“Then listen to me now, darling. I think your dress is inspired. I love the way your hair is curled up about fresh flowers, and those brown satin slippers are monstrously pretty. I may find myself having to order a brand new dress to match, just so I can borrow them.”
Alex opened his mouth to say something but closed it again at the look that his mother flashed at him.
“What did I say, darling?” said Sarah, giving her daughter a squeeze about the shoulders. “Forgive your brother his provincial ways, and accept that Kate is an excellent judge of taste. You look beautiful.”
“If you say so then I suppose I do not need to change after all,” said Helena, ruining the air of ennui with a preening smile.
“The let us go out to the coach,” said her mother, tucking Helena’s arm into her own. “At this rate, we will have missed the entire performance!”
“That might not be such a bad thing,” sighed Helena, and secretly Kate agreed with her.
A light hand on her shoulder made her jump. Kate turned to face her husband, keeping her chin high and her smile vague.
“Thank you,” he said quietly. “Truly I meant no harm, it was just that she looks so different now, sometimes I forget she is no longer a child.”
“She’s more sensitive that she appears,” admitted Kate, watching as Sarah and Helena exited the house and made the short walk to their waiting coach. “She’s selfish and spoiled at times, yes, but she is desperate to be seen as a lady, and lashes out when she is hurt.”
“I’ll remember to treat her with more respect,” said Alex as they left the house and stepped out into the dark of the evening. He paused. “I think I need to treat you with more respect as well.”
She did not trust herself to look at him. He kept hold of her arm as they walked out to the carriage, afraid that the tumult of emotions would fall out of her. The revelations from Eugenia, still not spoken out loud, swirled around, making her question every action he took, every comment he made.
“I did not intend to undermine you,” she said, pausing before she stepped up into the carriage. “It’s just that we know the ways of England and our Estates. I wish you would listen before you made any more decisions that impact us all.”
He did not look entirely happy with her answer, but he acknowledged it with a nod of his head.
Conversation in the carriage was stilted, but although Helena insisted on staring moodily out of the window, the rest of the family did their best to keep the atmosphere pleasant. Nevertheless, it seemed to take forever to reach the Jersey’s home, and Kate was hard pressed to say which of them was most grateful to arrive.
One of Kate’s favourite things about musical evenings was the fact that no one was expected to pay any real attention to the performers, beyond some polite applause at the appropriate moment. It allowed the opportunity to converse freely with friends and acquaintances, or to pretend to be engrossed in the music when really one’s mind was quite elsewhere.
Tonight, however, she could not afford the luxury of an hour of daydreaming. It was not too difficult to detach herself from her relations and to work her way slowly across the room to where her unsuspecting quarry sipped champagne.
Progress was slowed somewhat when Kate had the misfortune to make eye contact with Lord Dagenham, who took it as an invitation to flirt outrageously with her for a full five minutes. While this would not ordinarily have been an issue, she suspected that her quarry was nearing his limit in terms of musical performances, and was determined to speak with him before he disappeared to his club, and beyond her reach.
Kate finally managed to extricate herself from the flirtation with Lord Dagenham – admittedly by turning his attentions toward the unsuspecting Lady Fitzburgh, for which Kate mouthed an apology before walking determinedly across the room before anyone had a chance to hail her.
“I want a word with you,” she said as she gripped the Earl of Colbourne tightly on the arm.
Her brother, who was in the midst of a conversation with his long-time friend, Mr Percival, gazed down at her hand and gave a deep sigh.
“My darling sister, you have creased my jacket. How am I to show my face in the world again?”
“I’m not in the mood for joking, Duncan. I’m sure Perry will understand that I need to have an urgent talk with you, my dearest of brothers.”
Perry raised both eyebrows in mock horror. “Devilish glad I’m not you, old boy. Devilish glad I haven’t got a sister either, come to think of it.”
“You have Emma to deal with,” said Kate tartly. Mr Percival glanced over the room toward his sister-in-law, Lady Loughcroft, and shuddered.
“Proves my point entirely. Monstrous fond of Emma, but she’s quite enough for one family to take!”
“And Duncan is more than enough for me – and I still ended up with Helena and Arthur as relatives, which just proves there is no justice in the world. Now do be a dear and go away, Perry, or else I shall be forced to drag my brother to another room, and I’ll never hear the end of how I ruined his coat!”
Perry bowed, ruining the solemnity of the movement with an irreverent grin. “Best of luck, old boy,” he said to Duncan, before sauntering off in the direction of more entertaining companions.
“And to what do I owe the pleasure of your distempered freaks, brat?” asked Duncan before looking her up and down. “Charming outfit, by the way; you look like a deity of mischief.”
For once she ignored his attempts to jest with her. “Why did you interfere over the Northumberland property?”
Duncan, who had been in the process of taking a pinch of snuff, paused. He considered her for a long moment before resuming his activity.
“Did he tell you?”
“Of course he didn’t,” she half snapped, glad that the two of them had a reputation for squabbling, and thus drew no unwanted eyes toward them. “Duncan, you had no right.”
“I have every right to protect my sister,” he replied, his brow furrowing in irritation. “Dash it, Kate; you’ve been unhappy for so long, and there was nothing I could do to help you because all you wanted was your husband by your side despite his being eminently unworthy of your continued regard. Well, your wish finally came true, and your errant husband returned. What else could I do but try to find a way to keep him at your side?”
“I don’t want him there if he only stays because he’s shackled to me,” she shot back. “Damn it, Duncan – how would you feel if you discovered Bella only acted like she loved you because I’d paid her to do it?”
His expression darkened, as though he resented even the suggestion that such a thing be true. She knew the moment the realisation of what he’d done hit him, though, from the way his shoulders slumped.
“Ah Kate, I’m so sorry,” he murmured. They were in the full view of the Ton so there was no option for any overt display of emotion, but she could see in his eyes his contrition.
“What’s done is done,” she sighed. “I know it was meant for the best.”
“I’ll tell Pocklington to sell the land to Lexborough,” said Duncan, touching her arm lightly as he spoke. “But I mean this, Kate; if that husband of yours disappears up to Northumberland without you, then nothing will stop me following him and putting a bullet into his shoulder.”
“There’s a fair chance I will have done that myself if he takes such action,” Kate admitted, and the two of them shared a smile.
“Who told you?” he asked suddenly. “Loughcroft and Gloucester would never breathe a word, and I can’t see that Pock would tell you either.”
Any joviality in Kate’s mood was sucked out of her. “It appears half the Ton is aware of your bargain, my dear brother. I myself was told by Eugenia Pulford.”
“Spiteful cat,” muttered Duncan, “but I’d be damned if I can work out how she knew.”
Kate shrugged. “What does it matter? If she knows, then no doubt the entirety of Polite Society will have learned of the bargain before the week is out.”
H
er brother shook his head sadly. “It’s not what I wanted for you.”
She wasn’t sure if he meant the Ton learning of his meddling or her marriage in general.
Possibly it was both.
“I’ve coped admirably in the past, and shall no doubt do so again,” she said, straightening herself up as if steeling for battle. “I am the Duchess of Lexborough, after all.”
“And a Duchess who happens to be deadly with a pistol,” he said with a slight smile. “Bella tells me that you’re to join the shooting competition on Saturday; is it true?”
“Yes.”
“Is that anything to do with learning about my… interference?”
The music ended, and their conversation was interrupted by the need to politely clap and pretend that they’d been paying attention to the young violinist. They waited until Lady Jersey had announced her newest protégé, a pianist who apparently had the voice of one truly blessed by God, before continuing their conversation beneath the gutsy, although not precisely angelic, strains of the youthful singer.
“Your interference merely brought home to me that if it does not matter what I do or who I am, then I may as well do as I please and be who I want to be.”
“You’ve put me in a deuced awkward position, though,” said Duncan shaking his head. “I can either lay my money on you or on Bella – and I suspect whatever I do it shall result in an uncomfortable period for me.”
“Put your money on Bella – you have to live with her, while you can safely ignore my sulks,” she replied, appreciating his attempt at levity.
“Are we still friends then, Katie?” he asked, and the uncertainty in his expression made him look like the greenhorn boy he’d been when he inherited the Colbourne name and estates. It almost made her heart relent, and made her want to throw her arms around him and tell him everything would be fine.
Almost.
“Give me time,” was all she could bring herself to say. She moved away before he could comment, choosing an empty seat beside the meek Miss Hemsworth, and set herself the task of making that young lady feel less than terrified in her presence.
Ten
His relationship with Kate had changed, and not for the better.
In the days since their argument, Alex had devoted himself to trying to be a better husband and spent hours sitting with Kate and Hopkins, listening to their opinions and reasoning on matters of the Estates.
“There’s nothing for it,” he said with a deliberately dramatic sigh while Hopkins tried to sketch out the details of a small, hilly outcrop he only vaguely remembered. “I shall have to spend the rest of the year at Darlington Park, getting to know the estate.”
Hopkins had looked pleased with this pronouncement, but Kate’s expression had been unreadable.
“I thought you planned to look over some land for purchase?” she asked.
Alex’s smile faded as he thought about the ultimatum her brother had delivered and that he had rejected. “It isn’t a priority any longer. I believe I would be better to follow your advice instead, and get to know the land I have before I set about expanding the family holdings. Besides, didn’t you say that Mr Rumble believes there is plenty of history already buried upon the Estate?”
Her returning smile was weak. “Yes, I suppose I did. Now if you excuse me, gentlemen, I have to check on preparations for our ball.”
It seemed that was all she ever did at the moment. Kate had politely declined any invitation to walk or ride with him and seemed to actively encourage his visits to his London clubs.
“Can you blame her?” said his mother in exasperated tones one morning as he asked for her opinion on the matter. “Good grief, Alex, you disappear within an hour of your own wedding for over nine years, leave all of your responsibilities in the hands of others even after your father’s death, and then to top it off you got it into your head that Kate was incapable of organizing a hat sale in a mantua maker’s shop.”
“She did let me think that you were organising things,” he said, although it was a poor defence even to his own ears.
His mother, reclining on a chaise lounge in her private sitting room, favoured him with a disparaging glare. It amazed him how she could manage to look so regal while wearing a white morning dress embellished with a profusion of lace and ribbon.
“Five minutes in Kate’s company should have told you that she was the backbone of this family. We do not deserve her.”
“You mean I don’t,” said Alex, and leant forward in his chair so that he could rest his arms on his thighs.
“I mean all of us,” she replied. “I have leaned on her more than I should, especially in regard to Helena, and she’s steered Arthur clear of more than one matchmaking-mama over the years.”
“A veritable paragon,” he murmured.
His mother glared at him. “Do not mock her, Alex.”
“I wasn’t!” he protested, lifting his hands before him. “I meant it in the most literal sense! In my mind Kate never aged beyond our wedding day, and I am still adjusting to the discovery that my wife is a most capable individual – perhaps more so than I am myself.”
“There’s no perhaps about it,” replied his mother. “If you had half the mind for your duties as you do for the antiquaries, then you would rival her. As it stands…”
She paused and looked away from him, her eyes suddenly brimming with tears.
“Mother, what is it? What has upset you?” he asked, going down on his knee before the chaise lounge. She wouldn’t look at him but allowed him to take her hand in his.
“We’re all waiting for you to leave us,” said his mother, before choking down a sob. “You just returned to us on a whim, looking so much like your father did at the same age, but with none of his steadiness of character. You inform us immediately that you plan to leave for Northumberland, but then change your mind without so much as a by-your-leave, and tell Kate that you are to spend the summer at Darlington, perhaps even the rest of the year. It is too much, Alex!”
The tears flowed, and all he could think of to do was to reach up and bundle her into his arms as she sobbed.
“I’m so sorry,” he said, his own voice breaking. “I wanted to come back, you know, but Kate was so young, and I was angry at being coerced into the marriage. Then when father died, I… I didn’t know how to face you. I didn’t know how to face myself. It was easier to stay abroad, and pretend he was still alive and Kate was still young and you were still happy. Because otherwise I had to face the fact that I was a coward and unworthy of the family name. Then the longer I stayed away, the harder it became to come back.”
His mother gradually regained control of her breathing. Slowly she sat up, accepted the handkerchief he proffered, and blew her nose.
“You should have come home, Alex,” she said, her eyes still watery. “We all needed you.”
He hung his head in shame. “I know. And I can never apologise enough for my mistakes.”
She reached over and took his hand into hers.
“You are back now,” she told him. “The question is whether you are going to start acting like a Duke.”
“I’m trying to,” he said with perfect honesty. “But there are times when-”
He had no opportunity to finish that thought, for Helena came bursting into the sitting room with the grace of an overly enthusiastic puppy, and thrust a tattered copy of the Gazette into her mother’s hands.
“Have you seen it?” she cried, and Alex could not tell if his sister were happy or hysterical. “There, in the gossip section. Look what it says!”
His mother frowned, but picked up the paper and began to read the paragraph that Helena was agitatedly pointing at.
“Our sources confirm the friendship between a certain Lady E- and Lord A- has become warm to the point of a summer’s day. With Grand Family Occasion on the cards for this evening, readers are advised to expect a Special Announcement joining the noble houses of Fla- and Lex- during the evening.”
“
It’s Arthur and Eugenia, isn’t it?” said Helena, her gaze darting between Alex and their mother. “Arthur finally asked you about getting married, and you said yes. You said yes.”
There was something accusatory in her tone, but Alex had little time to process it. He was watching the colour drain from his mother’s face.
“Is it true?” he asked.
“I pray with everything in me that it is not,” she replied. “I need Kate, oh where is Kate?”
“She’s out riding with Arthur!” said Helena, curling and uncurling her hands into fists. “Did she know? Did she arrange this? Is this to stop my own wedding? That isn’t fair, and surely I could be married the same year as Arthur. It would make no difference! He is a son, after all!”
“There’s no question of your marrying this year, my girl,” snapped Alex, “and your continued hysterics are only proof that you are too childish to take on the mantle of a wife.”
“Alex no,” implored his mother, but his sister had gone white as a sheet.
“She got to you, didn’t she?” Helena cried, her voice going up an entire octave. “She’s turned you against me and Jonathan! Just because she’s such a miserable old crow doesn’t mean I have to be one! I hate her! I hate you! But I will marry Jonathan, do you hear me? I will! I will! I will!”
Helena stamped her feet as she descended into an incoherent scream. Alex, surprised but unimpressed, watched for a moment as his mother tried to soothe the tiresome girl. When it became evident that this was the start, rather than the end, of her tantrum, he walked across the room to the sideboard, silently removed the flowers from an ornate vase, then returned to dump the large quantity of water over his sister’s head.
She sucked in a gasp of air as the shock hit her, and he took the momentary respite from her screaming to give her a piece of his mind.
“You have been sadly spoiled, Helena Weatherly, and while that is as much my fault as anyone else in this family, I will not tolerate you speaking about my wife in such a fashion ever again. You would do well to model yourself on Kate, for she is worth ten times what you are, you little baggage, and if I ever so much as suspect that you have thought such unkind things about your sister-in-law, I will send you to the remotest house in our holdings, and refuse you access to any society save your own maid. Do you understand me?”
The Rebel Wife: Book Four in the Regency Romps Series Page 12