“You may inform anyone who asks, I have gone for a walk.”
“But your ladyship, ‘tis only half seven in the morning.”
“So it is.” Fiona headed for the door. “All the better to be out before the crowds.”
“But your ladyship, you must not walk unattended.”
“I am perfectly capable of walking by myself,” Fiona retorted. “I spent years traipsing alone in Scotland.”
“I’m sure, your ladyship, but here in London, ‘tis just not done.”
“Watch me.”
Fiona’s eyes blazed as she moved downstairs and toward the front door. Yanking it open, she stood for a moment wondering what her destination should be. It didn’t matter. She closed the door behind her and began to walk.
*****
“Robert,” his mother said quietly. “You are becoming overset with something that is nothing. Fiona is a perfectly charming young woman who is quite clever, and would leave you in no count humiliated. I believe you are making much more of this than needs be.”
“Mother, may I remind you she is not ton. With just a mere turn of phrase she could cause irreparable damage to our reputations.” Robert looked to his mother for comfort and found none forthcoming. In fact, his mother seemed extremely vexed with him.
“Dearest, our reputations are intact and will remain thus, no matter who may say or do what.” She picked up her teacup and took a sip. “I believe you have already set tongues wagging by not informing the papers of your nuptials. ‘Tis only natural that the rumor mill has begun, so do not blame poor Fiona for your mistake. As for this nonsense she not be seen about, you are in for another disappointment. I have already taken it upon myself to make her presence known and we are calling on my friends this very afternoon.”
“Mother, you cannot. Not without the proper training. She must be taught the ways of Society first.”
His mother waved her hand as if to shoo a fly. “Robert, she is not a barbarian come from the jungle. She is a beautiful young woman with a firm grasp of social etiquette. She related to me she spent seven years at Mrs. Delacorte’s Finishing School for Girls outside Edinburgh.”
“Mother, Edinburgh is not London.” Robert wailed. He felt like a lad of ten not getting what he wanted. And he had always gotten what he wanted.
His mother looked at him. “Dearest, what is it you are not saying? Tell me what really troubles you.”
Robert sighed and moved to sit in the chair. “This marriage is not what I wanted. I find myself forcibly attached to a woman I know not at all. She is nothing like the woman I need in a duchess, nothing like the woman you and Father raised me to find. I feel I have disappointed you, as well as myself. I did not wish my life to come to this.”
“Oh Robert, do not be disappointed for my sake. As I said, Fiona is a delightful creature, beautiful, and very sweet. My only disappointment is that you are not giving her the chance to become your wife in every sense of the word. I understand your misgivings, but every marriage starts out thus. Why your father and I barely spoke to each other for the first three months of our marriage. We were so afraid of our feelings we tried to keep them from showing. And you know how much we loved each other.”
“Yes, Mother, that is just it. I do not love her and she does not love me. We have no basis for keeping our marriage intact.”
“Well, then you must find common ground. If you plan on keeping to your silly charade you must be willing to overlook what you think are deficits in her character. However, I beseech you, dearest, if you give Fiona a chance, I’m sure you will find someone with whom you may spend a lifetime of happiness.” His mother leaned over and patted his cheek. “Now, if you will excuse me, I have your sisters arriving and must begin my day.”
Robert got up and walked to the door.
“Dearest,” his mother called. “For your own sake, I beg you, you must try and get to know your wife. Invitations have started to arrive and it will do you no advantage if you do not appear to at least like one another. You do not wish the rumor mills to be reporting on you every day. Leave that for someone else.”
Robert stepped out to the hall, made his way downstairs, and asked Edwards to find his wife. He would apologize for his morning’s behaviour. His mother was right. He needed to get to know his wife.
Robert waited in the study for what seemed an eternity. Edwards finally appeared. Alone.
“Where is my wife?” Robert asked.
“She has gone for a walk, Your Grace.”
“A walk!” So much for his directives.
“Yes, Your Grace. According to her maid, she came up from breakfast, changed her gown, and left a little after half-seven.”
Robert glanced at the clock. Who walked for an hour first thing in the morning?
*****
Fiona strode determinedly through the park muttering to herself. Surely, she looked as if she belonged in St. Mary’s Hospital, but her anger at her husband knew no respite. How dare he issue such an insane command! He was her husband, not her keeper, she was a person, not cattle, and if she wanted to go out-of-doors, he could do nothing to stop her.
He had seemed like a perfectly reasonable sort when they had begun their marriage, considering it started under such duress. His gestures at kindness allowed her to think they might perhaps, do nicely, as he said. He had shown no hints at cruelty, had not even raised his voice until this morning. However, in light of this morning’s outrageous demand, mayhap it would be wiser to move to the hotel, annulment be damned. If this was the way he was going to behave, surely she did not have to agree with it. Not have her leave the house! Absolutely ludicrous! The man was insufferable if he expected her to live as a virtual prisoner. She’d rather go back to Scotland and face the wrath of her father. At least she could walk whenever she pleased.
She was a woman without a past, and now, it seemed without a future. She was a person, a rightful human being, and she refused to be brought under anyone’s thumb, even a husband. Her father had his own rules, food on the table, clean clothes, clean house, but for the most part left her alone to do as she wished. The Duke of Cantin did not bargain for her with his trip to Scotland, but that gave him no right to treat her callously, issuing commands, demanding her compliance without any explanation.
Turning toward the river, she wiped away a quick tear. A miserable way to start a new life, but there was nothing for it now. In for a penny, in for a pound. She stole a look at her timepiece and found the hour drew near to ten. Not wanting to return to Cantin House, she also did not want to disappoint Lady Joanna. The woman had been nothing but kindness itself.
Fiona walked quickly back to St. Martin Street and rather than going to the front door, entered through the kitchens, startling the cook, two scullery maids, and a footman. She flew up the back stairs and into her bedchamber without being seen by anyone else. Removing her woolen gown, she slipped back into the lavender, did up the buttons as best she could, and fixed her hair.
As she descended the stairs, Fiona heard several female voices sounding like chattering birds, flowing from the hall. The sisters had arrived.
Edwards stood at the entrance to the morning room. She sailed past him with a smile and noted his shocked expression.
Fiona stood just inside the doors and waited for Lady Joanna to notice her. She did not want to call attention to herself, although she supposed that was the whole reason for the ladies visit this morning. While she waited, she took a good look at Robert’s sisters. All three fair, however, the two youngest looked like Lady Joanna. Whom she assumed was the eldest resembled Robert, who looked like his father according to the portrait Lady Joanna had shown her yesterday. They seemed pleasant, and excited their brother had gotten married without a word to anyone.
Lady Joanna turned and saw her. “Fiona, dearest, please come and meet my daughters.”
Fiona curtsied through the introductions. First to Roberta, then Susanna, and lastly to Phyllis, who took Fiona’s arm and led her to the
settee.
“Mother tells us you grew up near Castle Cornnan,” Phyllis said. “I wonder if you knew the little girl who lived on the neighboring farm. Her father raised sheep and she and I spent a few weeks one summer playing together.”
Fiona remembered a bright-eyed blonde girl with a flowing braid and a dirty pinafore the summer she was nine. They took to naming all the sheep and after running out of common names like Fluffy, Cottontail, and Blackie, found some rather unconventional ones like Horatio, Makepeace, and Julius. That child had been her last real friend.
“I believe I am that girl. We named all our sheep that summer.”
“Oh my stars, is not this the most unlikely of coincidences then?” Phyllis asked.
Fiona didn’t know what to say. Unlikely coincidence did seem to sum up her newfound life.
Lady Joanna allowed them a few more minutes to chat before ushering them into the breakfast room. The board overflowed with delicious aromas and Fiona took great delight in all she saw before her. Porridge and toast had been her fare in Scotland and her father did not deviate from that. What Cook had laid out seemed fit for a king.
After the meal, Fiona sat with the women in the green salon, rather pleased her first foray into the aristocracy had gone well. Until Robert entered the room. His sisters jumped from their chairs, kissed him with congratulations, and berated him on keeping such a secret from them. His eyes locked on Fiona.
“If you will excuse us, I wish to speak with my wife,” he said in a tone that allowed no argument.
Fiona rose slowly. He was not pleased.
In the hall, he took her elbow and demanded in a whisper, “Where were you this morning? I told you not to leave this house until you had spoken to my mother.”
“Your mother was still abed when I decided I needed a walk. Forgive me, my lord, but I am not a prisoner here. I shall come and go as I please.” She shook off his grasp.
His voice rose. “You will inform Edwards where you are going from now on, and you will take your maid with you. It is unseemly for a duchess in your position to be seen walking about Town like a common fruit-seller.”
“This is why I made sure to change my gown before I left. I was unrecognizable as you so convincingly told me last night before dinner.”
Robert seemed taken aback, but did not deter from his position. “Women in our society do not go for walks. They are seen at lunches, or parties, or balls. They are always escorted and if they do walk, they do so at the fashionable hour, not half-seven in the morning.”
“I like walking in the early mornings,” Fiona said, her voice rising in tone to match his. “I did so every day in Scotland and find the exercise agreeable.”
“You are not in Scotland any longer,” he yelled. “Ladies do not walk for exercise.”
“Well, as you decidedly have no care to treat me as such,” she yelled back, “I shall walk whenever I bloody well please.” With that, Fiona turned and ran up the stairs to her room. She slammed the door not caring if the whole house heard. Tears of frustration erupted and she threw herself across the bed. She wanted to go home where she could walk in the fields whenever she wanted, lie in the hay, look at the sky, and listen to her sheep. She yearned to live simply, the way she had for so long and not have to learn rules about which fork to use, which gown to wear, or when it was proper to walk, of all things.
Fiona’s only desire that last night at Castle Cornnan was to keep the silly sot from killing himself. She wiped her tear streaked face with the back of her hand. “I should have let him choke,” she said to the empty room.
Chapter Eight
Robert listened as his wife’s footsteps beat a staccato on the stairs and the door to her chamber slammed. Immediately, he wished he could take back his words. He had never raised his voice in anger to a woman in the whole of his life. He turned to head to his study and found his mother and sisters staring open-mouthed at him from the doorway.
The look in his mother’s eye nearly broke his heart. He about-faced, strode up the hall, and out the front door.
Good Night! What was it about Fiona that had him raving like a lunatic? Of course, she could walk when she pleased. How stupid of him to forbid it. She was raised in Scotland, not some foreign outland. What had he been thinking? That was the problem, he wasn’t thinking. He hadn’t been thinking clearly since he had first seen her in her new gown last night at supper. What was it about Fiona that had him wanting to keep her behind closed doors? Surely, she would never embarrass him in public, it wasn’t in her nature. She was a steady girl, he knew that from their travels. He needed to understand his reasoning and he had no idea how. His analytical mind was in a whirl with emotions he hadn’t felt in a very long time. And he didn’t like it, not one bit.
Robert followed the streets through Mayfair until he reached his club. He usually didn’t arrive before luncheon, however, this was not the day to remain at home.
“Your Grace,” the maitre d’hotel intoned.
“Good morning, Jacobs. Tell me, are any of my friends about this morning?”
“The Duke of Caymore is in the breakfast room,” Jacobs said.
“Thank you.” Robert took the stairs two at a time.
He found his cousin seated by himself at a small table by the window, reading the newspaper.
“Have you seen it?” Robert asked without preamble.
William looked up, a smile playing at the corners of his mouth. “Yes, I have seen it. I’m sure all of Society has seen it, Robby. I still cannot believe it is true.”
Robert sat down and ordered coffee from a passing waiter. “Yes, it is all too true.”
“It is so unlike you to do something so spontaneous, especially where marriage is concerned. Now we are alone, you must tell me the real story. What happened? Did her father catch you in the act?”
Robert placed his fingers to his temples and rubbed. He gazed at his cousin. “Unfortunately, yes. But it is not what you are thinking.”
William sat back, folded the newspaper and placed it on the table.
“I trust you will not relay the story,” Robert pleaded. “The gossipmongers have already started and I do not wish for any more fuel to be added to the fire.”
William feigned a hurt look. “Cousin, blood is thicker than water.”
The waiter brought his coffee, and while he sipped, Robert related the truth of how he managed to get married in Scotland.
“We are telling people our love grew over my time there, and once you see her, it will be no hardship to believe,” Robert said as he finished his tale.
“I would expect nothing less from you,” William said.
Robert nodded. His exploits with stunningly beautiful women were well renowned. How he had escaped the nuptial noose had added to his legendary status.
“Thankfully, I do not have long in the parson’s trap,” Robert said. “I plan to annul the marriage within six months. However, that is strictly privileged information.”
“May I ask why?”
“I do not love her. She does not love me, and I will not be stuck in a loveless marriage like so many of our contemporaries. I have always wanted what my parents had. I do not need money, or a title.”
“Yes, that is what you have always maintained,” William said. “Why did you not just make a settlement on the chit?”
Robert had the grace to look shamefaced. “I did offer, however, I….” Robert remembered the sting of Fiona’s slap across his face. And the look of desolation in her eyes. “I decided I would marry her and settle on her after our annulment, thus killing enough birds with one stone to keep all parties happy. Well, except myself, of course.”
“Does your mother know?” William asked.
“About the annulment?”
William nodded.
“Yes, both she and Lady Olivia know the truth of our marriage and subsequent annulment.”
“You’ve told Lady O the truth?” William almost shouted.
At William’s rais
ed eyebrow, Robert explained. “I thought it was in my best interest to let the Dowager in on my scheme. She is such a meddlesome creature, I’m sure she could help Fiona to find a suitable swain to marry once our marriage becomes void.”
William looked at his cousin for a long moment. “It seems you have thought this out very carefully. What grounds will you use to annul?”
“Fraud and then non-consummation as a secondary complaint.”
William laughed. “You plan on not sleeping with your beautiful wife for six months?”
“It seems to be the wisest course. It will not damage either of our reputations overmuch, the gossip will die down as soon as Fiona marries again, and I may continue to search for my perfect bride.”
“I believe your reasoning may fail you, Robby. One cannot help what one may do when he is in close proximity to a beautiful woman.”
“That is the beauty of this, Cousin. Although she is exquisite, emotions are not involved.”
*****
There was a light tap at her door. Fiona, having cried herself out, rose from her chair and checked her face in the small mirror on the dresser. Her cheeks remained blotchy and her eyes puffed. There was no help for it. She went to the door, opened it, and found her mother-in-law.
“Lady Joanna, please forgive me for ruining your lovely breakfast this morning,” Fiona said in a rush.
“Nonsense, child. After that display from my son, it is a wonder you have not packed your bags and fled. I would like to apologize for his behaviour. May we talk?” Lady Joanna walked across the bedchamber and opened the door to the sitting room.
Settling herself in one of the rose velvet chairs, she waited for Fiona to do the same before she spoke.
“Fiona, there are facets of my son I should like to share with you. Perhaps that will explain his obvious lack of manners.”
Fiona doubted it would make any difference. He was a brute, plain and simple.
“Robert has always been interested in beautiful women. Quite frankly, what man is not? When he came of age, naturally the marriage minded mothers of the ton practically threw their daughters at him. His charm allowed him to turn down several ladies his father and I thought would clearly make a wonderful wife. He refused them all. However, there was a young lady with whom Robert became completely smitten. Mary-Elizabeth was her name. He was all of four-and-twenty, still a young man, but he loved her deeply. Stephen and I gave our blessing, she was a delightful creature, and we could not have been happier. Unfortunately, right before the wedding Mary-Elizabeth met a young man who turned her head with pretty lies, and they eloped to Gretna. Robert was beside himself, for months it seemed.” Lady Joanna heaved a heavy sigh.
The Duke's Divorce (The Reluctant Grooms Series Volume IV) Page 6