The Duke’s Deception

by Sophia Wilson

  Emma asked permission to unpack her bags. Katherine agreed. Emma laid out a beautiful blue fabric dress for dinner. The warm bath water was prepared. She exhaled loudly as she relaxed in the luxurious bath. After two days of bouncing around in the carriage, this treat was most welcomed.

  Emma went to great pains in preparing Katherine's hairstyle to perfection. She had washed it twice then dried her blonde hair with warmed towels. Pins and ribbons held the curls in place. Katherine was so pleased. As Emma finished the details for Katherine, she was, for once, happy. She stood back and reviewed her work. Perfect, she thought. She is going to make a beautiful bride.

  Dinner was served promptly as instructed by Percy. Katherine was seated next to Percy who sat at the head of the table, displaying himself like a proud rooster, Katherine thought. She further speculated, one can be taught manners and protocol, but grace is a different matter. Grace is a character trait you are born with.

  Her thoughts quickly changed when Oliver made his entrance into the dining room. She had fallen in love with this man but knew she could not marry him. Katherine knew her plight and was willing to endure it for the sake of her parents. Oh they would disapprove of her and Oliver; that she knew. Percy was the man her father had chosen for marriage for her. She must adhere to that.

  Oliver sat down next to Katherine. She was thrilled he was sitting so close. He smelled wonderful, and her heart leapt into her throat. It was as though he knew her thoughts and in a low tone of voice whispered, "Special herbs from the garden my man servant complies." Katherine’s skin flushed.

  Percy busied himself with his meal, ignoring both Katherine and Oliver. Oliver tried to make up for his brother’s rude behavior by making small talk with Katherine. Between bites of food, he told her a bit of the history of Loneshire, noting that he and Percy were the fourth generation born on the estate.

  “Do you find your room suitable?” he asked, changing the subject. Until now, Percy had focused solely on his dinner, but at this question, he suddenly interjected himself into their conversation.

  “She had better find it suitable,” he snarled. “I assigned her the best room in the house—Mother’s room.”

  Oliver stared at Percy for a long moment. First, resentment filled his heart that anyone else would occupy his late mother’s room, then gratitude that it was Katherine, not one of his brother’s low-life concubines. He wanted nothing more than to leap from his seat and accuse his brother of murder. But he would bide his time. The right moment would come, if he were patient.

  Katherine sensed the tension between the brothers and busied herself with cutting a piece of meat on her plate. She wondered if Oliver resented her taking his mother’s room. She would try to ask him later. She wanted nothing to mar their new friendship.

  When the meal was finished, Percy told Katherine she would accompany him to the drawing room. He dismissed Oliver with a curt, “We will talk later.” When Percy turned to leave the room, Katherine glanced helplessly at Oliver, who laid his hand across his heart in a meaningful gesture. Then he motioned silently for her to hurry along after Percy.

  When they were seated in the drawing room, Percy began to outline to Katherine the schedule for the next week, before their wedding would take place on the following Sunday. On the morrow, Katherine would be driven into the village to the village dressmaker’s where she would be fitted for a wedding dress. She would have her choice of cloth, from such as the dressmaker had available. When that was completed and she had returned home, she would prepare the wedding invitations to be hand delivered by a messenger.

  When Percy had finished his cold, boring talk, he gestured for Katherine to leave. “Go to your room. We shall talk again in the morning”.

  Katherine gave a slight bow of her shoulders as she left the room. She glanced around for Oliver but could not find him. Alone in her room, tears streamed down her cheeks. Percy was nothing like Oliver, and she knew she would never grow to love him. Dreams of Oliver filled the night, and she awoke eager to see him.

  That day, Mrs. Alyes, the head housekeeper, along with Emma, her personal maidservant, took Katherine on an educational tour of the estate. They began by showing her each room in the manor house, including the servants’ quarters. As lady of the house, she would need to know the layout of the estate and where everything was. Then they took her outdoors and walked her through the ornamental gardens, the vegetable and herb gardens, showed her the stables and the carriage house, everything that lay relatively close to the manor house.

  The grounds were immaculately manicured. The beauty of the expansive lawns, the intimate gazebo that overlooked a pond with water lilies, and the herb garden close by the tradesman’s entrance, all made her even more homesick for her childhood home. By the time Susanna and Emma had escorted her back to the front entrance and inside, she was close to tears. But she held her head up and determined to make the best of her new life.

  The next day, Thursday, Katherine had been instructed to meet with Mrs. Hyatt, the cook, to plan the wedding dinner. There would be only a few guests at the wedding, but everything had to be prepared to perfection. Oliver would attend, of course, and four or five of Percy’s friends that lived in the district. Katherine’s parents would be unable to attend, which was of great disappointment to both them and Katherine. Katherine had no friends who lived close enough to attend.

  There would be roast venison, sirloin of beef, roast turkey, and partridge. Because Percy was a wealthy landowner, there would also be potatoes with butter, a treat enjoyed only by the rich. Other vegetables would be artichokes and peas. A selection of cheeses, along with wine from Percy’s own wine cellar would round out the feast. Then there would be the wedding cake. It would be a fruited affair with white sugar icing, fit for Percy’s station in life.

  The kitchen staff was instructed to have the very best linen washed, starched, and ironed, to be used on the huge dining room table. There would be bouquets of fresh flowers set on the dining table, as well as in the chapel, where the ceremony would take place, the drawing room and in the grand entry hall.

  The mansion had its own small chapel at the east end of the main floor. The local bishop would officiate at the wedding, as had his father done at the wedding of Percy’s parents, and so on back two more generations.

  Friday and Saturday were devoted to readying Katherine herself. Not only Emma, but also two other maidservants were enlisted to bathe, lotion, perfume, and otherwise beautify her in preparation for her wedding. Reminiscent of Queen Esther of Bible times who took twelve months of beauty treatments, Katherine’s only took two days.

  During this week, Katherine hardly saw Percy at all except at dinner in the evening. He was up mornings an hour or more before she was and out hunting, riding his favorite black stallion, or checking on his prize apple trees. After dinner, they would retire to the drawing room for a glass of wine and conversation. Monologue mostly. Percy talked while Katherine listened. He described in great detail what he expected of her after they were married.

  She would be available to him whenever he wanted her. Otherwise, she was to mind her own business about the time he spent with one, or more, of the seven concubines. These were the girls she had first mistaken for cousins. She would hostess his parties and bear his children. Otherwise, she could amuse herself however she pleased, as long as she was prudent, remembered her place as Duchess of Loneshire, and kept herself only for him.

  Katherine went to her room each night deeply troubled. She had hoped, no, dreamt of a marriage of love and kindness, such as her own dear father and mother had. But alas, it was not to be. Then she chided herself for being selfish, knowing that her parents thought they were doing the best they could for her. Then, before drifting off into a fitful sleep, her thoughts would stray to Oliver and his declaration of love for her. How she loved him, but it was too late. Soon, she would be Percy’s wife, a lifetime commitment. She refused to let the tears fall and wiped them roughly from her eyes. She would obe
y her parents and do as she was told. How bad of a life would this be? She would be wealthy and could do as she pleased. She would never love Percy, but she prayed she would grow to like him.

  Chapter 9

  Oliver spent the week before the wedding brooding about his dilemma. He now knew the truth about his parents’ deaths, and he knew that Susanna’s daughter was alive in London. What he didn’t know was how to handle that knowledge. His mind drifted back to Marian, Percy’s previous wife.

  Percy and Marian had married in much the same manner as he was planning to marry Katherine. All seemed quiet and peaceful the first few days after the wedding. Then one night, as Oliver sat up late in the library, he could hear Marian’s screams coming from the bedroom. Even though the walls were thick and the bedroom was a full one hundred feet from where Oliver sat, the screams pierced the stone walls and sent chills down his spine.

  He sat rooted to his chair, not knowing whether to interfere or not. He chose not to. The next day when he encountered Marian in the garden, her face was bruised, and he could see red welts on her white shoulders above her gown and disappearing downward. When she saw him, she turned away in shame and tried to hide her face. As Percy had gone into the village to attend to some matters of business, Oliver stepped closer to Marian and asked what had happened.

  “Percy struck you, did he not?” Oliver demanded gently, yet through gritted teeth.

  “It was my fault,” Marian said meekly. “I was too slow in responding to his, his … desires.”

  “That gives him no excuse to hit you,” Oliver returned, his ire growing.

  Over the next several months, this same scenario played out time and time again. Then Marian became with child, and the beatings ceased.

  One time, Oliver had gone to Percy and demanded that he stop hitting Marian. Percy punched Oliver in the face, breaking his nose. Percy had Oliver removed from the house and taken to a small country house that had been in the family for generations. He was told not to return.

  Oliver stayed away for two years until he got word that Percy wanted to see him. Back at the estate, he was told that Marian had disappeared. It was rumored that she had gone to Plymouth and sailed for America. But Oliver knew the truth. Marian had attempted to leave Loneshire and her volatile husband, but he had caught up with her and forced her to return.

  Back at the estate, Percy locked her in her room for the remainder of the day. In the evening, he brought her a tray with some cold meat, cheese, and wine, and told her to eat. Then he left her. The next morning, she was dead. Little Sarah was told that her mother was ill and had sadly died during the night. Being but two years old, all she knew was that she wanted her mother.

  However, Oliver had seen Percy slip some white powder into Marian’s wine when he poured it into a glass. Oliver had started into the dining room to pour himself a glass of wine when he saw his brother enter ahead of him. For some reason, he hung back and silently watched, then slipped back into a dark corner of the hall that led away from the dining room. Percy never knew he was there, or that his deed had been observed.

  Oliver felt nausea overcome him as his thoughts shifted back to the present. He feared for Katherine, but what could he do? Percy was the older brother and would soon be Katherine’s husband. There was nothing he could do to change that. The little one needed the love and care of a mother. Percy doted on the child when he was around, but much of his time was spent outside of, or away from, the mansion.

  Oliver lived in the east wing in his childhood rooms, and until now, had been in no hurry to make any changes. He and Percy were not close as brothers should be, but they were not enemies, either. They shared the estate in an amicable fashion, but little else. Each lived his own separate life.

  He had stood by two years ago and done nothing to help Marian. He was away traveling on the continent when his parents were murdered. He came to the decision that he would not allow Katherine the same fate, if it were within his power to prevent it. He worked on formulating a plan that he hoped would force his brother’s hand, or at least provide a way for him to take Katherine away from the miserable life she was sure to suffer. But what about Sarah? Could he possibly take her, too?

  Although Oliver had no share in his family’s estate, he was a shrewd businessman. When their parents were alive and Oliver was still in his teens, his father had given him a fine stallion that was in great demand around the area for breeding purposes. He named the stallion Alistair. He commanded high fees for his services and saved his money wisely. His father also deeded him a small parcel at the far back corner of the estate. It was just a small piece, but he planned to build a house there someday to bring his own bride to.

  In addition to his breeding services, Oliver acquired a couple of mares of unsurpassed quality to which he also bred Alistair, and sold the foals. One especially fine colt he kept for himself. When the colt was old enough, he began to enter it in local horse races. Soon the colt, which he named Jasper, was winning every race he entered, earning Oliver not only a reputation, but also prize money.

  Oliver saved much of his money over the years. He had fashioned a safe hiding place in his bedroom for the bags of gold, silver, and copper coins and bank notes that he accumulated by removing one of the carved wood panels from the outside wall. Behind it, he had carefully removed one of the smaller stones that formed the outside walls of the house. He removed the stone, hollowed out a portion of it, and then replaced it, leaving it loose without mortar. He also hollowed out several adjoining stones, in all four directions, without compromising the structure of the wall.

  When he created this hiding place, he did so with the thought in mind that if any dispute ever arose between him and Percy and he was banished from the house, he would still, with the aid of a ladder, be able to access his money from the outside. He was well aware of his brother’s tempestuous nature, and didn’t wholly trust him to not turn that temper toward him someday.

  ***

  Percy paced around the drawing room, perturbed at the interruption. His brother was a fool. Percy had no time for fools. "What do you want, Oliver. Get on with it."

  Oliver cleared his throat. "I want you to let Katherine go. Break the deal with her parents; set her free. She's way too innocent to get involved with someone like you."

  "Someone like me?" he sneered derisively. "You could never be a man like me, Oliver. And that...that has always bothered you. You were always in your brother's shadow, and you hated that. You hated me. Know that the feeling was mutual...is mutual."

  "I praise God that I am not a man like you. You are insufferable, vile and evil. You put our parents through hell. You tore down and destroyed anyone who has ever cared about you. I do not, nor have I ever, wanted to be like you."

  Percy laughed, understanding creeping into his eyes. "Have you fallen for the lovely, Katherine, Brother? That must be it. But of course, you will never have her. She is mine - and always will be. Now, I want you to leave. Go. I have no time for your foolish nonsense."

  "I have grown fond of Katherine, yes, but that is not why I make my request. You have your...other...women, Percy, please, leave Katherine be. You have no time for Sarah, but she needs a mother. Allow Katherine to live in the carriage house with Sarah. Katherine will raise her, and you can continue your disgusting life. Katherine is just a toy to you, and you will soon tire of her. Let her go, Percy."

  "You will not ever speak to me like this again!" Percy's anger was out of control. How dare this coward of a man, the brother he had always despised, try talking him out of this marriage? He had paid well for Katherine; her parents would not want for anything ever again. He was not giving up on her; a sweet virgin who he would soon possess forever.

  Katherine saw Emma cowering in the hallway. "What is that shouting, Emma? Is that Percy?"

  Emma nodded but did not speak. She quickly walked away, leaving Katherine listening to the angry shouting coming from the drawing room.

  Katherine walked to the door, peer
ing in.

  "Katherine, get in here. Now!"

  Katherine entered, surprised to see Oliver standing near Percy. She did not know what their conversation had been about, but whatever Oliver had said had clearly angered Percy. Katherine had noticed his quick rage the first few hours she had arrived at the estate.

  It didn't take much to set him off. The maids and staff were clearly afraid of him; a fact that she found abhorrent.

  "Yes, Your Grace."

  "Have you put Oliver up to this nonsense? Is it true you no longer wish to be my wife? Do you wish me to set you free to go back home?"

  Katherine's face reddened. She didn't know what Percy was talking about. "Your Grace, I do not understand."

  "It's simple, you fool. Oliver has asked me to allow you to return back to your parents. Or at least to let you live in the carriage house away from me to raise Sarah. Is that what you want?"

  Katherine hesitated, she couldn't help it. She was angry with Oliver for telling Percy that, yet, she was glad that he did. She did want to leave the estate and never return; she could not deny that. But she had to. She feared what Percy might do to Oliver - send him away, and Katherine would never see him again.

  "Your Grace, I do not want that. I...I will continue with the marriage. I have promised my parents, Sarah, and you that my life will be with you. I will honor that commitment and wish to stay with you, here."

  "As I thought. Out with you, now. Go back to your room. We shall talk later."

  She was walking up the stairs when she heard Percy's nasty laugh. "You have lost, Brother, she is mine. Now, leave, I have work to do."

  She turned to watch Oliver walk out of the drawing room and out the door. When their eyes met, Katherine's heart raced. She wanted to be marrying him, not Percy. But she was too afraid to let that happen.

  ***

  Oliver’s savings now began to take on a new purpose as he contemplated what he would do to save Katherine from his brother. Oliver had taken note over the past several months that greed had rapidly become Percy’s most notable trait. He wondered how long Percy had been cultivating this attribute. He had spent nearly a year and a half abroad, having left after Marian died, and had only returned to Loneshire eight months ago.