Chapter Twenty-Seven
Betrayal by a trusted friend was the worst sort.
Perfidy by someone he’d thought he’d loved was beyond imaginable.
He’d confided in Evie, allowed her to see his failings and lack of confidence, and bared his soul to her as much as his body.
Blazes, he’d relied on her to direct his votes in Parliament. Now Xander was questioning everything.
Of course, once he’d learned she was Ton, it all made sense. Duplicitous through and through, the lot of them.
To think he’d considered breaking off his betrothal—with her—in order to marry her. He frowned. ’Twas the extremity of his luck that such a sentence could make sense. No one else would believe it.
Finally free of houseguests, including the little servant-turned-liar, Xander wasted no time informing his staff that he’d be traveling to Northumberland. In all the chaos of discovering Evie’s identity, he’d not had a moment to write to Jacob Lancaster, so he’d do that from his stepfather’s.
In a private conversation, he checked with Fletcher on what members of the household typically traveled with a duke, and in a separate talk with Munroe, he assured the steward of his faith in his management skills. After all, Munroe oversaw it quite well before Xander had arrived.
With everything as settled as he could manage, they departed. The weather was thankfully too uncertain for him to be expected to ride a horse, so he could sit in the carriage without losing face. It was only a two-day ride to his family.
At the castle, the footman who answered the door informed him that his mother was pacing the floor; she’d been hovering in the great hall for two hours.
Indeed, he spied her over the servant’s shoulder. Her familiar loving face comforted him. Here, he didn’t have to be in charge. It helped that he knew from her letters that North treated her like a queen and their marriage was happy.
She rushed him as soon as he removed his overcoat. “Xander, I was so pleased to get your note. We’d hesitated to come to you until we’d heard from you that you’d settled into your new home. And look at you.”
He’d worn a cravat and waistcoat that day, despite the long hours in a coach that made him want to rip it off and open his collar, as he’d known it would make her happy. Her step back and head tilt to admire him made him smirk and spread his arms. “Look at me, Mama. A godforsaken duke.”
She gasped. “Oh my boy. Are you still angry about joining the Terrible Ton as you called them?”
“A little.” He shrugged. “There’s been a complication I wanted to discuss with you and North if he’s available.”
“He’s here, just out meeting with some tenants at the moment. Perhaps tomorrow? Can we have today to enjoy being together? Your brother is due for supper as well.”
“That sounds lovely. Thank you, Mama,” he said with a kiss to her cheek.
In the end, a question from his brother about heirs brought out the marriage contract dilemma and the subterfuge of his potential bride, so the discussion did not wait for the morning.
Eleanor quizzed him about Evie, Bruce asked if he’d been attracted to her, and North leaned back in his chair and listened, sipping wine.
Eleanor clapped her hands. “I like her. I want to meet her.”
Xander shook his head, catching North doing the same but with a smile. “Haven’t you been listening, Mama? She deceived me for weeks. I don’t plan on ever seeing her again.”
“I wouldn’t go that far,” North said, his first words on the subject. “London is a small town in many ways. When you’re in Town for Parliament or estate business, there is an expectation that you attend at least a few social gatherings. As a duke, you’ll have even more pressure than me.”
Eleanor jumped in. “She helped you. I still want to meet her, although I hate London nearly as much as you do.”
As the earl’s second wife, and a commoner, she was unaccustomed to the hours, the expectations, and the snobbery she’d encountered on her first two trips south. She had been quite vocal about her desire to avoid the place as often as her husband’s station allowed.
“You may get your wish, my dear,” North rumbled. Turning to Xander, he added, “It appears you’re ready for me to introduce you to some allies in Lords and help you sift through some of the invitations likely waiting for you at your London home.”
* * * *
They sent a note ahead to Xander’s London household to allow them to prepare for his arrival, while he caught his family up on what he’d learned and life as a duke.
Bruce snorted with laughter at his description of his escapes to the pub.
The few days were the most relaxed he’d been in months.
But while Northumberland and family were familiar and comfortable, he took time to scribble a note to Munroe about his next destination, and a separate note to Mrs. Betters to ensure she had everything she needed.
He already thought of Rutland and its people as home.
Upon arriving in London, they walked through Xander’s house in the heart of Mayfair.
He marveled again at the excessive opulence.
Dukes had to entertain, and some of his predecessors had had families.
But it still felt like too much wasted space that could house more people, and an accumulation of wood that would need polishing by a maid with a heart-shaped bottom.
No, he needed to stop thinking of her, particularly as a maid.
North’s London home was on the eastern edge of that neighborhood.
Luke and his wife Belle stayed in the home she’d already owned when they met, several neighborhoods away, close to where he’d bought property for the group home.
Luke and Belle came for visiting hours on their first full day in Town, and Xander was struck by the fact that both North’s and Luke’s wives were untitled before they married.
In fact, Belle, ten years older than Luke, had been a courtesan, and North had been one of her clients.
It was proof that his idea of marrying a maid hadn’t been as outlandish as he’d feared.
And of course, Evie was not actually a maid.
The ascension to titles was also proof that he’d be accepted by some despite his background, if not all.
Perhaps one day the city would not make him itch for a country village.
North had wanted to wait to go through the invitations for Luke and Belle’s arrival.
Xander was surprised when Belle was the one to sort the pile, although on second thought, he realized he shouldn’t be.
She knew more about the Ton than any of them, having spent more time in London and much of that socializing, albeit not always in polite circles.
She barely glanced at the senders’ names before putting them into three piles.
“Bigot, snob, coxcomb, outright cove,” were apparently the “no” pile.
Slags, clodhoppers, and eccentrics were maybes.
There were only three yeses. Luke’s best friend William, the Earl of Harrington, was having a birthday party; she seemed to think Xander had been invited due to his familial connection to Luke.
Belle noted that the Earl of Cheltenham, who she referred to as Cheltie, would be there, and called him the most important man in London to know, with William’s wife a close second.
They were friends and between the two of them, they had funded a good chunk of the small businesses in London, especially those owned by women.
In fact, Cheltie had met his wife that way.
The other two invitations were for fêtes held by members of the House of Lords’ Whig party who could be important allies, one of which was before the birthday celebration.
North knew them both, although Luke did not.
He was happy to leave the running of the earldom and politics to his father as much as North allowed, so he could focus on his own enterprise.
Belle slanted him a look, glancing at Xander’s rather loosely tied cravat. “Do you have appropriate London attire?”
“Probably not.”
She nodded. “We shall get you sorted. In the meantime, tell me what brought you down?”
So Xander had to relay the story once again.
Belle nodded throughout. “I don’t know that I’ll be able to find out if the Craven clan will be at any of these.” She tapped the three prioritized invitations. “Are you prepared to encounter them? Do they know you’re in Town?”
Xander nodded, then shook his head.
“Given that no clarification of the marriage contract has been made publicly, courtesy demands that you send a note informing them. You’d normally be expected to visit as well, but I think we can forego that.”
He sighed, belatedly recalling what a force of nature she was. Luke’s charitable project had been expedited due to her connections and no-nonsense attitude. “What else?”
“North, I assume you’ll introduce him at your club and ensure the transition of membership?”
“If needed. We’re meeting with his London solicitor tomorrow on a number of matters, and he may have already arranged for that at wherever the previous duke was a member.”
“I’ll get an appointment with a tailor by tomorrow morning. After that, you’ll be so busy you won’t have a moment to breathe. Take it one interaction, one person at a time, and I can come by each morning to go over who you’ve met and what their story is, even if Luke is at the other house.”
“Thank you.” He took a deep breath and looked around the room. If he had to deal with London and nobs, he had the best supporters around him he could ask for. Barring Evie, anyway. Reminding himself she was a liar, he repeated, “Thank you all for your love and support.”