by Abigail Agar
***
“Do you think that perhaps, Sir Chapman will reconsider his stance?” the barrister asked Gregory with a hopeful look.
Gregory considered his words carefully. “Maxwell has always been a man steeped in virtue. Men like that can be a benefit or a curse,” Gregory said thoughtfully.
“You are thinking that he is being swayed?” Reginald asked astutely.
Gregory nodded. “I have pondered long and hard as to who might be in his ear, and I know of only a handful of men that could bend Maxwell to their way of thinking,” Gregory said with a sigh.
Gregory and Barrister Dulock sat in the man’s cramped office. It was the only place that Gregory thought private enough to talk about such things any longer. There was no telling who Maxwell was in league with, and whoever it was could definitely be behind some of the rumours that Gregory had caught wind of.
“You are taking a very personal interest in the fate of these tradesmen,” Barrister Dulock remarked.
Gregory sighed and said simply, “I am no patron of injustice.”
“I think no man truly is,” Dulock replied, “but that does not mean that fairness pervades everything. After all, people only see things from their level. I think things look a good deal different from on high as they do from the grit of London’s streets.”
Rumours about his family aside, Gregory was determined to keep his promise to Miss Kelley. “Just do what you can, Reginald. I will do what I can to uncover why it is so important to Maxwell’s benefactors that these men take the blame for that fire,” Gregory said with resignation as he stood up to take his leave of the man.
Reginald stood up as well and clasped the hand that Gregory held out to him. “I bid you safety, Your Grace, in your endeavours,” the man said solemnly.
The path of going against Gregory’s fellows was a precarious one, but it was one that he had already been pushed onto, so he felt obliged to see it to the end. “Thank you,” Gregory said simply as he turned and exited the building.
The sky outside was ominously full of grey clouds that threatened to burst at any moment and drench the streets in the rain. Gregory thought that rather fitting to how he felt. He had no idea how to approach Miss Kelley after the words that had been said.
He knew that he had spoken rashly, but her words had echoed with him. If that was truly how she felt, then he might as well let her out of the engagement now. They had no obligation to each other at this point. Still, he hesitated.
Gregory swung up onto the saddle of his horse and rode towards his family home lost in thought. There was nothing to be done but go home and face the mess he had made earlier. Perhaps if he apologized, Miss Kelley might calm towards him. Gregory snapped the reins, and his horse sped up.
***
Jules sat down and pondered what she should do. She still had the welfare of her mother and sisters to think about. There was little to be done but to soothe the man’s ego. After all, he had said himself that marrying him was still just an option. He just wanted her to free him from some of the social obligations that he had been wrapped up in for so long.
The doorman greeting the Duke brought Jules out of her thoughts. She had been waiting just up the stairs, and she took a deep breath as she smoothed down her dress. She walked down the steps and was greeted by the sight of the Duke drenched from the rain.
The servant was helping the Duke out of his overly wet coat, revealing the fact that his button-up shirt was clinging to the man’s every muscle.
Jules made a small gasp that attracted both men’s attention at the same time. “Miss Kelley,” the Duke said almost apologetically. “Forgive my appearance. I am afraid that the rain has sought to drown me.”
“You do not have to apologize for the rain, Your Grace,” Jules said as her eyes lingered on the hint of the man’s firm chest. “I was just coming to find you,” she said, clearing her throat. “I wanted to apologize for my behaviour earlier.”
The Duke looked completely taken aback by her announcement. “You do?” He eyed her curiously. “I was under the impression that I might have to perform some sort of dramatic action to gain your favour again.”
“That would be amusing, but it is wholly unnecessary,” Jules said. She fidgeted with the banister for a moment before she said, “I should let you go change.”
The Duke looked at his attire and agreed with a nod. “It might be best to continue this when I am properly clothed, yes,” he said in amusement.
Jules nodded before she dashed back up the stairs as quickly as her dress would allow. The Duke and the doorman exchanged a glance before the Duke just shook his head and went to his rooms to change.
***
Jules burst through the bedroom door and flung herself onto her bed. She did not know whether she should laugh or cry. She seemed incapable of using her wits when the man was around, but she had done the right thing to apologize. Jules took a deep breath and thought back to the way the Duke had looked in his soaked shirt.
There were many things that Jules could apologize for in her life, but she felt the most scandalized by the way her heart sped up at the mere thought of the man’s chest and strong arms. “I think my corset is on too tightly,” Jules said to herself. She rolled over and sighed at her reflection. “What am I going to do with you?”
Her reflection looked back at her with hints of colour still on her cheeks. Jules shook her head. “You are wanton and should be ashamed of yourself,” Jules told her reflection, but she smiled even as she said it. She had spent so long pretending to be one of the men that these feelings had caught her completely out of her element.
She sat up and went to the doors in her room that opened onto a balcony. Truth be told, Jules was a bit wary of heights, but she stepped through the doors and out into the rain. It felt cool and lovely on her skin. It chilled the steam in her blood and calmed the beating of her heart.
There was euphoria in just feeling and letting go. Jules closed her eyes and let herself whisper out into the rain the secret that she would never tell anyone, least of all the Duke, “I love him.”
***
The next morning, before Jules had a chance to do more than get out of bed, Sherry was in her room bustling about. “Wake up, Miss,” Sherry said with quiet urgency.
“Hmm?” Jules rubbed her eyes and yawned. “What are you doing here so early?”
Sherry said, “Someone’s coming to visit. The kitchen staff thinks it might be the Duke’s uncle. He’s a horrible man, so you must be on your best behaviour around him.”
“If he’s so horrible, then why is he coming to visit?” Jules asked as she grumpily got out of bed and began washing up.
Sherry said with a shake of her head, “Probably due to the announcement of the Duke’s engagement.”
“Great,” Jules said flatly. She had little to no urge to put up with more family members of The Duke of Thornton.
Sherry ushered Jules from the washbowl over to the vanity where she began to powder Jules’ face despite her protests. “Be still now,” Sherry said to the defiant woman.
Sullenly, Jules did as she was prompted, but she stared without amusement at her reflection the whole time. Her dreams had been a blur of blond hair and grey eyes.
She stopped her thoughts before she made herself blush in front of the chambermaid. As much as she liked Sherry, Jules had no inclination to admit to her unabashed dreams of the Duke the night before.
By the time Sherry finished, Jules had realized she was starving, and as soon as the maid was satisfied with how Jules looked in her silver dress, Jules made her way down to the kitchen. Along the way, she saw the Duke just exiting his own set of rooms.
“Good morning, Miss Kelley,” the Duke said with a bow to Jules.
Jules squashed down the ridiculous rush of giddiness that the man’s charming way brought out of her. “Good morning, Your Grace,” she said as neutrally as possible.
If the man noticed her suffering, then he did not let on. He sim
ply fell into step beside her. “I do so loathe when Uncle comes to visit,” the Duke said conversationally. “He deliberately comes early enough to disrupt the household, hoping to catch us all at our worst.”
“Why would he do that?” Jules asked incredulously.
The Duke leaned over and whispered to Jules with a grin, “Because he wanted to succeed my father, never mind that that is not at all how it works.”
“He had to be prepared for that,” Jules said with a shake of her head. “After all, succession is always the eldest son when it comes to titles. Is it not?”
The Duke nodded and said, “It is indeed. The title will transfer again on my death to my eldest son.”
The thought of children made warmth rise to Jules’ cheeks. She turned her head away from the Duke so he would not see. She fanned herself to help the colour go away. “It’s very warm this morning, isn’t it?”
The Duke pondered the question. He eyed her curiously then smiled in that infuriating way that he had. “I can’t say it is too warm. Are you too warm, Miss Kelley?”
“I’m fine,” Jules assured the Duke.
The man, however, seemed to have caught onto her plight and had no intention of letting her out of it gracefully. “It is odd that you seemed fine before the mention of children. I should have thought that you of all people would like children. You seem very attached to your sisters, after all.”
“I like children as well as anyone,” Jules said through gritted teeth.
The man’s blond hair slid across his shoulders as he leaned his head to the side to eye her curiously. That was when Jules noticed that his hair was not pulled back as it normally was. She eyed the blond strands. “Miss Kelley, are you listening to me?”
Jules blinked. “What did you say?”
“I was enquiring if the problem was specifically to do with having children with me?” The Duke eyed her expectantly.
To give herself a moment, Jules cleared her throat and furrowed her eyebrows as if really considering what the man had said. “Maybe it is,” Jules said. Then she gave up and asked, “Why is your hair down?”
The Duke laughed jovially. “We are talking about the fact that you find me so repulsive that you cannot bear the thought of having children with me, and you are concerned with my hair?”
“I never said you were repulsive,” Jules said defensively then sighed at the merriment in the man’s eyes. “Go on and soothe your ego, Your Grace, but I know all too well what men of your stature consider sport.”
The man frowned. “What would that be?”
“I have seen you out on the streets, Your Grace,” Jules reminded the man. She put her hands on her hips. “I am from the streets of London. I have seen what men do when they visit the slums. There are plenty of unfortunate women who are more than happy to accommodate them.”
The change in the Duke was instantaneous. Jules wondered for a moment if the man might grab her as he came to a sudden stop at her words. “I know you do not think well of my peers,” the Duke ground out, “but if you think that true of me, then perhaps this ruse should stop here.”
Jules felt her stomach drop. She refused to back down. She had been defensive and lashed out at the man, but he had also been at fault. “If that is what you wish, Your Grace, then who am I to stop you?” Jules said to the man firmly.
They stood there a moment before the Duke grabbed her arms and pulled her close to him. Jules gasped. Surely the man did not intend to harm her here in the hallway. The next moment, the man released her before he turned and walked away.
Jules leaned against the wall and stared after the Duke, bewildered by his words and actions. Although the man had done her no real harm, the look in his eyes had left her shaken. She might die of a heart attack before she made sense out of The Duke of Thornton, Jules feared.
Chapter 7
As much as Gregory hated his uncle, he felt his presence keenly unbearable in light of what had transpired between himself and Miss Kelley. He had meant the young woman no harm when he grabbed her.
In fact, it had been quite the opposite. She had tested his patience several times before, but hearing her coldly agreeing to break their betrothal had brought him far too close to showing the young woman exactly what he wished their relationship could be.
“If it isn’t The Duke of Thornton, in the flesh,” his Uncle Lawrence called from where the man was sitting and eating breakfast with Gregory’s mother.
Lady St Claire pressed her lips together in disdain for the blusterous man who sat across from her. “Gregory, dear, where is Miss Kelley?”
Gregory said, “She’s probably still getting ready. I am certain she will be down soon.”
“I am most interested in meeting her,” Gregory’s uncle said with enthusiasm that made Gregory eye the man suspiciously.
There was a movement behind Gregory, and Miss Kelley swept into the room and gave Lady St Claire a smile. “Forgive me for being tardy; I was just washing up,” Miss Kelley and Gregory caught her eye for just a moment.
He could see the defiance in the young woman’s brown eyes, and he grimaced inside, but perhaps she would not break the engagement with her uncle in-house.
Lady St Claire gave Miss Kelley a warm smile. “Nothing to forgive. I think rather that Mister St Claire should apologize to the household for getting us up so early.” The stare Lady St Claire gave Gregory’s uncle was pointed and cold.
The man ignored Lady St Claire’s angry gaze with practiced ease and gave Miss Kelley a smile. “I am enchanted to meet you, Miss Kelley. I thought for sure that Gregory would never settle down enough to marry,” Mister St Claire said with an oily smoothness that made Gregory’s hackles rise.
“You would know, Uncle,” Gregory said with the utmost of care, “how many wives is it that you’ve had now?”
The older man glared at his nephew with coldness before he turned his gaze back on Miss Kelley. “Where are you from, my dear? I have heard so little about your parentage,” Gregory’s uncle asked as he smoothed his graying blond hair back.
Miss Kelley cleared her throat as Lady St Claire gave her an encouraging smile. “I was born in the colonies. My upbringing is somewhat dull in comparison to all of yours; we were a humble family,” Miss Kelley said with a voice that brokered no lies. Gregory gave her an appraising look before his Uncle spoke again.
“Yes, that’s pretty much all I have heard,” the man said with dissatisfaction.” Surely there is more to the girl than a birth?” Gregory’s uncle asked Lady St Claire.
Lady St Claire nodded. “Oh, yes, of course, but Miss Kelley is simply too modest to talk of herself,” Lady St Claire said as her eyes disapproved of the graying man across from her. “She was raised in the colonies by her artisan father and her seamstress mother. Miss Kelley even studied the artisan trade herself and became quite accomplished at it before my Gregory caught her eye.”
“Is her family well-endowed?” Gregory’s uncle asked with eagerness.
Lady St Claire frowned. “Her father worked himself up in society if that’s what you are asking. However, with her father’s unfortunate death, Miss Kelley and her family were struggling with the debts left behind.”
“So, they want money?” Gregory’s uncle asked as his expression grew most unpleasant.
Gregory spoke just as Miss Kelley’s fists tightened. He knew the woman would stand no ill-words towards her father or her remaining family. “They are our family now, and we will take care of them as such, Uncle Lawrence. You understand the sanctity of family, do you not?”
Miss Kelley looked between the younger and older St Claire males. There seemed to be tension there that she did not think was merely posturing. She took a step closer to the Duke and saw the man’s eyes go to her momentarily before he looked back at his uncle.