Falling for the Heartbroken Duke
A REGENCY ROMANCE NOVEL
BRIDGET BARTON
Copyright © 2018 by Bridget Barton
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Table of Contents
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Falling for the Heartbroken Duke
Introduction
Lord Robert Weston, living the life of a Duke’s second son, is thrown in among the elite of London’s bon ton, while he chafes against the conformities and gossip of the very rich. When his childhood sweetheart, Lady Judith Barton, reappears in town after three years, she has much more to say than hello.
He is thrilled to see her again, but his hopes are soon to be destroyed. When her vanity prevails, his affectionate heart is played and love promises are broken. Not only is he heartbroken, his reputation slips down towards a path where it's very hard to return from. Will he be able to overcome all the hardships and take his life on his own hands?
Lady Phoebe Sinclair, having lost her dear mother, is back in London after two years in Paris. When tragedy strikes again, Lady Phoebe’s cousin from Scotland, comes to London to claim his inheritance. Amid glittering parties, ton gossip and mutual friends, Lord Robert and Lady Phoebe’s paths cross when Lord Robert’s father and brother both succumb to typhus.
She is instantly enchanted but she has already heard all the vile things that are being said on his account. She avoids contact with him in any possible way, but when she finally finds herself imprisoned in a marriage arrangement she never wanted, who is going to come to her rescue?
When social pressure to produce an heir comes down to Lord Robert’s head, will he be able to make the right decision and solve a seemingly unsolvable mystery? While true happiness finally seems like a dream come true, life or death challenges never cease to come up...
Chapter 1
He heard the pounding on the steps and buried his head under the soft feather pillows just before James Weston, the Marquess Hempstead, burst into the room.
Lord Robert Weston rolled to the side of the bed towards the wall, groaning, and further shielding his head with his arms. His older brother was in a foul mood again, and there was nothing to do but listen to the imminent tirade.
Although only two years separated them, the brothers were as different as night and day. Lord James was tall, dark, and dashing, much as their father had been in his youth. But Robert, though sharing his mother’s eyes with his brother, didn’t resemble either of the two men in his immediate family.
His dark hair bore a tint of chestnut which set off the deep green of his gaze. His was a larger frame of build to Lord James, and no one seemed to know from where Lord Robert’s way with horses had come. He was an exceptional horseman, and a successful lawyer. And despite being a second son, he did not lack for lucrative marriage prospects. A woman would step down a notch for a man like Lord Robert.
“How can you say you’re a man when you act no better than a common rake? A scoundrel. You make me ill.”
“No better than a rake, a scoundrel? I make you ill? Surely you, Marquess, can come up with better than that. There’s cad, scrub, and my personal favourite, the un-licked cub.” Lord Robert sneered at his older brother and waited for the words or the blow that would respond.
“This is about Lady Judith. Not the unlicked cub you fancy yourself to be. How unfeeling. How uncaring How selfish. How utterly low. Our mother would be most upset with you. Our father is ashamed of you and me.”
“Our mother? What do you mean by that? Our mother’s been dead these last thirteen years or have you forgotten. Terence, are you about? Please, bring me my coffee. The special blend.”
The butler poked his head into the room. “As you wish, My Lord.”
Lord Robert turned his attention back to Lord James as the infinitely patient Terence pulled his head back to rejoin his body in the hallway.
“Now, James. What is this all about? You barging in here like this? I’m barely awake.” He embraced his head with both hands. “Ugh. So you were saying something, My Lord? About Lady Judith? She’s back from her travels? Finally ... it’s only been three years. Now out with it ... what about the lady? And why are you here in this angry manner? I won’t be torn from slumber for nothing. Let us hear it.”
“If you must know, and well, of course you must because it concerns you; Lady Judith is back from her travels abroad with the Countess Bennington. It’s been three years, as you remember. What you don’t know is the Countess expired somewhere along the way. Apparently, the old girl came down with, of all things ... typhus. She expired in a matter of days. Dancing at a fete one night, and then resting in a foreign grave three nights later.”
“How dreadfully unfortunate, our father will be sorry to hear it. His only sister. She was a dear old lady, always kind to me, God rest her soul. And what is this ruckus you’re making about Lady Judith? You say she’s returned, and it has something to do with me?” Lord Robert’s head was thumping.
The excesses of the previous evening had caught up to him with annoying speed but did nothing to dampen his curiosity. Or the subtle sense of longing that began to spread from his head to his four limbs and, finally, to his heart.
A light knock sounded. Terence, the butler, entered with a silver tray upon which rested an urn filled with fragrant black coffee and a small glass of whisky.
“Thank you, Terence.” Lord Robert sat up and took the whisky in one swallow. Then he poured a small cup of coffee, offering his brother none, and gulped it down. The butler bowed and left the room with the whisky glass in his pocket.
Lord James frowned. “Are you finished with this declasse behaviour? Will you listen to me now? You jest, but it is important. Very important. And quite honestly, if I didn’t know you, I wouldn’t believe it. As I said, his grace our father, is beside himself. We are both, his grace and I, humiliated beyond bounds. So, My Lord, are you quite finished with your coffee? Will you listen now?”
“Yes, yes. I’m finished. I was unaware that drinking coffee impedes the hearing, but do go on.” Lord Robert rolled his eyes. There was nothing he could do correctly as far as his father, the Duke of Atwater or his brother, the Marquess Hempstead, were concerned.
“Lady Judith. So very sweet, so lovely. How could you be so callous? The poor woman has no one, Robert. No one but us. She is part of our blood family.”
“I’m not following, James. How could I be so callous? I don’t know what it is you’re referring to. I’m barely awake.”
“You mean barely sober, I daresay. Do you honestly expect me to believe that you, of all people, do not have knowledge of the return of our dear cousin Judith? Robert! For shame. What I find even more insulting is your lack of compassion.”
“Oh, you’re insulted as well as
humiliated? I must have been on a roll, whatever it is I did, to provoke such a flurry of undesirable feelings in you, My Lord.”
“Yes, I am insulted.” Hempstead’s eyes narrowed. You look and act as if you feel no remorse for your actions, Robert. No self-reproach at all. You certainly aren’t taking responsibility for your heinous behaviour. So cold. So very, very cold. Vicious even. I’m quite beside myself with embarrassment among other things.” Hempstead removed a small snuff box from his coat pocket and dipped into it. He brought the pinch to his nostril and took a sharp inhalation without bothering to hide behind the veil of a handkerchief.
Robert observed his brother and shook his head slightly. Declasse, indeed. “Even you must be exaggerating when you call me vicious, James. Remorse? Responsibility? How have I neglected any responsibility? What do I have to feel remorse about other than allowing you to stay in my chamber?” Lord Robert nearly yelled. “I should have you thrown out of this room.” He reclined on the bed, upset with himself for his outburst. His brother was the only person he knew who had the ability to pull him out from behind the facade of Lord Robert Weston. The slightly cocky, exceedingly good looking, and supremely charming, Lord Robert Weston.
“You haven’t kept your word, Robert. Did you actually think you could get away with it? Your word. You’ll never be taken seriously by the ton, by anyone, ever again. You have no merit.”
“I have no merit? I haven’t kept my word? To whom? About what? James, what is this about? I honestly don’t know what you’re talking about.” Robert poured another cup of coffee, wishing fervently that Terence would reappear with another glass of whisky. His hand moved towards the bell cord, but he thought better of it. He didn’t need to give his brother any more ammunition to use against him.
It was James’s turn to roll his eyes. “Since you insist on acting the fool, dear brother, I’ll repeat the story to you. The whole sordid story.”
“Oh, it’s sordid now? Your insults mount, My Lord. Please, enlighten me. Tell me the reason for this, this gross invasion of my privacy?”
Lady Judith has shared with me, and a number of others I might add, that you and she had an agreement.”
“An agreement? An agreement concerning what, pray tell?” Lord Robert fell back against the bed pillows. “What did she say I agreed to? What could she have said? She left me, James. I waited for her. She’s back. That’s what I know. It’s all I know. And you stand here, before me, with some hare-brained tale that involves remorse, regret, sordidness, and any other manner of malicious content. The ton must be chomping at the proverbial bit for a juicy story is all I can reckon.”
“I have the story directly from the lady in question. Lady Judith told me, in strictest confidence until we were overheard, that three years ago, when she was seventeen, and before she and her mother went abroad.”
“You were overheard? Is that it? And then the lady had to repeat her confidence to everyone present. Where were you, by the way?”
“Almack’s, not that it makes any difference.”
“Trust me, dear brother, it makes all the difference. What time were you there? And if Lady Judith was with you, when did I behave in such vile fashion towards her? Can you answer me that?”
“The lady came to the club at somewhere around eleven o’clock. She was distraught. She’d just come from St James Street, where she’d dined with you.”
“I was not at the townhouse on St James. I haven’t set foot in the place for three years. It was my knowledge that the place had been rented.”
“Come now. Do I look like I was born yesterday, My Lord? Your carriage was seen in the vicinity last evening. Lady Judith told me that you and she had a secret pact. A pact to marry. The wedding was to take place when she returned from her travels.”
“Lady Judith said that?” Lord Robert sat bolt upright in the giant four poster bed, and throwing caution to the wind, reached for the bell cord to alert Terence to bring up more whisky.
“You and she were secretly betrothed. I must admit my surprise and shock when she told me that considering the fair amount of wenching you have indulged in over the past year or two.”
“Judith stopped writing to me, James. I am not made of stone.”
“Yes, yes, of course. When Lady Judith returned home and invited you to dine with her last evening, she looked forward to the rekindling of the relationship. She is alone, without her mother, and you broke off with her. My God, Robert, have you no thought for anyone but yourself?”
“She told you I broke a wedding promise?” Robert’s face paled. This was bad. Very bad indeed. “How could I break a promise that was never made? This story is untrue, James. How much brandy had you drunk by the time you were alerted to this alleged travesty I’m involved in?”
“Don’t try and turn this on me, little brother. Your law degree will do you no good in this situation. Come clean and just admit you dined with Judith last night. Clearly you went beyond the point of inebriation, or you would not be surprised by any of this. Judith told me and everyone else she knows how … how humiliated you made her feel. She was, as I said, distraught. You’re as good as finished, dear brother.”
“It matters not that Lady Judith has told people this story. What she said is untrue. I was at the club for half the night, hence the sighting of my carriage. I played cards with Tom Radcliffe and two others. They cleaned me out. If you don’t believe me, look in my wallet. Or better yet, ask Lord Thomas.”
“Tell it to the ton, Robert. Brooks’s is just down the street from the Bennington townhouse. You could have slipped out and dined with Judith unbeknownst to anyone else. And do you actually think Tom Radcliffe will say anything to the contrary of your words? There would be no reason for me to consult with him about anything having to do with you. I’ve seen his loyalty to you. He would lie to Prince George himself if it would absolve you of a wrongdoing.”
Robert reclined against the pillows, eyes closed, trying to make some sense of the story his brother was relating. Why would Judith concoct such a wealth of lies?
“Oh ... you realize this will most likely be in the papers tomorrow.” James smiled gleefully when Robert opened his eyes.
He ran his hands through his hair and sighed. “Ugh. The papers! Why would Lady Judith do something like this?” he whispered to the bed curtains.
The soft linen sheets he laid upon felt stiff and coarse against his skin, the sunlight from the window was caustic to his eyes, and he felt himself getting short of breath.
If what the Marquess said was true, then Lady Judith had done something so utterly damaging to Lord Robert’s personal reputation he would have to leave London. Today. As soon as possible before anyone saw him. Better even to hide in his bedchamber all day and leave by cover of darkness.
“Do you hear me?” Lord James shouted drawing Lord Robert from his thoughts.
“Yes, the papers. It will be in all the papers. Well, it will be in the papers then.”
“That’s all you have to say about it?”
“What more can I say about it? You don’t believe that it’s untrue. I have not a leg to stand on with you or, apparently, anyone except Lord Thomas.”
“Well, it seems to me you should stay in today and leave for Hempstead Hall tonight. Under cover of darkness.”
“My thoughts exactly.” Lord Robert was coming back into himself. He couldn’t, for the life of him, imagine why Lady Judith would say something untrue about him. However, this scandalous story was absolutely ruinous. Even Robert, who disregarded the majority of the ton, knew that this story could taint his and his family’s reputation forever. His word would never be respected again. He sighed once more. “Will you take a note to Judith for me?”
“I’ll do nothing of the sort. You can’t think I’ll support you in this sort of gross mistreatment of any woman, much less our cousin. You’d be wise to heed my words and lay low until tonight.”
“I see.” Lord Robert knew it was no use to try and argue the poin
t when his brother was in a frame of mind such as this. The frame of mind that consisted of an already firmly established opinion.
Falling for the Heartbroken Duke: A Historical Regency Romance Book Page 1