by Gayle Callen
Gritting his teeth so hard his cheek spasmed, he ripped it open. Faith crowded against him so they could read it together.
The D—s of R—’s secrets are revealed. She was a special “friend” to the late Lord R— of Fenton in Northumberland.
Faith gasped. “She doesn’t care if she hurts Lord Reyburn’s son!”
Adam gripped her shoulders and looked into her eyes, feeling triumphant. “And now she’ll never hurt you. I’ll see to that.”
“Adam, wait. Let me talk to her.”
He hesitated, everything inside him demanding revenge and justice. She was his wife, she was his love, and he wanted to protect her, to keep her safe.
“She disdains me,” Faith insisted. “I am nothing to her but a means to an end. I think she’d be more on her guard with you.”
“We don’t have to care—we have the proof,” he said, holding up the letter.
“But don’t we want to hear her say it? This is Frances’s mother, your sister-in-law. You will be deciding her fate—don’t you want to know it all?”
And then he realized that it was about her past, her future—and she should be the one to see it through.
“You’re right,” he said.
She blinked at him. “Really? You’re giving in?”
“I told you I could learn from my mistakes, didn’t I?”
She watched him warily, but he thought there might be the faintest trace of amusement in her eyes.
And that gave him hope.
Chapter 25
A quarter hour later, Faith waited in the private drawing room, keeping a close watch on the entrance hall as well as the street. The duchess continued to entertain visitors, and Faith ducked out of the way at arrivals and departures. The folding doors were closed, separating the drawing room into two smaller rooms, and Adam and Aunt Theodosia listened on the far side.
Soon enough, Marian entered through the front door, handing off parcels to footmen as if she simply expected them to be there.
Faith took a deep breath. “Lady Tunbridge? May I speak with you for a moment?”
She frowned as she removed her shawl and bonnet, looked up the massive stairs as if something important awaited her, but with a sigh, she acquiesced.
Faith closed the door, then pulled a calling card from her pocket and held it out. “A maid brought this to me. She found it when cleaning your apartments.”
Marian read the card, then her eyes briefly widened before narrowing as she studied Faith, disdain barely hidden. “What does this matter? It was made when my husband yet lived, when it seemed that the old duke was sickly.”
“Yet you kept it, knowing there would be another duchess. And now I’m here.”
“Well, the little kitten has claws,” Marian said, her smile not touching her eyes. “It seemed you didn’t want to be the duchess just two days ago.”
“We had an argument. It’s settled.”
“So you run at the first sign of a problem? Not very dignified of you.”
“You mean not dignified as a duchess should be. You think you would have handled things better?”
“I know I would. I far deserved the title, spent my youth and adulthood knowing it would come to me, and preparing for it. If my husband had lived an hour longer, I’d have been the duchess for life. You? You don’t deserve the honor. You’re nothing but a whore.”
Faith didn’t even flinch. “How interesting. That is the same word used in the anonymous letters Adam has been receiving. The cowardly ones.”
Adam folded the door back, and Marian saw him there, with Aunt Theodosia looking pale and disappointed.
Marian’s eyes blazed with hatred. “I have nothing more to say.” She turned to leave.
Adam stepped between her and the door, then held up the latest note. “You won’t be sending this. I suggest you tell me everything, before I send you far from here.”
“There’s nothing you can do, you fool,” she hissed, her eyes malevolent.
“I wonder what Frances would think.”
That simple sentence made her choke, her face going red before pale. “You would not hurt her like that.”
“No. Strangely enough, you’ve done well as a mother. But I’m about to send you to my most northern property in Scotland, where you will live out your days in far more prosperity than you deserve. But Frances—what you do now will decide her fate. Will she have the large dowry promised to her? Will she spend some time each year with Faith and me in London?”
Marian’s lips parted with anguish. “You threaten a child?”
“I threaten you. Frances will be fine. She will have the dowry left to her by her father. But I will give her so much more, present her to Society, see her well married. But it all depends on you.”
“What do you want?” Marian asked haughtily.
“The truth, all of it. And your promise to never speak of this again. Frances doesn’t need to know the ugly things you’ve done here.”
Marian’s gaze went from Adam’s cold, unyielding expression to Aunt Theodosia’s scorn and sorrow, then to Faith, who met that gaze with calm indifference.
Marian actually seemed to sag from within. “I sensed from the beginning you were not of the same moral fiber as your brother, Rothford, and it showed the moment you met this commoner.”
“Insults to my beloved won’t win you my indulgence,” Adam warned.
She winced at “beloved,” but sighed and said, “I overheard Mr. Gilpin pressuring your ‘beloved,’ and realized there was something in her past. I hired an investigator who discovered that you’re not worthy for the honor of being a duchess,” she said scornfully to Faith. “Why should I have spoken of it when I could torment you, Adam?” She chuckled. “I wish I could have seen your face when you opened each one. I actually saw you chase those little boys, and I laughed until my eyes ran with tears.”
“It’ll be a long time before you laugh again,” Adam said impassively. “The Highlands are bitterly cold in winter, and full of biting midges in the summer. You’ll enjoy the rest of your life there, far from Society.”
“What care I for this stupid city if I cannot rule Society as I was destined? I should have been the duchess, not you!” she shouted, pointing a finger in Faith’s face.
Adam took her arm and bent it behind her back until she gasped. Inches from her face, he said, “I don’t plan to ever hurt a woman, but you’re the first who tempts me to do so. You will be escorted to your rooms and you will not leave until the carriage is ready to take you away. Enjoy the rest of your life. I hope it was worth it.”
He let her go, and she staggered, then righted herself.
Adam opened the door and quietly said, “Hales, escort her ladyship to her chambers and remain outside the door. She needs to stay within, and if she does not, come tell me.”
Marian’s last scornful look raked them all, but Faith did not miss that her shoulders slumped as she left the room.
It was over. Faith was glad that the worry Adam had been living with for months was gone.
“I—I’m tired,” she said, starting to move past him.
“Faith, will you join us for dinner?” he asked softly.
“I think I’ll have a tray sent up. I have much thinking to do.”
He nodded, and she sent a brief smile to Aunt Theodosia, who watched her with concern.
Faith felt a bit in a dream as she went slowly up the stairs. What was next for her? She was no innocent, she knew, and could not continue to be angry with Adam forever. Her own choices had affected her past, and would affect her future, too. Would she always choose correctly? No, no one was perfect.
She’d only met Adam because of her brother. The grief she’d long suppressed over what his death had done to her family had at long last faded away. She smi
led wryly when she thought how surprised he’d be by all that had happened to her because of him.
She’d forgiven Adam his part in that—how could she not do the same now? And could she not learn to forgive herself for what she’d been forced to do to survive?
“Faith?”
As if she’d called him to mind, he was coming down the corridor just as she’d meant to close the door. He looked so handsome, so concerned, lines in his forehead that bespoke a maturity through hard work and sacrifice.
“Will you let me in?” he asked.
She opened the door wide and gestured. He looked relieved, as if he doubted her, perhaps doubted everything she felt.
“I was afraid if you sat up here alone,” he began, not coming any closer, “you’d think of all the stupid things I’ve done, all the ways I’ve hurt you.”
“Perhaps I’m thinking of all the stupid things I’ve done,” she said softly.
He looked taken aback. “Faith, you have done nothing wrong. You’ve spent your life buffeted by the decisions of others, and you’ve only done your best.”
“And you tried to do your best,” she said. “Even if you were misguided.”
He stared hard at her. “Faith—”
“Regardless of your mistakes, I think you’ve changed, Adam. You let me in, you let me help, even when you worried it might hurt me. You let me make my own choice about confronting Marian.”
“But I didn’t give you much of a choice about marrying me. I’m trying to do the right thing now,” he said huskily, coming a step nearer.
She reached for his hand, and his face softened as he gently brought her hand to his mouth.
“Faith,” he whispered. “I want to prove I’ve changed—for you, for myself. I can’t promise I’m perfect, but I see now the mistakes I kept making. But the one thing I can’t regret, that won’t ever be a mistake, is falling in love with you.”
She inhaled, closing her eyes, trying to savor those words she thought she might never hear.
“I don’t know when or how it happened, but I only realized how much I needed you when you left me, how barren the future looked without you. I want to prove myself worthy of your love, to prove I’m not the wastrel of my youth, the floundering former soldier. I have skills and knowledge, and ferreting out Marian made me realize that there’s still a place for me that isn’t just attending balls or dinners—though of course I’d escort you anywhere you wanted to go.”
She laughed and touched his cheek with her free hand. “So what do you want to do?”
“Offer my skills to the War Department. I don’t wish to travel much, but I can help train men, read correspondence, offer my advice. I learned a lot in India, especially how to understand the enemy. And maybe it’ll keep me from interfering in anyone else’s life,” he added wryly.
She smiled.
His own faded into a determination. “I love you. I’ve never met anyone more resilient and brave. There aren’t many people who do what they must to survive and come out stronger.”
The first tear fell from her lashes, and he cupped her face to wipe it away with his thumb.
“Oh, Adam, I’ve fallen in love with you, too,” she whispered.
He took a deep breath, briefly closing his eyes as if he’d never even hoped. She was touched and flattered, and so warm with love for him.
“You’ve wanted to change, and you have—although maybe not as fast as I’d have liked. You made mistakes, but for the right reasons, and I know that. I honestly believe you respect me, that you’d never again do what you think best for me without my knowledge,” she added dryly.
“Never.” He let his hands slide down her shoulders and arms, then took both her hands in his. “Will you stay with me, Faith, raise children with me, love me?”
She smiled through her tears. “I will. Let these be our real wedding vows, Adam, now that there is love.”
Epilogue
“I’m here!”
Upon hearing Frances’s voice, Faith rushed as quickly as she could from the family drawing room. Frances was in the entrance hall, flinging her shawl aside even as she flung herself at Faith.
“Hey, careful,” Adam said, catching her about the waist and swinging her around until she squealed. “You don’t want to bump the baby.”
When Frances landed back on the floor, she gasped at Faith’s large stomach. “Can I touch the baby?”
“He might even kick you,” Faith said, taking her niece’s hand and holding it to her belly.
Frances’s mouth fell open. “He kicked me! Is it really a boy?”
“We’re just guessing. It doesn’t matter to us.”
“He wants to meet you,” Adam said. “We’re glad you came back from Scotland in time. Did you have fun?”
“I love it there! There are horses to ride and puppies to play with, and I can see mountains from my room. It’s so wonderful to read lying in fields of flowers. Oh—Mother says she’s sorry she couldn’t come.”
Faith and Adam exchanged a relieved glance. So far, Marian had kept her word.
“Frances!” Sophia cried, rushing forward to hug her niece. “I’m so glad you’ll be here for the wedding.”
“It’s about time you and Mr. Percy married,” Aunt Theodosia said with a sniff. “He couldn’t let Faith be the only brave one to take on our family.”
Sophia blushed and smiled at Faith. For several months, Faith had been denying that she’d inspired Mr. Percy to come forward after the ugly hints in the newspaper. She thought it was Sophia’s beauty and kindness that had finally made him realize he’d never find another woman like her.
And weddings must be in the air, because at last, when Lord Shenstone had stopped pursuing Lady Emmeline, she’d realized she might actually miss him and consented to be his wife.
Resting her hands on her belly, Faith smiled as Frances hugged each member of her family.
Faith’s family. She smiled at her husband, so grateful that he’d come to find her that day in Hyde Park, that he’d made her his duchess, a mother—but mostly, his wife.
About the Author
After a detour through fitness instructing and computer programming, GAYLE CALLEN found the life she’d always dreamed of as a romance writer. This USA Today bestselling author has written more than twenty historical romances for Avon Books, and her novels have won the Holt Medallion and the Laurel Wreath Award.
Gayle lives in Central New York with her three children, her dog, Apollo, and her husband, Jim the Romance Hero. Visit her web site at www.gaylecallen.com.
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By Gayle Callen
REDEMPTION OF THE DUKE
SURRENDER TO THE EARL
RETURN OF THE VISCOUNT
EVERY SCANDALOUS SECRET
A MOST SCANDALOUS ENGAGEMENT
IN PURSUIT OF A SCANDALOUS LADY
NEVER MARRY A STRANGER
NEVER DARE A DUKE
NEVER TRUST A SCOUNDREL
THE VISCOUNT IN HER BEDROOM
THE DUKE IN DISGUISE
THE LORD NEXT DOOR
A WOMAN’S INNOCENCE
THE BEAUTY AND THE SPY
NO ORDINARY GROOM
HIS BRIDE
HIS SCANDAL
HIS BETROTHED
MY LADY’S GUARDIAN
A KNIGHT’S VOW
THE DARKEST KNIGHT
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
REDEMPTION
OF THE DUKE. Copyright © 2014 by Gayle Kloecker Callen. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
EPub Edition MAY 2014 ISBN: 9780062267979
Print Edition ISBN: 9780062267962
FIRST EDITION
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