It's All About the Duke--The Rakes of St. James

by Amelia Grey

  “I would probably just faint if he asked me.”

  Marlena laughed. “Yes, I’d say that would be the perfect thing for you to do. I think he’s come to expect it. He’d undoubtedly be disappointed if you didn’t.”

  Eugenia’s face turned serious. “Do you think he would hurt Mr. Bramwell?”

  Marlena had to be truthful. “I really don’t know. Though he’s lived most of his adult life denying it, I do think he’s a gentleman. But even gentlemen have been known to call each other out for a duel over a perceived wrong.”

  A tremor shook Eugenia. “A duel. He might challenge Mr. Bramwell?”

  “I’m telling you I don’t know, which is why you must remain quiet about this. Gentlemen are much more likely to let a lady’s bad behavior pass than a man’s. Mr. Bramwell started the rumor because we asked him, and he should never be punished for it.”

  “Thank you for telling me that. But none of this seems fair to you, Marlena. You have taken all the guilt upon your shoulders.”

  Adding on to anyone else’s guilt would not absolve hers. She supposed the only thing she could do was go to Lady Vera and Lady Sara, admit her wrongdoing, and apologize. To Eugenia she said, “The fewer people who are upset about this, the better.”

  “It hurts terribly, doesn’t it?” Eugenia said.

  Marlena looked at her curiously. “What?”

  “Loving someone you can’t have.”

  “Yes,” Marlena said softly, and turned her face up to the bright-blue sky once again. “It does.”

  Chapter 24

  He could be a rake if he’s so set on being right, he can’t see what is right in front of his eyes.

  MISS HONORA TRUTH’S WORDS OF WISDOM AND WARNING ABOUT RAKES, SCOUNDRELS, ROGUES, AND LIBERTINES

  A longing that went bone-deep had settled over Rath.

  He placed his razor on the chest and washed the remaining soap off his face and neck. He then took the towel and threw it to the bed as hard as he could. Damnation, he missed Marlena. He’d told her he loved her. He’d asked her to marry him, and what had she done? Confessed she was Miss Truth. The gossip columnist who had plagued him for almost three years.

  That, he could live with. He’d never really been affected by the gossip anyway. She admitted she was only seventeen when she started it. If Marlena hadn’t been afraid of cemeteries and swamps before she went to live with Olingworth, or frogs, snakes, bees, and other things that lived in a garden when she was a ten-year-old girl, there was no way she was going to be afraid of starting a scandal sheet when she was seventeen.

  He could see her loving the idea of doing something so outrageous. Especially to three gentlemen she thought had ruined a lady’s life and had never been held accountable for it. All that, he could understand. Hell, he’d already forgiven her. That was easy to do. He loved her. But whoever had started that rumor had put Lady Vera and Lady Sara in danger. She wouldn’t tell him who that was. That was what he couldn’t accept, but it didn’t keep him from wanting to go to her. To see her and be with her.

  After the scandal sheet, he could understand her not wanting to betray anyone else. But the two of them wouldn’t be able to live with the matter unsettled between them. They both knew that. So he had stayed away from her and away from the parties where she’d be. Dancing with other gentlemen.

  He pulled on his shirt and stuffed the tail of it into his trousers, then reached for his neckcloth. Of course the publisher and everyone who worked there had denied any knowledge of who had started the rumor. He’d realized that this would be the case when he went there, but he’d had to give it a try.

  “I’m sorry to disturb you, Your Grace.”

  “You’re not, Sneeds,” he mumbled, trying to tie the neckcloth.

  “Would you like some help with that, Your Grace?”

  “No.”

  “Very well. There’s a young lady here—”

  Rath swung around. “Miss Fast?”

  “No, sir. Her name is Miss Everard and there’s a young man with her named Mr. Stephen Bramwell.”

  Bramwell had been the young man Mrs. Abernathy had sent to the club to find him. “What the devil are they doing here?” he asked, more to himself than to his butler as he turned back to the mirror.

  “They wouldn’t say, Your Grace. I tried to send them away, telling them it was too early for a social call and they would have to send your secretary a letter and arrange an appointment if you deemed it necessary. But the young lady seemed quite adamant that you would agree to see them, and, and—”

  “And what?”

  “I felt quite sure the young lady might faint right there on your front steps if I didn’t at least agree to come up and make you aware of their presence.”

  Rath snorted a laugh. “That’s Miss Everard. And she’s right. I will see them. Show them into the drawing room and tell them I’ll be down shortly.”

  “Right away.”

  Rath finished his neckcloth and donned his coat. Why were they here? Had Marlena sent them to plead her case? No, he dismissed that idea the moment he thought of it. She wouldn’t do that. If she wanted to talk to him she would have come herself. Maybe something had happened to her? No, more than likely it was Mrs. Abernathy who’d sent them.

  “Best I get down and find out,” he said to himself as he walked out of his bedchamber.

  Miss Everard and Mr. Bramwell rose and greeted Rath properly when he entered the drawing room. Miss Everard looked paler than he’d ever seen her, and he was sure she was shaking like a leaf in a summer storm. After all the smelling salts and sachets he’d purchased for Marlena’s house, he actually had no idea if he had any in his own house should Miss Everard need it. Mr. Bramwell didn’t look much better but he managed to hold himself up straight, hands behind his back, and give the appearance of being strong. Still, Rath was sure he saw the man’s knees knocking.

  “Sit down before you faint,” he said.

  They both took their seats on the settee rather quickly. Obviously their legs were as weak as he suspected. “Thank you, Your Grace,” Mr. Bramwell said. “We know it’s early but we needed to catch you before you left for the day.”

  His voice was almost as shaky as his legs, Rath thought.

  “The first thing I’m going to do is pour you both a drink. I know it’s early, but I don’t know why you’re here. I fear I may never know if you don’t settle your nerves. You both look like you’re about to collapse.”

  Rath walked over to a table and poured a little splash of brandy in two glasses. He then opened a cabinet, took out a bottle, and poured a little splash of it into another glass. He walked over to them and handed one to the young lady.

  “I’ve never had a drink, Your Grace.”

  “It won’t hurt you. It’s sherry. Not as strong as brandy but it will help steady your nerves. Small sips.”

  She looked down at the glass and then over to Mr. Bramwell. He nodded and she took a sip. Her eyes widened and she sucked in a deep breath.

  “Keep drinking,” he said. “It’ll start tasting better and get easier to swallow.”

  She looked at Bramwell again. He nodded to her as he accepted the glass from Rath. He promptly took a sip and said, “We’ve talked about this—me and Miss Everard. We decided there’s something we thought you should know.”

  So maybe Mrs. Abernathy didn’t send them. “All right,” Rath said, making himself comfortable on the settee opposite them. “What can I do for you?

  “I don’t want you blaming Marlena for being Miss Truth,” Miss Everard said in a soft, timid voice.

  “I don’t,” Rath said, and knew it was true. “She was young, rash, and bold enough to try anything.”

  “But there are other things about why she did it that you don’t know,” Miss Everard continued. “She wouldn’t tell you because she would be breaking a promise she made to Veronica. She didn’t want to do that.”

  That had his attention. “What things?”

  “Veronica h
asn’t always been the way she is now.” She glanced at Bramwell again, and he nodded again. “She didn’t used to be nervous and full of despair and sometimes spending days in bed. During her first Season she was beautiful, happy, and enjoying her life. Many beaus sought her hand.”

  Rath noticed that Miss Everard’s countenance changed when she was talking about her sister. She smiled and seemed to get a little color in her cheeks.

  “She was the belle of almost every ball she attended,” Miss Everard continued. “Our father was told to expect several offers from very suitable gentlemen to come for her hand. But then the scandal of the secret admirer letters came out—” Miss Everard’s smile faded and her voice turned soft again. “A prank, some called it. But it was more than that to Veronica.”

  Miss Everard stopped, took a sip from the glass, and sucked in another deep breath as she settled her gaze back on Rath. “After that no offers ever came for her hand. Our father went to one of the gentlemen to ask why. The man said Veronica was so lovely, he’d thought she’d be above wanting a secret admirer. That had been one of the things that drew him. But then he’d discovered that she was like all the rest, so he wouldn’t be offering for her after all. No other gentlemen did, either. Fearing she might be left like a dried weed on a shelf, she accepted Mr. Portington’s offer. He was older. Studious and had a good allowance. She thought she would have children to fill her life and make her happy. And she was accepting of her life the first year or two of her marriage.”

  Rath swallowed hard. It wasn’t easy sitting quietly and letting this young lady tell him to his face how one of the ladies had suffered because of those damned letters.

  “But Mr. Portington started buying more and more things. Papa passed and I moved in with them. The house became crowded. There wasn’t enough money to pay for coal and food. Mr. Portington kept saying everything would be fine. But it wasn’t. Veronica became very unhappy. She had hoped to one day have a babe to love, but Mr. Portington—”

  Miss Everard looked to Bramwell once more. “Mr. Portington gave up the marriage bed. He became more interested in adding to his fossil collection than his wife, his home, or his financial status. Now Veronica has no love, no children, and she never will because he forces her to sleep in the room with me.”

  Damnation.

  Her words came faster. “Marlena thought, if she could show Veronica that someone had sought revenge against you and the others, it would help her not be so depressed and sink into despair, but by the time we realized the scandal sheet wasn’t going to help Veronica with that, she and I had become dependent on the money it brought in to keep us in our house. Marlena never took a pence from the scandal sheet or the book. She gave it all to us. All she’s ever done is help us. Please don’t be mad with her. She wanted to end it after the first Season. She only kept doing it to help us so we wouldn’t have to give up our home.”

  “Thank you for telling me this, Miss Everard. I admit that Miss Fast gave me few details. I have a different and better understanding of this after listening to you.”

  Rath watched her swallow hard before saying, “Veronica doesn’t know I’m here. She wouldn’t like that I’ve told you about her marriage. She doesn’t want anyone to know there’s any trouble or that she shares my room instead of her husband’s. It would shame her. I wanted you to know how her life has been affected. Marlena doesn’t know I’m here, either. Just Mr. Bramwell.”

  “I won’t say a word about your visit.”

  “Thank you.”

  “That’s not all, Your Grace,” Mr. Bramwell said, shifting uncomfortably in his seat.

  “Go on,” Rath said to the shaky young man.

  Bramwell rose, downed the brandy, and winced. He placed the empty glass on the table in front of him and said, “Miss Fast wouldn’t tell you, and I appreciate her honor but for her sake you need to know I am the man who started the rumor in White’s that night about the Duke of Griffin’s sisters, and I’d do it again. I don’t regret it.”

  Rath rose, too. His hand tightened on his glass. “Those are troubling words, Mr. Bramwell.”

  “I stand by them. I wanted to confront you earlier and tell you, but I couldn’t. I promised Eugenia, Miss Everard, that I wouldn’t. I couldn’t betray my promise to her.” He looked at her and gave her a hint of a smile. “She’s too important to me.” His attention returned to Rath. “Because she is confessing, I asked her if I could as well.”

  Rath looked at the thin slip of a man who was so frightened, it seemed even his eyeballs were shaking. “You are a tradesman, are you not? How did you get into White’s?”

  “I am not a member of Society but Mr. Portington made arrangements for me to enter White’s with him. He wasn’t aware of what I wanted to do. When Eugenia told me what she and Miss Fast were doing I wanted to help. I asked Mr. Portington if he could get me into White’s as I’d never been and always wanted to go. It wasn’t a place he’d frequent often but he agreed. When we were leaving I spoke loudly so others could hear me. I said, ‘The Rakes of St. James always get away with everything. They’ve never had to pay a price for their scandalous behavior years ago, and it’s time they did.’ Mr. Portington mumbled something about I should speak lower and be careful what I said. But I spoke even louder and added, ‘Wouldn’t it be fitting if something happened to ruin the Duke of Griffin’s sisters’ first Season.’”

  Bramwell reached over and took the glass from Miss Everard, finished off her sherry, and placed the glass by his. She rose to stand beside him. “Now that you know, you can do your worst to me. I’m ready. Take my business, challenge me to a duel, or take my life if you want for what I’ve done to the Duke of Griffin’s sisters. I won’t be apologizing for what I did to help Eugenia and Miss Fast.”

  Rath leaned forward and grabbed Bramwell by the neckcloth and pulled him up to his face. Miss Everard gasped and whispered for Rath to please let go of him.

  “You put Griffin’s sisters in danger,” Rath said in a voice that was low and meant to strike fear. “Physical danger.”

  “I’m sorry for that,” Bramwell struggled to say.

  Rath’s hand tightened on the cloth. “Lady Vera may still have someone want to harm her because of what you said.”

  “You needed to know that your misbehavior had consequences, too. Some young ladies were hurt by your letters. None physically that I’ve ever heard. Still, there were serious aftereffects. And you were to blame.”

  “And that’s the only reason I’m not going to challenge you right now.”

  “Your Grace?”

  Rath looked over to Miss Everard and knew she was an innocent victim, too. He let go of the man and stepped back.

  “Veronica said the only thing people in the ton said was rakes will be rakes.” Miss Everard’s voice was stronger than Rath had ever heard before. “Because you were dukes, the three of you went on with your lives and you were never held to account. Veronica is in a loveless marriage that she thought would at least give her children. Her husband has his fossils, his bones, his studies of them. She will have nothing after I marry.”

  Rath remained silent. Thinking on all he’d heard.

  “You need to take a hard look at what you’re giving up—Your Grace,” Miss Everard said. “Marlena. You don’t deserve her but she wants you.”

  Rath stared at the two sets of eyes looking at him and saw all the damage he’d done. “Miss Everard, I’m sorry I sent the secret admirer letter to your sister and all the other ladies. It was thoughtless, and I thought harmless.”

  She nodded once. “I’ve said all I came to say,” she said. “What you do about Marlena is your own business. I just don’t want her to be as unhappy as my sister and I have been.”

  “And I stand by my words, Your Grace,” Bramwell added.

  “I stand by mine as well.”

  Rath turned toward the door and called “Sneeds?”

  “Yes, Your Grace,” he said, walking in.

  “Show Miss Everard and
Mr. Bramwell out.”

  Rath walked over to the decanter and poured himself another splash. It was a little early in the day to be hitting the bottle for the second time, but he had a lot of thinking and planning to do.

  A lot to make up for.

  Maybe going back and remembering some of the things his father had told him about being a gentleman might help. All the emotions of anger and revenge that had been swirling around inside the past few days were impossible to fathom right now, so he didn’t try. He would let them go. All of them. The only emotion he kept was his love for Marlena. It welled up inside him and wouldn’t be denied.

  One thing he was sure of. He wouldn’t stop until he got her back. No matter how long it took.

  Chapter 25

  He could be a rake if he has a difficult time admitting he was wrong.

  MISS HONORA TRUTH’S WORDS OF WISDOM AND WARNING ABOUT RAKES, SCOUNDRELS, ROGUES, AND LIBERTINES

  “I find it very unusual that the Duchess of Griffin didn’t invite you to tea, too, Marlena,” Justine said, walking into the drawing room dressed in one of her new visiting day dresses.

  It certainly didn’t bother Marlena. She was happy for Justine to be out of the house for a couple of hours. She’d been trying to work on her last Dear Reader column and Justine was always around and always talking. A little peace and quiet would be appreciated.

  “You must have said or done something to upset her. It’s just puzzling that you didn’t get an invitation.”

  A pain gripped Marlena’s stomach. That was highly likely. Had the duke decided to tell the other two rakes and their wives what she’d done? Had he told Lady Sara and Lady Vera, too, that she was Miss Truth? If so, she could understand them shunning her. Everyone else would, too.

  Marlena inhaled three deep breaths. Let it be so. She was tired of fretting about it. She had thought about going and apologizing to Lady Vera and Lady Sara—all of the people she’d written about over the years—but there were simply too many. And the thought too overwhelming.