Regency for all Seasons: A Regency Romance Collection

by Mary Lancaster

  “The bequest that came from your great-aunt… well, it didn’t really originate with her. It was genuine and would have been yours regardless of whom you married. But I needed you to be in a position where you would feel compelled to say yes when my grandson asked you.”

  Lilly placed her wine glass carefully on the table. “I see. And you were certain that he would ask me?”

  The dowager duchess shrugged. “Well, it’s no secret that you are stunning. I had only to take one look at you and know he would be smitten.”

  “I thought—” Lilly broke off, not certain how to express her thoughts or even if she should.

  “Do not be missish. If you have something to say to me, you should say it,” the dowager duchess stated.

  Anger bubbled inside her. “I have lived my whole life believing that no one cared for me at all… except for my half-sister and Effie. This bequest from my great-aunt made it appear otherwise. That perhaps my mother’s family had just been unable to locate me. And that had they been able to, they might have actually wanted to form a bond with me. But that was all a lie. You’ve managed us all into the positions you wanted us to be in. And I’m right back to where I started, with no one to care for me at all except my half-sister and Effie. You gave me a family and then you took it away.”

  “It was only money, my dear,” the dowager duchess said.

  “No, it wasn’t. It was an overture of goodwill from people who truly don’t care if I live or die and never have. It was a lie cemented with contracts and conditions so that I’d do what you wanted,” Lilly replied. “I fear I’ve lost my appetite. If you’ll excuse me, I’m going upstairs.”

  As she rose and fled the room, she could hear the dowager duchess calling her name. But she didn’t turn around. She couldn’t. After all those years of being alone, she’d thought she had, if not a relationship with her family, then at least some sense of connection to them. And it had been nothing but a whim, a fabrication from an old woman with more money than heart, it seemed.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Val entered the house and found it abnormally quiet. It was the dinner hour and he could see light spilling from the dining room, but there was no sound at all. Approaching the room cautiously, he opened the door and found his grandmother seated alone at the table. The usual bevy of footmen were stationed there, all of them to serve one lone, old woman as she stared at her dessert as if it might bite her.

  “Where is Lillian?” he asked, stepping into the room.

  “You are not dressed for dinner,” his grandmother admonished immediately.

  “As I am not having dinner it hardly signifies. Where is my wife?” he demanded. The unshakable feeling that something dreadful had occurred would not leave him. He could see it in the defeated set of his grandmother’s shoulders, in the way that she would not quite meet his gaze.

  “A better question might be where have you been, out carousing when you’ve been married less than a handful days!” his grandmother retorted. “She was not hungry and retired early.”

  “I was out. I had business to tend to. I want to know what happened here,” Val insisted. He could tell from the pallor of his grandmother’s face, from the slight trembling of her hand that she was upset about something.

  “Gaming,” she said, and her expression was disapproving, but there was a slight tremor in her lip that gave away her emotional state.

  Val knew he’d have to tell her something. He couldn’t simply let Elsworth’s crimes blindside her. Glancing up at the servants, he said, “Leave us. All of you. You may clear everything away later.”

  When they had all gone, his grandmother turned to him. “Was that really necessary? Surely letting them witness my scolding at your hands would only add to my punishment,” she snapped.

  “I’m not punishing you,” he said. The oddity of that statement struck him then. “Wait… why would I punish you?”

  The Dowager Duchess of Templeton did something he had never seen her do before in all of his life. Her lower lip trembled again, more violently than before, and then a single tear rolled down her cheek.

  “I’m afraid my managing and plotting, all my manipulations have caught up with me. She hates me now. And with every right. She’ll take you away and I’ll never see my great-grandchildren… assuming I survive until they are born.”

  Val sat and leaned back in his chair. Whatever had occurred had been between his grandmother and Lillian, not between Lillian and Elsworth. That, at least, offered some relief. Hurt feelings could be mended. He wasn’t certain that his cousin’s ultimate aims were so benign. “She doesn’t hate you. I’m certain it’s only a misunderstanding.”

  “It isn’t. It’s so much worse than that. I told her what I did… I didn’t realize it would hurt her so terribly. It was foolish of me to do it and even more foolish of me to confess it!” she cried, wringing her hands in clear distress.

  Now he was beginning to worry. “Let’s just clear some things up first. What is it that you did?”

  “I did some research after I hired the girl… I discovered the name of Lillian’s mother and then I contacted her great-aunt, a woman who I had been acquainted with in the past. They’re terrible people, really. Cold, crass, calculating! But under the circumstances, I required their, well, assistance.”

  “Go on,” Val said, a sinking feeling settling into his gut.

  “I explained the situation and stated that I wished to arrange a small marriage portion for her, as sort of a bequest from the living, but that she would likely not accept it from me and asked if I could do so under her name as she was the girl’s great-aunt after all. They had suffered a reversal of fortune and were struggling. So, in exchange, I also gave them a bit of money to ease the way so to speak and it secured her agreement. So I set up a meeting with her solicitor and we covered all the particulars.” By the end, all of the words were tumbling out at once, and his grandmother was openly weeping. She’d not done so even at the death of his grandfather.

  Val recalled the conversation with Lilly from the park. That bequest had been more than simply money to her, more than the promise of financial security. For her, it had been an overture of acceptance, an acknowledgement of her as a member of their family. “The solicitor told Lillian that her great-aunt was sick and likely would not even survive for her to go and visit. Is that true?”

  “No,” his grandmother said. “She was quite hale and hearty, actually. That bit of fiction was created by Mr. Littleton, I suppose, or perhaps at her great-aunt’s request to prevent scandal and to prevent their actually having to meet as—well, they would never have agreed to any sort of acknowledgement of her had it not been for the money. They really are terrible!”

  “Well, for heaven’s sake, don’t confess that to her, as well. She’s been hurt enough by those people… and by your meddling,” Val stated.

  “I know it was terrible… I only wanted to ensure that she would have appropriate inducement to accept the offer I knew you would make. From the very moment that girl stepped into my drawing room, I knew that you would suit. And I knew that you would not be able to resist her. You’re quite transparent, you know!” she said accusingly.

  “There are only two people in the world who would say so… you and my wife,” he said. As upset as she was, he had to wonder if it could get any worse. Regardless, he didn’t have the luxury of waiting. Events with Elsworth were coming to a head and she would have to be warned. “But as today is the day for confessions, I fear I must tell you about your other grandson and the enormous mess he has made for us all.”

  “Oh, what now?” she wailed.

  “He knew about the changes in your will—”

  “Potential changes!” She paused long enough to dry her eyes, before continuing, “Nothing was set in stone, yet. In truth, I’m not even sure I would have been able to go through with it.”

  Val sighed. “Yes, potential changes… but he was less certain of my response to your managing than you were. H
e did not believe that I would capitulate to your wishes and wed, either a woman of your choosing, your meddling or one chosen on my own. To that end, he has been engaging in business on speculation of his soon to be changed circumstances.”

  “Has he lost our fortune when it wasn’t even his to gamble with?” she asked with a gasp. “I can’t be poor, Valentine. Not again. Not at my age!”

  There was nothing for it but to speak quickly and put it all on the table. It would break her heart, but doing so slowly would not make it less painful. “His business endeavors are profitable… but illegal and immoral. He has thrown in with traitors who are selling shipments of munitions to the British government, stealing them back en route to their destination and then selling them to those in France who would stir rebellion and war once more.”

  Her face paled and she clutched at her chest alarmingly. “Oh, God. Oh, dear lord in heaven!”

  Val poured more wine into her glass and pressed it into her hand. “Sip that. And do not dare to have been an audacious woman for all of your life and succumb to apoplexy now that I need you to be made of sterner stuff!”

  She gave a startled laugh. “You’re certainly right, of course. Apoplexy is only for weak-minded fools or those who have the theatrical skills to use it well and judiciously. You’re certain of his misdeeds, then?”

  “Yes. And what’s more, the nephew-by-marriage of this great-aunt of Lillian’s whom you’ve embroiled yourself with is also part of the scheme… quite possibly the mastermind. In fact, I’m not entirely certain, knowing what I do now of your plots and schemes, that you didn’t first put them on to Elsworth.”

  More hand wringing and then she drained her wine glass before promptly holding it out for him to refill. “What will we do, Valentine? This could destroy us!”

  “It will not. I’m doing what I can to put a stop to it. And I know you dismissed concerns for Lilly, but our marriage puts her in the way of far more than just his inheritance. If he is no longer in line to inherit the funds these people are counting on for their future endeavors, he will be of no use to them and they will not let him walk away with what he knows. He knows that as well as I do. Any man can be driven to commit atrocities if he feels his own life is at stake.”

  “You really think he tried to kill her?”

  “I really do,” Val said. “I don’t think he wants to, and I don’t even think it was his idea. Mr. Littleton has also been murdered. I suspect that Marchebanks, who is the nephew to the woman you bribed to provide this bequest to her, is attempting to claim those funds for himself. Eliminating Lilly eases his path to getting those funds immediately and the future influx from the easily led and managed Elsworth. In short, we’ve both put her in danger, albeit unwillingly, and now we will both have to get her out of it.”

  The old woman nodded. “You should go to your wife. When he returns home, I will deal with Elsworth.”

  “How do you mean to do that?” he asked.

  “There is a plantation in Jamaica that needs to be managed. I think it will do him good to get away from England and see to business on the family’s behalf,” she said firmly. “He’ll be leaving immediately, even if I have to charter a ship for him myself. Discreetly, of course. One doesn’t make a production when one is attempting to flee the country.”

  It was a solid plan, hopefully one that would get Elsworth out of the line of fire and keep him from getting into even more trouble later. Val rose. “I’ll see you in the morning, Grandmother.”

  “Tell her I’m sorry. I never intended for my actions to hurt her or cause her harm… I just didn’t realize—well, it doesn’t matter what I didn’t know. It only matters what I’ve done and that she has been hurt by it.”

  “I will tell her,” he promised.

  “I like her, you know?” his grandmother admitted. “From the very start, even before I decided upon this course for you. I liked her as a person. She was polite and well mannered, terribly intelligent, and I could see that hint of rebellion in her eyes that told me just how she struggled to maintain that always poised and polished image.”

  “I know that you did. And tomorrow, you will tell her so yourself,” Val said.

  “I will. If she is amenable to speaking with me. You will smooth the way, of course?”

  He nodded and then turned to leave the room.

  *

  Lilly swiped angrily at her eyes and the moisture gathering there. She had not actually let her tears fall, but they kept forming and she kept dashing them away. It shouldn’t have hurt so badly. But then again, she shouldn’t have put so much stock in that false overture of familial concern. It had represented the thing she had longed for her entire life—acceptance. And now, faced with the prospect that it was all a lie, she felt unsettled, angry, hurt, and as if she had somehow been reduced to being a small child again, longing for things that were truly never to be.

  The door opened and she felt his presence as he entered the room. She didn’t know where Val had gone or what he’d been doing, but she was fairly certain it had something to do with his cousin. Regardless, she kept her face averted. The last thing she wanted to do was let him see her in such a state.

  “We need to talk, Lilly,” he said softly.

  “Can it wait until morning?” she asked. “I’m quite tired and I’d just like to sleep.”

  “I don’t think it can, actually. Grandmother just told me what happened at dinner… but there are other equally pressing matters to address,” he replied.

  Lilly took a deep and fortifying breath before turning to face him. “I feel like such a fool. I should have known that it wasn’t truly a gesture of goodwill from my mother’s family. I can’t believe I was so gullible!”

  “It was never her intent to hurt you or even to deceive you. She simply wanted us to be together and did whatever she thought might be necessary to make it so,” he offered.

  “Well, it does hurt. I’m as alone as I ever was,” she said.

  He took on a mock wounded expression. “Surely not! Do I mean so little to you then?”

  Lilly smiled in spite of everything. “You know what I mean!”

  He moved forward and sat down beside her. “I do know. I know that it pains you to think that you’ve no family, that you’ve no one to care for you… but you do have people who care for you, Lilly. If you let her, my grandmother would be your greatest ally. She did choose you, after all.”

  “Why did she?” Lilly asked. “I can’t imagine that there are any young women out there more unsuited to being a future duchess than I am. Are you certain she likes you?”

  He laughed then, and when he spoke, his tone was very gentle. “Quite certain. She’s unorthodox in her thinking and more than a little rebellious in her own way. You, Lillian Burkhart Somers, Viscountess Seaburn, are not the only woman who dislikes having to obey the rules.”

  “I dislike being lied to, regardless of her lack of ill intent,” Lilly stated. “Though I daresay I shall forgive her in short order. She will command it and I will have no option but to obey.”

  “She’s an old woman and one who is used to getting her own way,” he said. “And in most cases, not that I will ever admit it to her, her way has been the best one. I am sorry you were hurt by her managing and manipulation in this instance. But she did reveal to me that she was acquainted with your great-aunt, who is quite healthy, and that she agreed to the scheme only because they were desperate for money. Which means that Marchebanks was likely doing whatever he had to do in order to get his hands on the money to be settled on you as well as anything that Elsworth might inherit in the future.”

  “So the money was real, but my family having any concern for me whatsoever was complete and utter fiction,” she surmised. “Was the dowager duchess going to have Mr. Littleton send me a false notification of my great-aunt’s death or would the funds simply have appeared as if by magic?”

  “It would have come to you regardless, and still will. The bequest is very real. My grandmother
intended to honor that regardless of whom you chose to marry. She is inordinately fond of you, whatever you may think.”

  Lilly felt very small in that moment, as if she were sinking in upon herself. “I think it only hurts so much because it’s what I used to dream about as a child… that one day someone would tell me I’d always been wanted.”

  He pulled her close, holding her. It wasn’t in his power to take her pain away. Nothing was ever so hurtful as disillusionment. “You are wanted… perhaps not by your mother’s family or even your father’s, but by Effie, by Willa, by my grandmother… and very much by me.”

  Lilly didn’t wish to talk about it anymore. Whatever had been done by the dowager duchess, she would make her peace with it eventually. But for now, she very much needed to move on to other things.

  “What did you discover today?”

  “My valet might be a daily trial to me, but he does have his uses… he managed to discover from Elsworth’s valet that my cousin required several stitches for a mysterious cut on his arm. Your handiwork, I can only presume.”

  Lilly nodded. “Very likely. I didn’t question him to see just how serious an injury I had dealt him.”

  Val nodded. “I also discovered that at the time of our visit to Mr. Littleton’s office, Elsworth was meeting with his tailor… and the valet was present for the meeting. He’s deeply disappointed in my cousin’s fashion sense.”

  “So Elsworth couldn’t have been in Mr. Littleton’s office!”

  Val let out a sigh. “Initially, I thought so, too. But then I discovered the direction of this tailor… he’s only a street removed from Mr. Littleton’s office. And with the numerous alleyways connecting the two, it would have been possible for Elsworth to slip out the back unnoticed.”

  “Fenton hardly strikes me as the sort one confides in, so how did he convince Elsworth’s valet to simply tell him everything?” Lilly mused.

  “Port. He bribed him with port.”

  “Your valet steals spirits and you’re perfectly fine with that?” she asked with a laugh.