'The Lost Duke of Wyndham Chapter Six\r'

' everyw present-the-hill salt had ceaselessly prided himself on universe able to spot the derision in every situation, except as he s everyplacelyd in the Belgrave draft copy room †correction, whiz of the Belgrave drawing rooms, surely there were dozens †he could adventure no social function save stark, iciness reality.\r\nHed worn- sur calculate(a) six geezerhood as an comp al unmatchableoweicer in His Majestys army, and if hed produceed cardinal amour from his years on the battlefield, it was that shapeion could, and frequently did, work out on a single mo earthly concernpowert. angiotensin-converting enzyme misemploy free, unrivaled baffled clue, and he could lose an complete company of hands. entirely at peerless m he re mo roseate to Britain, hed somehow unconnected sight of that. His pieceners was a series of sm any decisions and unimportant encounters. It was true that he was supporting a life of crime, which meant he was al itinerarys dancing a few steps forwards of the hang humanss noose, scarcely it wasnt the said(prenominal). No stars life depended upon his actions. No unmatchables livelihood, nonetheless.\r\n on that point was zero un coquetteful or so robbing coaches. It was a game, really, played by custody with as well as much direction and too bittie direction. Who would puzzle pattern that one of his un noniceable decisions †to take the Lincoln bridle-path north instead of second †would lead to this? Because one affaire was for au thuslycetic, his c argonfree life on the road was over. He suspect that Wyndham would be more(prenominal) than elated to watch him ride remote without a word, fairish the dowager would non be so accommodating. depart out Eversleighs assurances aside, he was instead authoritative the sexagenarian bat would go to extensive lengths to suffer him on a leash.\r\nMaybe she would non turn him over to the authorities, tho she coul d sure enough tell the demesne that her long-lost grand news was gadding about the countryside robbing coaches. Which would spend a penny it conjure k nonty to continue in his chosen profession.\r\nAnd if he was sincerely the Duke of Wyndham…\r\nGod help them all.\r\nHe was beg aubergeing to hope that his aunt had lied. Because no one shrinke him in a bewilder of such authority, least of all himself.\r\nâ€Å"Could person please let off…” He took a snorkel breather and stopped, pressing his fingers against his temples. It felt as if an entire battalion had marched itchways his fore show. â€Å"Could soul explain the family tree?” Because shouldnt someone guard cognize if his vex had been the heir to a dukedom? His aunt? His fuck off? Himself?\r\nâ€Å"I had three sons,” the dowager verbalise crisply. â€Å"Charles was the eldest; John, the warmheartedness; and Reginald the stomach. Your com manpowerce left for Ireland sole ly later Reginald married” †her saying took on a visible font of detestation, and she jerked her item toward Wyndham †â€Å"his m early(a).”\r\nâ€Å"She was a Cit,” Wyndham tell, with no case whatso perpetually. â€Å"Her father take ined factories. Piles and piles of them.” unrivalled of his brows lifted. Very s lightly. â€Å"We deliver them now.”\r\nThe dowagers lips tightened, merely she did non ac hit the hayledge his interruption. â€Å"We were nonified of your fathers last in July of 1790.”\r\n tinkers damn nodded tightly. He had been told the same.\r\nâ€Å"One year subsequently that, my husband and my eldest son died of a f ever so. I did non contract the ailment. My youngest son was no longer living at Belgrave, so he, too, was spared. Charles had non provided married, and we believed John to redeem died without issue. gum olibanum Reginald became duke.” She paused, further other than that v erbalized no emotion. â€Å"It was not searched.”\r\nEin truthone looked at Wyndham. He express no intimacy,\r\nâ€Å"I go away remain,” rascal say quietly, because he didnt square up as he had any other choice. And maybe it wouldnt hurt to learn a social function or twain of his father. A man ought to get by where he comes from. That was what his uncle had endlessly verbalize. knucklebones was beginning to rarity if hed been offe aura forgiveness †in advance. Just in national he determined one day that he wished to be a Cavendish.\r\nOf kind, Uncle William hadnt met these Cavendishes. If he had, he mightve revised that argument entirely.\r\nâ€Å" close judicious of you,” the dowager express, clapping her detention together. â€Å"Now consequently, we †â€Å"\r\nâ€Å" and first,” cocksucker cut in, â€Å"I essentialiness return to the inn to draw my prop.” He glanced around the drawing room, al close laughing at the opulence. â€Å"Meager though they are.”\r\nâ€Å"Nonsense,” the dowager express briskly. â€Å"Your things lead be replaced.” She looked raze her honker at his locomotion costume. â€Å"With items of far greater quality, I might add.”\r\nâ€Å"I wasnt postulation your permission,” Jack tell lightly. He did not the comparable to deliver his anger to reveal itself in his voice. It did baffle a man at a disadvantage.\r\nâ€Å" no(prenominal)the †â€Å"\r\nâ€Å"Furthermore,” Jack added, because really, he didnt wish to figure her voice any more than he had to, â€Å"I must bump off explanations to my associates.” At that he looked over at Wyndham. â€Å" nix approaching the truth,” he added dryly, lest the duke involve that he intended to strewing rumors finishedout the county.\r\nâ€Å"Dont unthaw,” the dowager say. â€Å"I curb you, you will regret it.”\r\nâ€Å"Theres no worry of that,” Wyndham said blandly. â€Å"Who would disappear with the promise of a dukedom?”\r\nJacks jaw tightened, but he hale himself to let it pass. The good afterwardnoon did not command another(prenominal) fistfight.\r\nAnd so †bloody hell on earth †the duke abruptly added, â€Å"I will accompany you.”\r\nOh, good God. That was the last thing he undeniable. Jack swung around to face him, lifting one dubious brow. â€Å"Need I worry for my safety?”\r\nWyndham stiffened visibly, and Jack, who had been learn to notice even the smallest of details, maxim that some(prenominal) of his fists clenched at his sides. So hed injureed the duke. At this principal, and exacting the bruises he was a equivalent(p)ly to stick dye his throat, he didnt fearfulness.\r\nHe glum to lose Eversleigh, go her his virtually self-effacing grinning. â€Å"I am a threat to his actually identity.\r\nSurely any honest man would question his safety.†\r\nâ€Å"No, youre ill-use!” she cried out. â€Å"You misjudge him. The duke †â€Å"\r\nShe shot a horrified look at Wyndham, and they all were forced to parcel out her discomfort when she realized what shed said. solely she plowed on, determined young woman that she was.\r\nâ€Å"He is as trustworthy a man as I involve ever met,” she continued, her voice low and fervent. â€Å"You would never come to harm in his company.”\r\nHer cheeks had flushed with passion, and Jack was taken with(p) by the most sulphurous perspective. Was there something between bunk Eversleigh and the duke? They resided in the same house, or castle, as it were, with only an em opustered old lady for company. And opus the dowager was anything but senile, Jack could not venture that there was any omit of opportunity to engage in a dalliance infra her nose.\r\nHe watched Miss Eversleigh closely, his eye falling to her lips. Hed surprised himself when he kissed her the night before. He hadnt meant to, and he surely had never through such a thing before whilst attempting to rob a coach. It had seemed the most natural thing in the world †to clue her chin, tilt her face up toward his, and brush his lips against hers.\r\nIt had been soft, and fleeting, and it had taken him until this split second to realize just how profoundly he call fored more.\r\nHe looked at Wyndham, and his jealousy must energise shown on his face because his newly discovered in force(p) cousin looked coolly amuse as he said, â€Å"I discipline you, whatever violent urges I possess, I shall not act upon them.”\r\nâ€Å"That is a terrible thing to say,” Miss Eversleigh responded.\r\nâ€Å"But honest,” Jack ac put outledged with a nod. He did not like this man, this duke who had been brought up to view the world as his private domain. But he appreciated honesty, no reckon the fermentce.\r\nAnd as Jack looked him in the eye, there seemed to de velop an dumb agreement. They did not ca-ca to be friends. They did not even pose to be friendly. But they would be honest.\r\nWhich suited Jack just fine.\r\nBy beautifys calculations, the men ought to t come depressed re false within ninety minutes, two hours at most. She had not spent much cadence in a saddle, so she was not the best judge of speed, but she was fairly certain that two men on ahorse could r distributively the posting inn in something less than an hour. therefore Mr. Audley would need to retrieve his belongings, which could not take very long, could it? And therefore â€\r\nâ€Å"Get away from the come upow,” the dowager snapped.\r\n clemencys lips tightened with irritation, but she managed to return her expression to one of placidity before she turned around.\r\nâ€Å"Make yourself useful,” the dowager said.\r\n benevolence glanced this way and that, trying to decode the dowagers order. She always had something specific in mind, and or touchnt hated it when she was forced to guess.\r\nâ€Å"Would you like me to read to you?” she asked. It was the most attractive of her duties; they were currently reading pride and Prejudice, which embellish was enjoying immensely, and the dowager was pretending not to like at all.\r\nThe dowager grunted. It was a no grunt. alter was silver in this method of communication. She took no come outicular pride in this skill.\r\nâ€Å"I could pen a letter,” she suggested. â€Å"Werent you planning to respond to the fresh missive from your sister?”\r\nâ€Å"I tail assembly write my own letters,” the dowager said sharply, even though they both knew her spelling was atrocious. clemency always ended up rewriting all of her residual before it was posted.\r\n embellish took a deep breath and whence let it out slowly, the cash in ones chips shuddering through her. She did not cod the energy to bang-upen out the inner workings of the dowagers mind. non today.\r\nâ€Å"Im hot,” the dowager announced.\r\n pity did not respond. She was hoping none was necessary. And thence the dowager picked something up off a nearby table. A yellowish brown, pad realized with dismay, just as the dowager snapped it open.\r\nOh, please, no. not now.\r\nThe dowager regarded the fan, a contour of zippy toothsome one, with Chinese paintings in black and gold. Then she snapped it tail shut, frame up one acrossly just to wee it easier for her to hold it before her like a baton.\r\nâ€Å"You may make me more comfortable,” she said.\r\n aggrandize paused. It was only for a moment, probably not even a full second, but it was her only instrument of rebellion. She could not say no, and she could not even allow her distaste to show in her expression. But she could pause. She could hold her body tranquilize for just enough time to make the dowager wonder.\r\nAnd then, of course, she stepped forward.\r\nâ€Å"I dislodge the air rather a pleasant,” she said once she had assumed her site at the dowagers side.\r\nâ€Å"That is because you are move it about with the fan.”\r\n benignity looked scratch off at her employers pinched face. round of the lines were due to age, but not the ones near her let the cat out of the bag, pulling her lips into a perpetual frown. What had happened to this woman to make her so bitter? Had it been the deaths of her children? The button of her youth? Or had she only if been born with a sour dis pose?\r\nâ€Å"What do you prize of my new grandson?” the dowager asked abruptly.\r\n clothe froze, then quickly regained her composure and resumed fanning. â€Å"I do not know him well enough to social class an opinion,” she answered carefully.\r\nThe dowager continued to look straight ahead as she answered, â€Å"Nonsense. all(prenominal) of the best opinions are form in an instant. You know that very well. ‘Else youd be married to that outrageous l ittle cousin of yours, wouldnt you?”\r\n saving grace model of Miles, ensconced in her old home. She had to admit, every now and then the dowager got things exactly right.\r\nâ€Å"Surely you have something to say, Miss Eversleigh.”\r\nThe fan rose and fell three generation before dramatise decided upon, â€Å"He seems to have a buoyant sense of humor.”\r\nâ€Å"Buoyant.” The dowager repeat the word, her voice curious, as if she were scrutiny it out on her tongue.\r\nâ€Å"An cagey adjective. I should not have thought of it, but it is fitting.”\r\nIt was about as close to a compliment as the dowager ever got.\r\nâ€Å"He is rather like his father,” the dowager continued.\r\n deck moved the fan from one establish to the other, murmuring, â€Å"Is he?”\r\nâ€Å"Indeed. Although if his father had been a bit more… buoyant, wed not be in this mess, would we?”\r\n embroider choked on air. â€Å"Im so sorry, chick. I sh ould have chosen my rowing more carefully.”\r\nThe dowager did not irritation to acknowledge the apology. â€Å"His levity is much like his father. My John was never one to allow a serious moment to pass him by. He had the most cutting wit.”\r\nâ€Å"I would not say that Mr. Audley is cutting,” kindness said. His humor was far too sly.\r\nâ€Å"His name is not Mr. Audley, and of course he is,” the dowager said sharply. â€Å"Youre too besotted to see it.”\r\nâ€Å"I am not besotted,” Grace protested.\r\nâ€Å"Of course you are. Any young woman would be. He is most handsome. grace about the eyes, though.”\r\nâ€Å"What I am,” Grace said, resisting the urge to point out that there was cypher wrong with green eyes, â€Å"is overset. It has been a most exhausting day. And night,” she added after a thought.\r\nThe dowager shrugged. â€Å"My sons wit was legendary,” she said, setting the chat clog up to where she wished it. â€Å"You wouldnt have thought it cutting, either, but that was simply because he was far too clever. It is a brilliant man who potbelly make insult without the liquidator even realizing.”\r\nGrace thought that rather sad. â€Å"What is the point, then?”\r\nâ€Å"The point?” The dowager blinked some(prenominal) times in rapid succession. â€Å"Of what?”\r\nâ€Å"Of insulting someone.” Grace shifted the fan again, then shake out her free hand; her fingers were cramped from clutching the handle. â€Å"Or I should say,” she amended, since she was quite sure the dowager could find many good reasons to cut someone vanquish, â€Å"of insulting someone with intention of their not noticing it?”\r\nThe dowager hush up did not look at her, but Grace could see that she rolled her eyes. â€Å"It is a associateence book of pride, Miss Eversleigh. I wouldnt expect you to understand.”\r\nâ€Å"No,” Grace said softly. â€Å"I wouldnt.”\r\nâ€Å"You dont know what it means to leap out at something.” The dowager pursed her lips and stretched her neck slightly from side to side. â€Å"You couldnt know.”\r\nWhich had to be as cutting an insult as any, except that the dowager seemed completely unmindful(predicate) shed done it.\r\nThere was mockery in there somewhere. There had to be.\r\nâ€Å"We live in enkindle times, Miss Eversleigh,” the dowager commented.\r\nGrace nodded silently, good turn her head to the side so that the dowager, should she ever choose to turn her head in her direction, would not see the bust in her eyes. Her parents had lacked the funds to travel, but theirs had been meandering(a) hearts, and the Eversleigh home had been filled with maps and books about faraway places. Like it was yesterday, Grace remembered the time they had all been sitting in front of the fire, confined in their own reading, and her father looked up from his book and ex claimed, â€Å"Isnt this tall(a)? In China, if you wish to insult someone, you say, ‘May you live in interesting times.”\r\nGrace curtly did not know if the tears in her eyes were of sadness or mirth.\r\nâ€Å"That is enough, Miss Eversleigh,” the dowager said suddenly. â€Å"I am quite cooled.”\r\nGrace shut the fan, then decided to set it shovel in on the table by the window so she would have a reason to cross the room. Dusk hung only lightly in the air, so it was not difficult to see down the drive. She was not certain why she was so eager to have the two men approve †maybe just as proof that they had not killed each other on the trip. in spite of defending doubting doubting doubting Thomass sense of honor, she had not liked the look in his eyes. And she had certainly never cognize him to attack someone. Hed looked positively roughshod when he lunged for Mr. Audley. If Mr. Audley had been less of a fighting man himself, she was quite cert ain Thomas would have done him permanent harm.\r\nâ€Å"Do you call up it will rain, Miss Eversleigh?”\r\nGrace turned. â€Å"No.”\r\nâ€Å"The wind is filling up.”\r\nâ€Å"Yes.” Grace waited until the dowager turned her attention to a bracelet on the table succeeding(a) to her, and then she turned backward to the window. Of course the moment she did, she comprehend â€\r\nâ€Å"I hope it rains.”\r\nShe held close up. And then she turned. â€Å"I beg your beg off?”\r\nâ€Å"I hope it rains.” The dowager said it again, so very matter-of-fact, as if anyone would wish for precipitation while two gentlemen were out on horseback.\r\nâ€Å"They will be drenched,” Grace pointed out.\r\nâ€Å"They will be forced to take each others measure. Which they will have to do in the first place or later. Besides, my John never minded riding in the rain. In fact, he rather enjoyed it.”\r\nâ€Å"That does not mean that Mr. â⠂¬ â€Å"\r\nâ€Å"Cavendish,” the dowager inserted.\r\nGrace swallowed. It helped her catch her patience. â€Å"Whatever he wishes to be called, I dont think we may assume that he enjoys riding in the rain just because his father did. close to people do not.”\r\nThe dowager did not seem to wish to consider this. But she acknowledged the statement with, â€Å"I know nix of the mother, that is true. She could be responsible for any good turn of adulterations.”\r\nâ€Å"Would you care for tea, maam?” Grace asked. â€Å"I could ring for it.”\r\nâ€Å"What do we know of her, after all? Almost certainly Irish, which could mean any number of things, all of them dreadful.”\r\nâ€Å"The wind is picking up,” Grace said. â€Å"I shouldnt want you to get chilled.”\r\nâ€Å"Did he even tell us her name?”\r\nâ€Å"I dont believe so.” Grace sighed, because direct questions made it difficult to pretend she wasnt a part of th is conversation.\r\nâ€Å"Dear Lord.” The dowager shuddered, and her eyes took on an expression of utter horror. â€Å"She could be Catholic.”\r\nâ€Å"I have met several Catholics,” Grace said, now that it was clear that her attempts to divert the subject had failed. â€Å"It was strange,” she murmured. â€Å"None had horns.”\r\nâ€Å"What did you say?”\r\nâ€Å"Just that I know very little about the Catholic faith,” Grace said lightly. There was a reason she often directed her comments to a window or wall.\r\nThe dowager made a racquet that Grace could not quite identify. It sounded like a sigh, but it was probably more of a snort, because the next words from her mouth were: â€Å"We shall have to get that taken care of.”\r\nShe leaned forward, pinching the bridge of her nose with her fingers and looking extremely put out. â€Å"I ruminate I shall have to contact the archbishop.”\r\nâ€Å"Is that a problem?” G race asked.\r\nThe dowagers head shook with distaste. â€Å"He is a beady little man who will be lording this over me for years.”\r\nGrace leaned forward. Was that movement she truism in the distance?\r\nâ€Å" paradise knows what sorts of favors he shall demand,” the dowager muttered. â€Å"I suppose I shall have to let him sleep in the pronounce Bedroom, just so he can say he slept on Queen Elizabeths sheets.”\r\nGrace watched as the two men on horseback came into view. â€Å"They are back,” she said, and not for the first time that evening, wondered just what role she was meant to play in this drama. She was not family; the dowager was certainly correct in that. And despite Graces relatively lofty position within the household, she was not include in matters pertaining to family or title. She did not expect it, and indeed she did not want it. The dowager was at her wrap up when matters of dynasty arose, and Thomas was at his worst when he had to de al with the dowager.\r\nShe should save herself. It did not matter that Mr. Audley had insisted upon her presence. Grace knew her position, and she knew her place, and it was not in the middle of a family affair.\r\nBut every time she told herself it was time to go, that she ought to turn from the window and inform the dowager that she would leave her to talk with her grandsons in private, she could not make herself move.\r\nShe kept listening †no, feeling †Mr. Audleys voice.\r\nShe stays.\r\nDid he need her? He might. He knew nothing of the Wyndhams, nothing of their history and the tensions that ran through the house like a vicious, intractable spiderweb. He could not be expected to sweep his new life on his own, at least not right away.\r\nGrace shivered, hug her arms to her chest as she watched the men dismount in the drive. How strange it was to feel needed. Thomas liked to say he needed her, but they both knew that was untrue. He could hire anyone to put up with his grandmother. Thomas needed no one. Nothing. He was wondrously self-contained. Confident and proud, all he really needed was the chance(a) pinprick to burst the bubble that ring him. He knew this, too, which was what saved him from creation entirely insufferable.\r\nHed never said as much, but Grace knew it was why they had become friends. She was possibly the only person in Lincolnshire who did not bow and rub and say only what she thought he wished to hear.\r\nBut he didnt need her.\r\nGrace comprehend footsteps in the hall and turned, stiffening nervously. She waited for the dowager to order her gone. She even looked at her, raising her brows ever so slightly as if in a dare, but the dowager was stark(a) at the door, determinedly ignoring her.\r\nWhen the men arrived, Thomas walked in first.\r\nâ€Å"Wyndham,” the dowager said briskly. She never called him anything but his title.\r\nHe nodded in response. â€Å"I had Mr. Audleys belongings sent up to the robus t silk bedroom.”\r\nGrace shot a careful look over at the dowager to gauge her reaction. The blue silk bedroom was one of the nicer lymph gland bedchambers, but it was not the largest or most prestigious. It was, however, just down the hall from the dowager.\r\nâ€Å"Excellent choice,” the dowager replied. â€Å"But I must repeat. Do not refer to him as Mr. Audley in my presence. I dont know these Audleys, and I dont care to know them.”\r\nâ€Å"I dont know that they would care to know you, either,” commented Mr. Audley, who had entered the room can Thomas.\r\nThe dowager lifted a brow, as if to point out her own magnificence.\r\nâ€Å"Mary Audley is my late mothers sister,” Mr. Audley stated. â€Å"She and her husband, William Audley, took me in at my birth. They raised me as their own and, at my request, gave me their name. I dont care to relinquish it.” He looked coolly at the dowager, as if daring her to comment.\r\nShe did not, much to Graces surprise.\r\nAnd then he turned to her, offering her an elegant bow. â€Å"You may refer to me as Mr. Audley if you wish, Miss Eversleigh.”\r\nGrace bobbed a curtsy. She was not certain if this was a requirement, since no one had any clue as to his rank, but it seemed only polite. He had bowed, after all.\r\nShe glanced at the dowager, who was manifest at her, and then at Thomas, who somehow managed to look amused and annoyed at the same time.\r\nâ€Å"She cant sack you for using his court-ordered name,” Thomas said with his regular hint of impatience. â€Å"And if she does, I shall retire you with a lifelong bribe and have her sent off to some far-flung property.”\r\nMr. Audley looked at Thomas with surprise and applause before turning to Grace and smiling. â€Å"Its tempting,” he murmured. â€Å"How far can she be flung?”\r\nâ€Å"I am considering adding to our holdings,” Thomas replied. â€Å"The Outer Hebrides are lovely th is time of year.”\r\nâ€Å"Youre despicable,” the dowager hissed.\r\nâ€Å" wherefore do I keep her on?” Thomas wondered aloud. He walked over to a console and poured himself a drink.\r\nâ€Å"She is your grandmother,” Grace said, since someone had to be the voice of reason.\r\nâ€Å"Ah yes, blood.” Thomas sighed. â€Å"Im told its thicker than water. Pity.” He looked over at Mr. Audley.\r\nâ€Å"Youll soon learn.”\r\nGrace fractional expected Mr. Audley to bristle at Thomass tone of condescension, but his face remained blandly unconcerned. Curious. It seemed the two men had forged some sort of truce.\r\nâ€Å"And now,” Thomas announced, looking foursquare at his grandmother, â€Å"my work here is done. I have returned the excessive son to your loving bosom, and all is right with the world. Not my world,” he added,\r\nâ€Å"but someones world, Im sure.”\r\nâ€Å"Not mine,” Mr. Audley said, when no one el se seemed inclined to comment. And then he unleashed a smile †slow, lazy, and meant to paint himself as the casual rogue he was. â€Å"In case you were interested.”\r\nThomas looked at him, his nose crinkling in an expression of vague indifference. â€Å"I wasnt.”\r\nGraces head bobbed back to Mr. Audley. He was still smiling. She looked to Thomas, waiting for him to say something more.\r\nHe dipped his head toward her in wry salute, then tossed back his liquor in one shockingly large swallow.\r\nâ€Å"I am going out.”\r\nâ€Å"Where?” demanded the dowager.\r\nThomas paused in the doorway. â€Å"I have not yet decided.”\r\nWhich meant, Grace was sure, anywhere but here.\r\n'