies from the villages of Castleton and Maidstone.

  “Oh, now this is a lovely room,” the Duke exclaimed.

  “You haven’t seen the one hundred and thirty six foot Ladies Long Gallery yet. Now that is a sight to be sure,” Julia said. “You should also take a walk around our grounds, we have a few Follies you might be interested in exploring. One of them is not for the faint of heart. You have to be in excellent physical shape to climb it, and the view of the River Avon is glorious, and you can see Lark Hall as well. On a sunny day it gives one of the most beautiful views in England.”

  “I…why don’t the two of you show me?” he asked. “We have a few hours before your Moonrakers arrive.”

  She looked ruefully down at her dress. “Allow me to fetch a bonnet, and some walking boots, and I shall join you,” she said. “I do hope you are ready for it, sir.”

  “I think this old body of mine will be able to conquer anything the two of you throw at me. We Scots are always up for a challenge!” he said, with a cheeky wink.
She detangled herself from Freddie, and reluctantly left. As she dashed away, she heard the Duke say, “I think she can do that by herself, Freddie. Freddie! Oh, how we need to get the two of you married.”

  She giggled.

  Apparently, Freddie had decided to play a game of chase, and the thought made her heart soar. She laughed, as she quickened her pace, and darted a glance behind her. He was pursuing her! What did the man think he could do once he caught her? They could not add fire to the scandals that already surrounded them.

  He caught her and scooped her up and put her over his shoulder. Her arse was up in the air, and he had the audacity to tap it!

  “Freddie, put me down!”

  “I will. Once we get to your bedchamber.”

  “You…you cur! You churl…you popinjay, you blackguard...”

  “Keep throwing insults out at me, you know you love it.”

  “Mama, knows you were in my bedchamber,” she hissed, as he carried her up the staircase, “and she won’t stand for you coming into my bedchamber again. Not to mention the fact that you acting like the hugest arse in the world by snubbing your father. You are being quite rude to him, and it doesn’t do my heart a bit of good.”

  “He might be my father by blood, but I don’t have to accept that or even like it.”

  “Oh, Freddie,” she sighed, going limp. “There is no hope for you. If you don’t at least try with your father…then, then, I shall lock you out of our bedchamber on our wedding night.”

  “I’d pick the lock or break the door down,” he said dismissively.

  “Aye, but you wouldn’t force me to sleep with you. Not if I didn’t want to, so picking the lock or breaking the door down would get you nowhere, and you know it.”

  He groaned. “You women are insufferable sometimes!”

  “Aye, but you wouldn’t be able to live without me.”

  “That is true.”

  “So you will at least try to reconcile yourself to having the Duke being your father?”

  “I will try,” he said sullenly. From what she could see hanging over his shoulder, they were about to reach her bedchamber. He placed her down on her bed, and then, turned away.