Chapter 2
“It will be done, Your Grace,” Yvette’s father said as he followed the visitor out of his home. “I will send word if there are any delays.”
“I pray there are not. You assured me that you know where to find the boy, just as you assured me that he will listen to you.”
“And he will, Your Grace. If you send the carriage tomorrow, he will be in it. As will my daughter.”
Neither her father nor his guest had seen Yvette standing halfway down the road, and again, she wondered if it was worth diving off the path so that she would not be noticed. She might have done so too, was it not for the last thing her father said.
As will my daughter… what does he mean by that?
“Good man,” the guest said as he walked to the black stallion and started to ready it for riding. “This entire circumstance is regrettable, but I hope that this goes some way toward rectifying it.”
“My daughter knows what she is doing, I assure you.”
“As you have said.”
“She is a good woman,” her father continued as his guest climbed atop his horse. “Smart. Astute. She is the right woman for the job.”
“That remains to be seen,” the guest spoke from the horse, so that he looked down at her father. “And I assure it, that you will be the first to know otherwise.” He scoffed. “How did it come to this, Vicar? Am I doing the right thing or…” He trailed off when he caught movement out of his eye.
Yvette still stood in the middle of the road, eyes wide as she watched her father and his guest. But her eyes widened and she gasped in surprise and embarrassment both when the guest, seated on his horse, looked up to find her watching.
She had recognized him as soon as he stepped outside. Even from a distance, and even without seeing his face clearly, he could only be the His Grace, Alistair Locke, the Duke of Pembourne.
It was his dark hair that did it, so black that it seemed to absorb the light around it.
His eyes too, even from a distance they were the darkest blue that she had ever seen, somehow both fierce and cold, not to mention probing.
He was handsome in a traditional way, with his sharp cheekbones, his square jaw, and shoulders so broad and thick that she wondered if the horse on which he sat might be more comfortable strung across his back.
Finally, the most recognizable features… the scars. There was one on his cheek, another along his neck, and while Yvette had never seen for herself, she’d been told that his back was covered in them.
The day was warm, but a cool breeze swept over Yvette and made her shiver as the Duke watched her from afar.
“Yvette!” her father cried. “What are you doing?”
She lurched in surprise and forced herself back into the moment. “Sorry, Father,” she called and hurried down the road. “I had just finished my tasks and was –”
“I told you I did not wish to be disturbed.”
“Sorry,” she said again. “I forgot.”
“Tomorrow, Vicar,” the Duke said to her father, all while watching Yvette hurry closer.
“It will be done, Your Grace.”
The Duke nodded once and kicked his heels into his mount.
He steered it down the road toward Yvette, who stepped out of the way just as it reached her.
As he passed her by, the Duke watched closely, and another cold shiver ran up her spine because there was something about the look in his eyes that made her feel exposed and vulnerable in ways she could not explain.
Then he was gone, down the road, around the bend, vanished as if he had never been.
“Father…” Yvette gave her head a shake and hurried to her father, who waited outside their house. “What was His Grace doing here?”
“His Grace and I are good friends,” her father said. “You know that I was close with his father.”
“You had mentioned it…” Indeed, as her father ran the parish on this estate, she assumed that he was at least friendly with His Grace. But he had never mentioned the Duke personally, and she doubted this friendliness went beyond their shared business.
“How much did you hear?” her father asked.
She bit into her upper lip as she looked at her father. “Not enough to understand, but enough to know that I ought to.”
He chuckled and shook his head. “Well said, Yvette. That cleverness will suit you well.”
“Suit me well for what?” she asked. “Father, what is going on?”
“I had hoped to break the news to you in a more conventional manner,” her father sighed. “But I suppose that God works in mysterious ways, and it is best that we get this over with now.”
“Get what over with?” Panic started to flood Yvette, and it was all that she could do to keep her composure.
“You know the young boy, Hugh, yes? The orphan with the black hair and blue eyes.”
“Hugh?” She blinked in surprise. “What does he have to do with this?”
“Yvette, what I am about to tell you…” Her father licked his lips with nervous anticipation, and he even looked around the empty property as if worried someone might overhear. “In fact, let us go inside. This is not a conversation to be had outdoors.”
Yvette followed her father back inside, and then into his office. It was strange, the way he was behaving, made more so when he closed the door behind her as if there was even a chance that someone might overhear them. Impossible, seeing as they lived alone.
Alone now, her father walked to the desk, looking as if he meant to take seat but decided against it.
Rather, he turned and fiddled nervously with his hands as he finally spoke.
“As I was saying, what I am about to tell you… it is of the utmost importance that it be kept a secret. I cannot tell you how vital it is that this is kept between us.”
Yvette said nothing, choosing to focus on her father and giving him time to find the courage he needed. He looked more frail than usual, and she could see clearly how stressed he was.
“Hugh is not who you think,” he began carefully. “Yes, to your eyes, he looks like an orphan. Indeed, he has spent the last year living as one. But the truth could not be further from this perception.”
Still, she said nothing, noting the way her father’s eyes flicked everywhere but at her. It was an old tick of his, most prevalent in the early days when he’d quit drinking.
“As I have known for some time, as the boy knows too, he is the Duke’s son and sole heir to –”
“What?” she cried.
“He is the Duke’s son,” her father repeated.
“His Grace has spent the last few months keeping an eye on him from afar but feels that now is the time that he takes a greater hand in the boy’s upbringing.
Tomorrow, he is to be brought to the Duke’s home, where he will be raised properly, as sole heir to the estate and his father’s title. ”
Yvette stared blankly at her father.
She had heard what was said clearly enough, but that did not mean that she understood it. Not even a little bit.
How is that possible? How could something like that… Hugh? The orphan who wears dirty clothes, who is constantly hungry? Who can hardly look me in the eyes when he speaks to me? There is no way!
“That can’t be,” Yvette said. “Hugh is… he is homeless, Father. Without parents. He cannot possibly be the son of the Duke.”
“I assure you that it is possible,” her father said. “As I have explained, the Duke has been watching him from afar, ensuring that --”
“That he starves!” she cried out before she could stop herself. Yvette always did have a problem when it came to keeping her thoughts to herself. “That he sleeps outside? Alone? Watching as his son suffer –”
“That is enough,” her father cut her off sharply. She balked at the change in tone, and she shied back when she saw the flash of anger pass behind his eyes. “There is much here that you do not understand, Yvette. But I assure you that Hugh is the Duke’s son. There can be no doubt.”
“And Hugh knows this?”
“The Duke assures me that he does.”
It made no sense to her, and Yvette had so many questions that her head felt as if it might explode. But she forced those down, knowing that such questions would not be answered by her father unless he wished it.
She gave her head a shake. “I still do not… what does any of this have to do with you? Why was His Grace here at all?”
Her father took a deep breath and calmed himself. “His Grace has had me keep an eye on Hugh for some time.”
“He has?” she frowned. “Why did you not tell me?”
Yvette thought back to the first time she had seen Hugh, what was close to a year ago now. And in all that time, she could not remember once when her father had spoken to him, or even suggested that he knew of the boy’s existence.
Why had he not told her? Why the secrecy? What was going on?
“Tomorrow, His Grace wishes for Hugh to be brought to his home, and he came here to ask that I arrange it. I know where the boy is staying, and I believe that I should be able to convince him to do as requested without too much incident.”
“Perhaps I should…” Yvette considered. “Hugh and I have tenuous relationship, but I believe that he trusts me. Might it be better if I speak to him?”
“You will have plenty of time for that later,” her father continued, and his voice softened; as did his eyes, for that matter. “More than enough…” He looked at his daughter, his expression suddenly pleading, and Yvette’s stomach twisted because she sensed that the worst was yet to come.
“I heard His Grace mention me. What does he need me to do…” She grimaced. “Am I to convince Hugh with you? And I to trick him somehow? As I have been doing all year,” she added bitterly. “Even if I have not known it.”
“You have not been tricking him,” her father sighed. “You have been helping him.”
“It does not feel that way.”
“As I expect you to continue to help him,” he said. “The Duke wishes for his son to be raised properly and for that he will need a governess living fulltime in his home. He knows of your connection to Hugh, and he asked that you be that governess.”
Again, Yvette was rendered speechless. She stared blankly at her father, her mouth hanging open, the world around her turning as she struggled to comprehend the reality of which she was now a part.
“And I expect you to do this without question, Yvette,” her father continued, taking advantage of her silence. “You are perfect for the role, whether you wish to admit it or not. You can read. You know etiquette. And the boy trusts you.”
“He does not!” she cried, able to speak again. “I hardly know him!”
“That is not true,” he said knowingly. “I have seen you two together, and you underestimate your connection. If Hugh is to do this without a fight, you must be there with him.”
“And if I refuse?” She put her hands on her hips.
He scoffed. “Would you? Would you condemn the poor boy to a life of poverty? And why? Because you feel slighted?”
“That is not… it has nothing to do with… I can’t do this!” she cried out in desperation.
“You can and you will,” her father said. “Tomorrow, the Duke is going to send a carriage to collect you both, and I expect you to be packed and ready, Yvette. This is your charge, and you will take it.”
Her father was not a cruel man. He was not evil or wicked. What he was, was able to twist Yvette’s morals and prey on her insecurities to get her to do his bidding. That was, after all, what made him such an effective vicar.
He knew well how much she cared about the children, and he clearly knew how much she cared about Hugh, especially. Was this always part of his plan? How long had he known this day was coming? And, most importantly, was there anything that Yvette could do to stop it?
She considered the situation the best that she could, realizing quickly that she had no choice but to say yes. Of all the children she watched over, she cared for Hugh the most, and if he had a chance at a better life, how could she possibly deny him that? How could she do anything but agree?
“Tomorrow,” she said with a defeated sigh.
“Tomorrow,” her father agreed. He reached out and took her hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. “And thank you, Yvette. This is a good thing you are doing. The right thing.”
A part of her agreed with him on that, while another part wondered how something that was said to be right could feel so wrong.