Chapter 27
Hidden Papers
“Iwas wondering,” Morgan said, “how come Arabella hasn’t come to greet me yet?”
Gerald all but dropped the papers he was holding. He had been pretending to work on these business deals for quite some time, cooped up in his study all day.
“Arabella is not here,” Gerald said as flatly as he could.
“Is there some function with the charities she is involved with?”
“As far as I know, Arabella is at her father’s house.”
Morgan looked at him with sincere concern. Gerald hated that the only person he actually had in this world was also captivated by Arabella’s charisma.
"Is everything in order?"
“Yes, everything is fine. She’s just visiting.”
“Then I will see her for dinner,” Morgan pressed.
Gerald looked up from his papers. He knew that Morgan had completely read his body language and his tone.
“Arabella has been staying with her family for a few days now,” Gerald said, and then pretended to look at his business documents.
Morgan stayed absolutely still, and Gerald could feel his eyes burning holes into him.
“Gerald. What did you do?”
Gerald decided that the best course of action was to ignore his friend, and maybe he would go away like an annoying bug.
“I am asking,” Morgan could be more annoying than anything in the world, “what did you do?”
Gerald sighed, exasperated, and looked up at his friend.
“I believe you’d have better things to do this night than annoy me, of course.”
“Actually, I don’t,” Morgan said and approached Gerald with a fake smile. “But even if I did, I would cancel all plans in order to know what exactly my best friend did to his beloved wife.”
“What makes you think that I did something wrong?”
Morgan looked at him with a deadpan stare. Granted, Gerald had never been the easiest of men to be around, but he should like to think that he behaved fairly decently on this occasion.
“If you’re trying to tell me that you are punishing Arabella for what she did at the wedding, be prepared for me to- ”
“This has nothing to do with Cecilia’s wedding,” Gerald said abruptly. “And Arabella knows I hold no grudges. In fact, I congratulated her on her decision to act so.”
Morgan seemed genuinely surprised.
“And here I was,” Morgan said, “thinking that you didn’t possess an ounce of common sense. I guess getting married to Arabella has truly changed you for the better.”
Gerald ground his jaw and looked away. Yes, he prided himself on behaving decently, and yet he couldn’t understand why he was feeling this bad.
It felt like a thorn lodged beneath his ribs. Small, persistent, and sinking deeper every time he tried to ignore it. He was under the grave impression that no matter what he did, that thorn would finally get to his heart.
“So,” Morgan seemed determined that particular night, “is everything OK between you and Arabella?”
“Everything is amicable.”
“Amicable,” Morgan said with a mocking expression. “Because that is exactly how things between a husband and a wife should be. Amicable.”
“I do not know how things must be between a husband and a wife, but between partners, things should stay amicable.”
Morgan came closer and pulled the paper that Gerald had been pretending to read for the past ten minutes. Gerald looked up at his friend, and he expected some mischievous look, but this time his friend was really looking at him seriously.
Gerald got up and went straight to the whiskey decanter. When Arabella was there, he was not retreating to that nasty habit as often. For the past few days…
“Is it really that bad?” Morgan demanded.
“I just told you that things are-”
“…amicable. I heard you the first time. Allow me to have my doubts. Unless you give every partner the heated looks you gave your wife. And I sincerely hope you do not spend your nights in bed with every partner.”
“Morgan!”
“I will ask once more. What did you do?”
Gerald emptied the whiskey and filled his glass again. He had the gnawing feeling, but it wasn’t so much what he did that tortured him, rather what he didn’t.
“With Arabella, we had an understanding, Morgan. She was to appear by my side for three events, and then we would go our very civilized separate ways.”
Morgan studied his friend for quite some time. His face was unreadable as he simply stared at Gerald.
“You idiot!”
Gerald almost choked on his whiskey.
“I beg your pardon?”
“You should be begging Arabella for her pardon and her forgiveness, down on your knees.”
Gerald looked away, staring at the fire raging in the fireplace.
“We had an agreement, and I honored that agreement. She will still bear my name, and she will have the generous allowance that I had allocated for her.”
“In the off chance that you did not hear me the first time I phrased this,” Morgan said sharply, “you idiot.”
“Is it too much to ask not to curse at me in my own home?”
“Is it too much to ask for you to think clearly for the first time in your life?”
“It is exactly what I have done. I thought clearly and made a rational decision.”
“So, let me understand this. Arabella was nothing more than a means to an end?”
Gerald would have loved nothing more than to answer a resounding yes. Tell him that Arabella was just a shield he used to push back his family and close some business deal.
But then, just to mock him, his mind conjured a vision: Arabella on the blanket in the center of the maze, her blue eyes illuminated by the candlelight, looking at him with a mischievous but forgiving expression.
He swallowed hard and grabbed the glass until his knuckles were white. He downed the contents once more and didn’t even feel the burn.
“I see,” was all Morgan said, and he poured himself some whiskey too.
For a while, they just stood there in the silent study, in his quiet, massive estate, the same one she said she actually liked.
“What are you going to do about it now?” Morgan demanded.
Gerald turned and looked at his friend as if he were going mad.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” Morgan frowned. “I asked you what you are going to do about it now.”
“About what exactly?”
“About the fact that you have feelings for your wife and still let her go. Are you not following?”
Gerald looked down at his glass, grinding his jaw and straightening his back.
“Perhaps it is you who do not follow,” he said with a cruel tone. “I just told you that we had an arrangement with Her Grace.”
“I understand that that must have been the initial plan,” Morgan replied. “But that plan went completely awry when you actually fell in love with your wife. Which I don’t blame you for. Arabella is a truly amazing woman who you absolutely don’t deserve.”
“I did not…” Gerald started to protest.
“That is why you are in this state? Because you feel nothing for Arabella? You don’t miss her, and it doesn’t kill you that your agreement is concluded, and she’s gone?”
Gerald turned his back and ignored Morgan. It was that he had just grown accustomed to Arabella being around, nothing more. It had to be that, and nothing more.
* * *
The next day, Gerald was sitting in his study, once more toiling away, pretending to be productive. His late-night conversation with Morgan did not help. He didn’t like stirring these thoughts inside him; they were getting him nowhere, but then again, he couldn’t ignore them.
He was ready to call it quits and get out of the house for once when his butler came into the room.
“Your Grace, you have a caller.”
“I simply do not have the time to see anyone,” Gerald quickly dismissed.
“Oh, but I am sure you can make the time,” a voice filled the study as someone entered.
Gerald’s blood flared, and a low growl left his lips involuntarily, because right there, in the middle of his study, uninvited and unwelcome, was none other than Joseph.
“You may leave us,” Gerald dismissed the butler.
If he was going to kill someone, it better be without any witnesses.
“As I said, Joseph, I have no time for anyone, especially not for you.”
“Is it too bad that I wanted to visit my brother, see how he’s faring, and thank him for his decisive actions? And here I was thinking you have no feelings for me.”
Gerald’s spine straightened like a sword. That smug look on Joseph’s face told him that he was up to no good.
“I know you have nasty habits, Joseph, but who would think that you would start drinking this early in the day?” Gerald commented emotionlessly. “But I have no use for your nonsense, so leave. Now.”
“How coldly you behave towards me, dear brother,” Joseph said with a pious look on his face.
“Count your blessings and leave now while I am still acting coldly against you,” Gerald commented. “You would hate to see me if I acted hotly.”
“And I was coming to thank you for avenging my name.”
“Whatever are you talking about?”
“I hear that you are sending Arabella away to Wales,” Joseph said with glee. “I must admit I find it quite extreme, but then again, she behaved dreadfully at the wedding. It was only fair to be punished for such a torrid gesture.”
“What did you say?”
Gerald felt the earth sweep underneath his feet. Surely Joseph was playing some kind of trick on him.
“Arabella is headed to Wales. Perhaps some time away will teach her some manners. That was no way for a Duchess to behave, after all. And what did she expect? That you would honor her over your own blood?”
Gerald felt the blood boiling inside him, and at the same time, his limbs grew cold. Arabella was leaving for Wales, and this fool, and perhaps the whole of the ton, believed that this was punishment for her behavior.
“If there was anything that I should be doing, it was congratulating Arabella and giving her a gift. In fact, I had commented that the next time she decides to throw something in your face, it should be something hot.”
Joseph smiled that smug smile on his face.
“You really didn’t know that Her Grace was leaving for Wales?” Joseph chuckled. “How interesting. It seems that your little wife has grown quite adventurous. She’s taking the trip after all, accompanied only by her sister and her maid.”
Joseph tilted his head in open threat.
“It is such a long way to Wales,” he said as if thoughtful. “So many things can happen to women travelling alone for such a great distance.”
Gerald heard the threat underneath his words. His anger got hold of him, and he could barely contain a civil reaction. What he really wanted to do was grab Joseph and hit him unconscious, just to shut his mouth.
Instead, he took one precise, calculated step towards Joseph. He didn’t have to pull closer. The intent was quite clear, and thankfully, his stepbrother got the message and retreated just a little and looked away.
“It seems to me,” Gerald said in finality, “that I have fed the snakes in my family for far too long.”
Joseph’s look dropped its smug easiness. His mask slipped a little, but he still made no move.
“I have tolerated your games for years now out of some stupid responsibility just because we share our father’s blood. But since that matters little to you, as it seems, I realize that it shouldn’t matter to me either.”
He leaned a little bit closer, his eyes staring into Joseph like a predator begging its prey to run. Joseph swallowed hard.
“I should cut your allowance to teach you some manners. When you find yourself drowning in debt, ridiculed by the whole ton, perhaps then you will learn how magnanimous I have been with you all these years.”
Panic washed over Joseph. After all these years and after all that Joseph had done to him, this was the first time Gerald had truly threatened his brother with the one thing that he truly longed for: money.
“The ton calls me the Cruel Duke,” Gerald snarled at him. “I will show you and everyone the true meaning of the word.”
“You cannot do this,” Joseph said, trembling.
“I can. You own nothing that I have not provided with grace. You have no claim on our father’s estate. I am now the Duke in his stead, and I decide where to allocate my funds. And it seems that I have funded your depravity for far too long. This will end now.”
“No, Gerald, you can’t-”
“Your Grace,” Gerald demanded. “You will address me properly.”
“Your Grace, please-”
“Begging me is a very good start. Get out of my sight before I decide to cut you off right here and now.”
Joseph scrambled away without saying anything, in a hurry to get out of Gerald’s way, hoping that he would forget him.
The moment Joseph was out of the way, and he was alone, he let out the breath that he was holding. Arabella. He had to go and see Arabella right this minute.
Morgan was right. He was an absolute idiot. He just let Arabella go, and now she was alone, exposed to danger. He couldn’t even bear the thought that she wouldn’t be here. He missed her. God, more than missed her. He needed her.
He grabbed his coat and flew out of the house.
He called for his carriage and ordered it to go straight to Lambourne Manor.
And on the way, he was crumbling as panic set in.
He had to see her and tell her all that he should have said, all that he felt.
And if she still decided to go to Wales, he would escort her and then leave her alone.
When he saw Arabella’s paternal home, he felt his heart settle. Everything was going to be OK. He was going to explain to Arabella, ask her to forgive him, and he would accept any answer she would give, only that he would not tolerate her putting herself in danger.
He didn’t even wait to be announced. He just burst into the house, the staff unable to stop him.
“Arabella!”
Oswald came down the stairs from his study, looking at him as if he had gone mad, which was not entirely false.
“Your Grace, what are you doing here?”
“Where is Arabella? I need to talk to her.”
“She’s not here. She has left for Wales with Bridget. I thought you were aware of this.”
“When? When did she leave?”
“They… they left this morning.”
Gerald stood petrified, his heart heavy. She left. She left, and she still doesn’t know how he… No. He’s not going to let her go another mile without knowing, without understanding.
He ran outside and got into his carriage.
“Take the road to Wales. And fast.”