by Regina Darcy
Still a little uncertain as to what to think and what to believe, Daniel shook his head slowly.
“I will need to speak to Lady Packham about such rumours,” he said, slowly. “She is, after all, very dear friends with the new Duchess of Essington and I cannot think for one moment that the Duchess chooses her acquaintances unwisely.”
This seemed to throw Miss Lufton a little, for her smile slipped and she no longer appeared as confident.
“I would not like to question the Duchess, of course,” she murmured, carefully. “But I would state that this has come from the new Baron Packham, my lord. Surely he cannot be wrong?”
Daniel stepped back, away from Miss Lufton. She reached for him but he did not move to take her hand, not wanting any contact with her.
“I am afraid, Miss Lufton, that you will need to find the other ladies on your own,” he said, coolly. “I no longer find myself in need of your company.”
Miss Lufton’s cheeks burned with a fierce heat. “My lord,” she stammered, her eyes now filling with tears. “I did not mean –”
“I know exactly what you meant to do, Miss Lufton,” he said, a trifle more harshly than he had intended. “For whatever reason, you thought that Lady Packham was some sort of threat and therefore did your utmost to remove her from my affections. I cannot imagine what you were thinking! To write to your acquaintances in London, in order to find out what you could about Lady Packham is quite beyond the pale. You are without a doubt attempting to set me against her.”
Miss Lufton lifted her chin, trying to look remorseful but failing miserably. “My lord, I was only concerned for you.”
“I am not your concern!” he replied, angrily. “There is nothing between us, Miss Lufton, nor will there ever be. I have long been aware that your father wishes that there was something between us, parading you before me every time we meet, but there is not even a spark of interest in my heart. To be deceitful, to be double-minded and to attempt to manipulate me does not endear me to you, Miss Lufton, not even a little bit.”
He was breathing hard by the time he had finished this speech, his whole body burning with both annoyance and upset. Miss Lufton looked flustered, her cheeks stained flush with embarrassment. This was not what he had intended but he was tired of Miss Lufton’s attempts to move into his life. It was better to have told her plainly that, despite her attempts, there would be nothing of substance between them. Certainly not after what she had done in her attempts to discredit Lady Packham.
“Good day, Miss Lufton,” he said firmly, turning on his heel and walking away from her, leaving her standing alone, her eyes brimming with unshed tears.
NINE
Cassandra gave one last look at the sleeping child, feeling her heart happier than it had been in a long time. There was nothing to worry about any longer.
She did not have to fear leaving the child she had come to love, did not have to concern herself about the return to London and what she would do there. Even the news about her brother-in-law and the supposed rumours that came with it had not taken any of her contentment away. The pendant, the only thing she had that had once belonged to her mother, was quite safe here in Sherbrooke estate.
Closing the door softly, she quickly pulled her shawl tight around her shoulders and hurried down the stairs, thinking to make the most of her free time. She wanted to walk out of doors for a time before luncheon, which she would have in her rooms.
“Oh, good day, Lord Sherbrooke!” She smiled as she walked towards him, glad to have caught him alone. Josephine had babbled what Cassandra thought had been a few words today and she wanted to tell him the news.
“Might I have a moment of your time?”
To her surprise, Lord Sherbrooke did not smile. In fact, his face was rather white, his eyes annoyed and dark although she did not know why. Her joy faded as he glanced at her before turning his head away, as though the reason for his distress was…. her.
“Is something troubling you, my lord?” she asked, suddenly terribly afraid of the answer. “I can leave you if you would prefer.”
“No.”
Turning his head, he looked at her again, a fierce expression on his face as though he was not certain whether to draw near her or send her away.
“No,” he said again, beckoning her to walk with him. “I have only just finished a conversation with Miss Lufton and find that I am in great confusion after it.”
“Miss Lufton?” Cassandra repeated, recalling the young lady and remembering just how she had narrowed her eyes whenever she looked at Cassandra. Thinking nothing of it, Cassandra had just ignored the look, aware that the lady was interested in pursuing Lord Sherbrooke.
“Yes,” Lord Sherbrooke grated. “She informed me about the latest en-dits with regards…. to you, Lady Packham.”
Slowly, Cassandra came to a stop, her feet no longer able to move. Her stomach was tight, her breathing a little quickened as she felt every part of her grow tense.
“Miss Lufton spoke to you about me?” she said, barely trusting her voice. “What did she say? However, did she find out?”
This, apparently, was the wrong thing to say, for Lord Sherbrooke’s eyes instantly narrowed, his lips pulling into a tight line.
“Do you mean to say that it is all true?”
What am I to say?
She did not need to guess what it was Miss Lufton had said, believing that the young woman had heard what the Duchess had. She let her fingers absently trace the pendant around her neck, silently praying that Lord Sherbrooke would understand.
“It is, Lord Sherbrooke,” she said, slowly. “But, as you know, my brother-in-law is a rather severe gentleman.”
Lord Sherbrooke gaped at her for a moment, his colour slowly fading until his pallor was almost grey. Then, he swept one hand through his hair and strode away from her for a moment or two, turning around to re-join her once more.
“You told me that your brother-in-law was a harsh man, yes,” he said, in a low voice that throbbed with ire, although Cassandra did not know why. “But you have never explained to me why he treated you in such a callous fashion.”
“I – I did not want to,” Cassandra replied at once, feeling her heart clamour wildly within her. “The shame of it. The disgrace. It was too much to bear.” Surely, he can see that, she thought to herself, her thoughts becoming a little more flurried. Surely he can understand why I did not want to speak of my barren womb.
Lord Sherbrooke let out a groan of either fury or frustration, his eyes fixed on hers as two spots of colour appeared in his cheeks.
“That pendant,” he ground on, his hands clenched by his sides. “It is not your own.”
Her world slowly began to crumble. “My lord,” she whispered, wrapping her fingers around it as though he would snatch it from her neck. “This is my own. When I married, I knew that all I possessed would become my husband’s but I simply could not give him this.”
“And what else have you held on to?” he spat, suddenly rising like a furious giant above her. “What else have you kept back?”
She blinked, tears beginning to flood her eyes. There was no reason for his fury, no reason for his anger. Why was he speaking to her like this? What was it she had done?
“I thought that every word you said was the truth and now I see that you deliberately kept things back from me,” he continued, his voice filling the very air around her.
“You made me believe that you had nothing to go back to when the truth is that you fear to return for what your brother-in-law will take from you. Well, I will have it no longer, Lady Packham! I will not be your supposed refuge whilst you try to escape from your sins.”
Her lips trembled as she felt herself slowly begin to sink into the ground before him. His words rained down onto her like heavy boulders, threatening to force her to her knees.
“My sins?” she whispered, looking up at him in confusion. “I know not of what you speak, my lord.”
His sneer cut her to the q
uick.
“You need not pretend any longer, Lady Packham. I am no longer fooled. I have proved myself correct once more. To allow feeling and emotion into one’s heart is ridiculousness indeed.” He turned from her, as though he could not bear to so much as look at her any longer.
“I thought I felt something for you, Lady Packham. As much as I have been disinclined to admit it. It is just as well that I have seen the foolishness of my ways. You are not the person you claim to be, just as Mr Pratchett was not the man he pretended to be to my sister. I will have no more of you, Lady Packham. I will not have a thief and a liar in my home. Pack your things and leave my house. Today.”
Turning on his heel, he strode towards the house, leaving her confused and trembling. She could not understand what had just occurred. The only thing that was clear in her minds was that she was now no longer welcome in Lord Sherbrooke’s home. She bit back a painful cry. Why? Clenching her fists against the unbearable truth that she was no longer allowed to be with Josephine, she stumbled forward and clutched her fist against her aching heart.
“I – I do not understand,” she whispered to seemingly no-one.
Her legs collapsed from beneath her and she sank to the ground, right in the middle of the gravelled drive. The stones cut into her legs but she could not move for the pain rifling through her.
Was it because she was barren? Was this what he had been referring to? She had thought that Miss Lufton had only been referring to her pendant, but mayhap the lady had discovered the truth about her inability to produce an heir? Shame crept over her again, tears beginning to trickle down her face as she sobbed. Her mind refused to consider that some of the tears were because of the loss of Lord Sherbrooke’s affections.
“Cassandra?”
The Duchess of Essington’s voice was like a balm to her broken heart.
“Cassandra!” Prudence exclaimed, crouching down beside her friend and putting one arm about her. “Goodness, what has happened? Did you fall? Let us send for Lord Sherbrooke.”
Cassandra grasped Prudence’s arm. “No, please. Not him. He is – he is…..” She trailed off, forcing the words from her throat. “He is to send me away.”
“Away?”
Prudence’s face drained of colour as she searched Cassandra’s face. “But why?”
Cassandra wrapped her arms around herself, as she struggled to compose herself. “Because Miss Lufton has discovered the truth about my fruitless marriage, my disgrace in being thrown from my house and rejected by my own brother. She has told Lord Sherbrooke everything, including the fact that Lord Packham is now searching for me in order to take the last thing I own from me.” Shaking her head, her shoulders shaking with sobs, Cassandra felt her last flicker of happiness die.
“He thinks me wrong to still have the pendant. Lord Sherbrooke thinks I should never have taken it…he thinks me a thief.”
“That cannot be the case,” Prudence said, firmly, helping Cassandra to her feet. “I think Lord Sherbrooke has been foolish in this matter. I will speak to him.”
Cassandra shook her head, holding onto Prudence tightly as they began to make their way back to the house.
“Pray, do not. It is at an end, Prudence. I am not to see Josephine again and, after discovering my barrenness and my disgrace, Lord Sherbrooke has turned me away.” Her heart shattered all over again, broken by the affection that she had begun to feel for the gentleman, only to see that it was not returned.
“Lord Sherbrooke is just as my husband was,” she finished, her voice hardening. “My husband was not the man I thought him and, in the same way, Lord Sherbrooke is not the gentleman he appeared to be.” She managed to glance up at Prudence, her eyes glassy. “I have been made to be the fool all over again.”
Prudence said nothing but her face was white, her eyes burning with fury.
“I have no-one to depend on but you,” Cassandra finished, hopelessly. “Oh, Prudence, whatever am I to do? I thought I loved him and now…..”
“Have faith, my dear friend,” Prudence stated, with such a fierceness that a flame of hope shot into Cassandra’s heart, breaking through the grief. “This is not the end of the matter. I will not allow you to suffer once more. Lord Sherbrooke will be made to explain, whether he wishes to or not.”
She turned her head and looked at Cassandra as they began to climb the steps.
“And you are to speak your mind to him, my dear. I know you do not wish me to arrange all this, but it must be done. Lord Sherbrooke is not that kind of gentleman and I cannot help but think that there has been some kind of misunderstanding. Regardless of this, however, the Duke will not allow him to treat you so callously. Do you understand me, my dear? None of this is your fault.”
Cassandra felt her tears begin to ebb away, the confidence in Prudence’s voice giving her a little bit of hope to cling to.
“Do you think you can find the strength to speak to Lord Sherbrooke again, after what has occurred?” Prudence asked as they climbed the stairs towards Cassandra’s bedchamber.
“Can you do it, Cassandra?”
This was her future she was considering, Cassandra realised. To go away meekly, humbled by Lord Sherbrooke’s rebuke, would mean a life of loneliness and possible servitude. To speak to him might mean that her future would become a little less bleak, although she could not hope to return to Josephine’s side now, not when he knew she had kept the pendant for herself. Lord Sherbrooke did not want a thief in his house.
“Yes,” she said, tremulously, feeling herself shake just a little. “Yes, I think so, Prudence. Just so long as you are able to stand with me.”
Prudence’s smile was grim, her eyes determined.
“Indeed, Cassandra, I will stay by your side throughout,” she replied, firmly. “And have no fear about Lord Sherbrooke. I will ensure that he comes to speak to you. This matter will be settled by this time tomorrow.”
Opening the bedchamber door, Cassandra was horrified to see maids frantically packing her things. Her spirits quailed and her newfound hope with it, only for Prudence to step into the room.
“Stop this at once,” she exclaimed, crossly. “Lady Packham is not departing.”
One of the maids bobbed a curtsy, biting her lip.
“I’m afraid, your grace, that Lord Sherbrooke has said –”
“Lady Packham is not leaving,” Prudence interrupted, drawing herself up, every inch the Duchess. “And if Lord Sherbrooke has any difficulty with that, you may ask him to speak to me. Do I make myself clear?”
The maids exchanged a terrified glance before nodding and making to quit the room, only to be turned back by Prudence who instructed them to unpack all of Cassandra’s things.
“This evening, when the rest of the guests have retired,” Prudence said calmly, turning back to speak to Cassandra.
“I will come for you, Cassandra. Try not to worry. You will not be thrown from this house, in such a callous manner, not if I have anything to do with it.”
Cassandra could barely find the words to express her gratitude.
“Once again, Prudence, you have come to my aid,” she said, softly, her eyes blinking back tears. “Thank you.”
Prudence smiled gently.
“But of course. We are friends, are we not? Until this evening.” And with that, she squeezed Cassandra’s shoulder and was gone.
TEN
“What do you mean, she’s not leaving?”
Daniel glared at the Duchess, who was standing in the doorway to his library, her hands firmly on her hips.
“I’d listen to her if I were you, old boy,” the Duke of Essington murmured, seating himself down in a chair by the fire. “My wife does tend to make rather a lot of good sense, you know.”
Daniel shook his head. “Not in this matter. Lady Packham has taken you in, Duchess, that is all. You must not allow her to do so.”
The Duchess’s eyes flashed. “Taken me in, my lord? In what way?”
Sighing inwardly, Daniel dropped
his hands to his side and shook his head.
“I did not want to believe it either,” he said slowly, recalling just how much pain had sliced through him as Lady Packham had stood before him and said that yes, what he had heard was, in fact, quite true. “But she has admitted it to me.”
The Duchess looked all the more frustrated. “Admitted what, Lord Sherbrooke?”
“Everything that Miss Lufton told me,” he replied, with a small shrug. “I asked Lady Packham if what Miss Lufton had told me was true and she confessed that it was.”
Much to his surprise, the Duchess did not look surprised but rather rolled her eyes, threw back her head and let out a groan of frustration.
The Duke raised an eyebrow at the drama unfolding in front to of him and then went back to his sherry. He had no intention of interfering least Sherbrooke act ungentlemanly towards his wife.
“She would not have known all that Miss Lufton said to you, Lord Sherbrooke!” the Duchess exclaimed, her eyes now burning with a deep passion. “She would have presumed that what you were speaking of had to do with her pendant, which was what I spoke to her about upon my arrival.”
Daniel listened to the Duchess with an indulgent smile. He knew that the Duchess was the one making a mistake when it came to Lady Packham. He felt almost sorry for the lady that she was evidently so determined to stand by her charge.
He ignored the pain in his own heart, reminding himself that what he now felt was entirely his own fault. He had allowed himself to feel something for Lady Packham, had let his affections grow all the more despite what he knew about such things, and it had all come tumbling down around his ears. Shame pricked at his heart.