The Duke (Silver Linings Mysteries Book 6)

by Mary Kingswood

  Ger’s actions were harder to explain, for vague mutterings about loss of memory were greeted with outright scepticism, and a whole array of ingenious explanations were proposed — that he had stayed behind in America, and was only just returned, that he had been living as a farmer in Ireland, or that he had suffered some dreadful illness, although opinions differed as to the precise symptoms. The favourite theory was that Ger had, in fact, died and the person now said to be Ger was an impostor. That was an easy one to scotch, for no one could imagine a plausible reason for it, but Ran took the precaution of appearing at the Marchioness of Carrbridge’s ball where almost everyone of consequence might be found, and circulating for long enough to show that he was amused rather than worried by such stories.

  He was relieved to find that no hint had reached town of the few hours when Ruth had been betrothed to Ger. It had been widely expected that he would lose her to his brother, and now it gave him the greatest pleasure to lay to rest any such talk.

  “And how is the Lady Ruth?” his friends asked him warily, watching him carefully for any sign of discomfort.

  “Very well,” he answered with a smile. “She is at Valmont, preparing for our wedding there in a few days.”

  “Ah!” they said knowingly, and wished him joy.

  Their wedding! Even now, he could scarcely believe it, that she loved him and had chosen him, younger son or not, because for her he was not second best at all. He was counting the days, but on the day he had hoped to leave London, he received a summons from the Duke of Orrisdale.

  “I have been considering all the points you made, Litherholm,” he said, marching up and down his book room, hands clasped behind his back. “You make the case powerfully. It would look odd indeed for Ruthie to be married and the duchess and I not there. It would appear as if there had been a breach, and that would lead to a great deal of unpleasant talk. One would not wish Ruthie to be the subject of unpleasant talk. That would reflect badly on both our families, and there are the three younger girls to be thought of. So we will come to Valmont, but we cannot drop everything and go haring across to Hampshire in a moment, you know. We have a small dinner tonight, which cannot be put off, and then there is the packing and arrangements… you know how it is. But Ruthie will not mind delaying for a few days, I am certain of it.”

  “She will not mind at all if it means that some of her family will be there.”

  “Oh… as to that, Audlyn and Susan are there already, as it happens. Wanted to see their sister wed, and what could be more natural, eh?”

  Ran made polite noises and expressed his pleasure at the additional visitors, but he was surprised, all the same. Audlyn, he recalled, had been rusticated from school for some mischief, and was probably bored enough to make the visit a welcome distraction, but Susan had been sent home in disgrace after quarrelling with her betrothed. Instead of either trying to patch things up with Crosby, or returning to town to try to catch another fish, she was gadding about the countryside, with her parents’ approval. But she was very young, so perhaps they thought it better to take her mind off matrimony for a while.

  Ran travelled back to Valmont with the valets, and also Mr Willerton-Forbes, who wished to talk to Ger to help resolve one remaining puzzle about the passengers of the Brig Minerva. Ran was doubtful that Ger had any new information to provide, having genuinely lost his memory of the disaster, but it seemed worth asking.

  They arrived too late for any such discussion that day, however. Leaving the valets to Brent, and Mr Willerton-Forbes to Mrs Brack, he went in search of Ruth. Even in a house the size of Valmont, Brent always knew where everyone was, and so Ran turned his steps to the Spinsters’ Parlour. He opened the door, his eyes sought and found her, she looked up and saw him… She jumped to her feet, such joy in her face that his heart turned somersaults of delight. He opened his arms and she ran across the room to bury herself in his embrace. How had he ever thought she had no sensibility? She was all warmth, all joyful affection, all quivering happiness at his return.

  “How touching!” said a female voice. “Yet how you have the nerve to chastise me for unladylike behaviour I cannot guess.”

  Ruth shook in his arms with laughter. Lifting her head from his shoulder, she said, “Quite right, sister. I have become shockingly forward, have I not? Ran, you will remember my sister Susan.”

  “Of course,” he said, shifting his hold on her so that she could turn round, but not releasing her. “I am happy to see you again, even though I must protest at any criticism of my betrothed, whose enthusiasm for my arrival is quite delightful. One is permitted a little forwardness when one is about to be married, I believe. Oh, good day to you, Lizzie. I did not see you there.”

  “No, and how should you, when you have eyes for only one person. Come, Susan, shall we take a turn about the garden? It is such a fine day, is it not?”

  Giggling, Susan followed Elizabeth out of the room, and the door closed with a click.

  For a long, long time, there was silence as the lovers caught up with several days’ worth of kisses. When they parted with a deep sigh of satisfaction, Ruth whispered, “I have missed you quite abominably. You must not go away and leave me behind again.”

  “I shall not, you may take my word on that. Dearest love, it terrifies me how close we came to losing each other for ever. How could I have been so entirely unaware of your regard for me?”

  “For the same reason that I was unaware of your affection. We are both of us very good at hiding our feelings from the world. Society frowns on those who display too much sensibility and we have both been very obedient to its dictates. Even when you told me to follow my heart and do what would make me happy, yet I could not do so until I knew that it would make you happy too.”

  “I dared not say too much in case you felt under an obligation,” he said.

  “It was the same for me. How foolish we were,” she said, leaning her head against him with a sigh of pleasure. “Do you know, my love, your shoulder is the perfect height for me to rest upon. How comfortable this is!”

  “And convenient for me to kiss your forehead, thus,” he said. “Did you receive my latest letter? About your parents coming here? It means we shall have to delay the wedding for a few days.”

  “I have waited seven years for you, so what is a few more days.”

  He lifted his head to look at her fully. “Seven years? We only met six years and ten months ago.”

  “Precisely.”

  “Was it so for you too? You were fourteen and acknowledged as Ger’s intended. I was away in Yorkshire visiting Great-uncle Marcus, but he suffered an apoplectic fit and I was dispatched home early. I heard music coming from the Grand Saloon and walked in and there you were. You looked up at me, still laughing at some jest of Ger’s, and you were so lovely I could barely breathe. You wore a white gown with little blue flowers on it, and a blue ribbon in your hair.”

  That made her laugh, but she said, “And you wore a coat the colour of wine, and such a simple but elegant way of tying your neckcloth. You still carried a very stylish beaver hat and gloves as if you had just that minute stepped from your carriage, and I thought I had never seen such a gentlemanly figure. When Ger introduced you as his brother, I wondered how it was that I had never met you before.”

  “Do you know, it seems to me now that I was deliberately got out of the way when you visited, as if Father was afraid I would interfere in some way. He should have trusted me more, because look how restrained we were when we did meet.”

  “Probably he was afraid we would fall in love, and if so, he was right about that,” she said.

  “True, but we did nothing about it until Ginny goaded me into speaking.”

  “Ginny Chandry?” she said in astonished tones. “She made you speak that day when you climbed down from the balcony?”

  “She did. I would not go down, for it would have been too humiliating to be rejected yet again, and in so public a spot, but she told me that if I did not fight
for you, then I did not deserve you. It was almost too late, that was why I ran to the balcony.”

  “I must express my gratitude to her,” Ruth said. “I confess I have tended to think ill of her, but she has a good heart, I believe, and she has certainly done me a good turn in this instance, even if it did cause me to ruin a perfectly good bonnet by hurling it to the ground.”

  “It was a small price to pay,” he said, laughing, “I promise to buy you as many new bonnets as your heart desires. Which reminds me, did your wedding clothes arrive safely?”

  “Indeed they did. Susan and I have been bestowing them in my new dressing room.”

  He frowned at the mention of Susan. “Why is she here? The rumour in town — no, stronger than a rumour, for I had it from Crosby’s cousin, who ought to know — is that after she left Crosby Manor under a cloud, she was ordered to stay at Mallowfleet for at least a month, to reflect upon her behaviour. Yet your parents seem quite unconcerned about her leaving there. Either they feel very secure in Crosby, or they do not care if she loses him.”

  “Susan does not seem to care herself. Indeed, she flirted quite outrageously with Ger the first day she was here, giving me more than sufficient cause to reprimand her. She has been better behaved since then, but as to Lord Crosby, I cannot even find out whether she is still betrothed to him, for it all seems to be dreadfully vague.”

  “Unless one or other of them has explicitly cried off, then they are still betrothed, and I cannot imagine Crosby doing so. He had a wild youth, but he has never been less than a gentleman.”

  He leaned forward to kiss her again, but she reached up with a smile to set one finger against his lips. “Delightful as this is, you will want to change out of your travelling clothes and you must have matters to attend to with Ger, or with Mr Lorrimer.”

  With a sigh, he acknowledged it and they parted, he to the ministrations of Giggs, and she to see if Lady Anne was awake and in need of company. It was some time before he was free again, finding Ruth with Lizzie and her friend Mary Bucknell, who were just on the point of leaving for their own house.

  “Ah, there you are, Ran. How could you abandon Ruth for boring paperwork? Valmont will continue to operate without you for a little while. You should enjoy your courting time, for it will be over all too soon.”

  “Ah, but then I would have missed the very important news of the pig escape at Bursham St Matthew and the beam engine breakage at Cragforth Mill. I am very glad now that I did not buy it when it was offered. Are you joining us for dinner, Lizzie?”

  “Not tonight, Ran. My cook is attempting green apricot tarts and a blancmange. I am not optimistic, but she must learn somehow. Good bye, Aunt Anne, and thank you for the receipt for salmagundi. I will let you know if Mrs Brine produces anything edible from it. And now we must go.”

  Ran and Ruth accompanied the ladies to the front door, and waited while they donned bonnets and gloves, and collected parasols. So it was that they were in the entrance hall when the sounds of a carriage driven at speed were heard. It halted with a spray of gravel and the whinnies of horses pulled up quickly. Booted feet thundered up the steps and practically fell through the door just as Thomas opened it.

  “Where is she?” yelled a deep voice. “Where is she hiding? I want to see her this very minute, you hear me? Fetch Lady Susan Grenaby to me at once!”

  Lord Crosby had arrived, and he was very, very angry.

  26: Guardian Angel

  Valiantly trying to hide his astonishment, and seeing from Brent’s bewildered face that he had no idea who this irate man was, Ran stepped forward.

  “Lord Crosby, this is an unexpected pleasure.”

  Crosby rounded on him. “And where is your brother, Litherholm, answer me that? Where are they?”

  It was a good question. Ran had seen no sign of Ger since his arrival, and Susan only briefly. “Brent, where are His Grace and Lady Susan?”

  “One moment, my lord.” He conferred with the three footman attending, then said, “His Grace was in the Grand Saloon at the instrument there until three o’clock. Her ladyship went to her room for a rest at about the same time.”

  “An assignation! I knew it!” Lord Crosby cried. “This is a disaster!”

  “If Lady Susan is with my brother, then she is perfectly safe,” Ran said coldly.

  Crosby looked as if he would speak, then thought better of it.

  Ruth said tentatively, “At breakfast, Susan expressed a wish to see the mausoleum.”

  “Ah, then perhaps they have slipped out of the side door unseen,” Ran said. “Allow me to show you the way, Crosby.”

  “Yes, but quickly, Litherholm. We must make all haste.”

  Ran increased his pace, but Crosby was at his heels, practically pushing him along. As soon as they emerged from the side door and the mausoleum was visible, Crosby broke into a run, and Ran was forced to do the same to keep up with him. He hoped with all his heart that the girl was there, and that some good would come of her lover’s ardour, but he was filled with foreboding.

  The door was open… that was a good sign, wasn’t it? It meant she was most probably inside, and if Ger was with her there would be two of them to restrain Crosby’s wrath. Should he have brought some footmen with him? But that would ensure the entire world knew of the meeting. Besides, Crosby was a gentleman, and would never raise his hand to a woman… would he?

  Crosby passed the open door just as Ran tore up the steps behind him, but Crosby’s roar of rage would have been heard halfway back to the house. More unintelligible roars and then a very terrified female scream, as Ran burst through the doors.

  He wasn’t touching her, and that was a profound relief. He stood, hands clenched into fists at his sides, yelling mightily about jades and hussies and untrustworthy minxes, but he had not touched her. Ger held his hands up appeasingly in front of Susan, who was cowering behind him.

  “There, Crosby!” Ran said bracingly. “She is safe, you see. Perfectly safe.”

  He took no notice. “I will not have it, Susan,” Crosby said, but his tone was a little lower. “All this running round after other men, instead of staying quietly at home, as I instructed you. Wilful disobedience is unacceptable in a wife.”

  “I am not your wife yet!” she cried. “I may do as I please.”

  “Not for long,” he growled. “You will learn obedience once we are married or—”

  “Or what?” she said, lifting her chin defiantly.

  “I shall beat you every day until you stop defying me. And if that does not work you will be locked in your room.”

  “You would not dare!”

  “And if that does not work, there is an asylum not too far away where—”

  “I hate you!” she shrieked. “You are horrid and I would not marry you if you were the last man on earth! You are only a baron after all, and you are old and bad-tempered and hateful. I shall find a much better husband and then you will be sorry!”

  He went perfectly still. The fists unclenched and he answered with surprising calmness, “I shall try to bear the loss with fortitude.”

  “Ohhh, you are abominable!”

  So saying, she picked up her skirts and ran out of the mausoleum. Crosby collapsed onto the nearest sarcophagus, as if his legs would not hold him up any longer. “Oh, thank God!” he said in a low voice. “I swear — and you two are my witnesses — I am never going near a woman again, never!”

  A soft giggle came from a dark corner. “I had better leave at once then.”

  “Ginny!” Ger’s face broke into a wide smile. “I was sure you were here somewhere, but I never saw you.”

  “Quiet as a mouse, that’s me.”

  Crosby’s face reflected the same astonishment that Ran felt. “You mean you have been here all the time?” Ran said. “So Lord Crosby need not have worried about any damage to Lady Susan’s reputation?”

  Crosby chuckled. “It was not Susan whose reputation was at risk, Litherholm. How do you think I ended up betro
thed to a chit half my age? She got me into a secluded corner and kissed me. Then she went to her father. In my innocence, I had thought my age protected me from such manoeuvres, but she was determined to get herself a title. When I received word that she had come here, I knew at once that she had set her sights on becoming a duchess.”

  “So that was why you were in such a lather?” Ran said wonderingly. “Why you asked specifically for Ger? You were trying to rescue him from a similar trap?”

  “That was one motive, yes, but fortunately this young lady was ahead of me. Will you not introduce me, Falconbury?”

  “Of course. Ginny, you will have guessed that this is Lord Crosby, Lady Susan’s betrothed — I mean his former betrothed. Crosby, this is Miss Chandry, my… my particular friend from Cornwall. Ginny pulled me from the sea and nursed me back to health after the Minerva sank.”

  “Then I am doubly in her debt,” Crosby said, rising to bow to her. “The return of the Duke of Falconbury, alive and well, a year after he was presumed dead is one of the great wonders of our age.”

  She curtsied demurely. “Since you have sufficient protection now, Ger, I shall return to the house.”

  “Yes, I am safe now. Thank you, Ginny. Off you go,” Ger said, his voice filled with affection.

  Crosby watched her go with obvious interest, but he was too gentlemanly to comment on the particular friendship between a duke and a woman not of the first rank, who addressed each other by Christian name.

  “We had better return, too,” Ran said. “The whole house will be rife with speculation. Crosby, you will stay with us tonight, I take it?”

  “I had not a thought of it. Once my horses are rested—”

  “Nonsense,” Ger said robustly. “You may be only a baron, but we will not turn you out of doors so late in the day.”