Chapter Twenty-Nine
Xander stood on the Harringtons’ doorstep, his mother at his side and North hovering behind him. He’d asked Luke for suggestions on gifts for the birthday earl. Luke had laughed and not been able to offer anything.
“How are you best friends?” he asked, frustrated.
“’Tis because we are best friends. The gifts I know of would not work for someone who doesn’t know a good many of his secrets.”
“Right, then. Cigars? Brandy?”
“Oh, I know. Latin poetry. But not Catullus or Ovid.”
“You do realize I don’t know any Latin. Or what he’d have read in university?”
“That’s fine. Ask a bookseller. In fact, go to this one. ’Tis one we all prefer.” Luke jotted down a name and address. “Even if he’s read it, he’ll appreciate the thought and might enjoy it again.”
“Should I ask what you’re getting him?”
“Nope.” Luke grinned.
“Will I be an outsider in this gathering?”
“Well, some spend a bit more time together because they live in London for most of the year, but not everyone knows each other as well. ’Tis more like overlapping circles.”
“I suppose I’ll know enough people. Better than the ball the other night, and I muddled through that.”
“That’s the spirit, man!” Luke slapped him on the back.
The day of the party was a rare semi-sunny spring day, and they were shown through the house to where Charlotte had set the gathering.
A buffet table filled with pastries and finger foods stood against one wall, and additional chairs had been brought in from other rooms, making it crowded.
But at the back of the room, French doors stood open to the garden, inviting guests to stand, sit, or stroll without feeling cramped.
North stopped at the buffet, giving Xander a moment to observe the occupants.
Belle and Charlotte were by the table, pointing at different things. They seemed to be arguing around mouthfuls of food, trading items from each others’ plates.
Charlotte turned when they entered and gestured Eleanor over. Swallowing hastily, she created a plate for Eleanor with several delicious-looking treats and shoved it at her guest. “Please, you are the tiebreaker. Which of these is the best?”
Eleanor laughed and took a bite of one. She moaned in pleasure.
Xander made a note to try everything on that table at some point, but in the meantime, he needed to greet his host. He’d met William several times when he was here helping Luke.
The men were standing in the garden, talking, and sipping what Xander suspected was whisky except Luke’s which he knew would be cider.
His stepbrother hated cider and therefore would sip one slowly throughout the party to avoid his previous dependence on whisky.
They introduced him to Evan Gardner, the Earl of Cheltenham, and Michael Slade, the Earl of Mansfield.
William asked if he wanted a drink and started to head inside, but Luke gestured for him to stay. “I’ll get it. Enjoy your party.”
As Xander followed Luke through the rear room to a library, he asked, “Are there any other people here?”
“Cheltie’s and Slade’s wives are here, likely in the kitchen. The other two couples who might have attended are not in London at the moment.”
“Why would countesses be in the kitchen? Even I know that’s unusual.”
Luke snorted a laugh. “Let me ask you a different question first. Do you know my lovely bride’s history?”
Xander shifted uncomfortably. “Do you mean…with your father?”
Luke smiled easily, unperturbed. “That’s only a small fraction of it. You know she was a courtesan for more than a decade before I took her off the market.”
Xander shook his head.
Before he could say anything, Belle slid into the crook of her husband’s arm. “Nice try. I took myself off the market. You were supposed to be the last man I had to take care of.”
“And so I am, love,” he said, kissing her hair.
“What does this have to do with the ladies in the kitchen?” Xander asked, uncomfortable with this discussion.
“Penelope, who by the way, made all those delicious delicacies in the other room, was a working-class girl who wanted to own a bakery. She became a courtesan in order to fund that shop.”
“Given the side glances I’ve received on the streets and in my club, with my title”—Xander’s mouth twisted a little—“I confess to surprise that you are so comfortable sharing that past.”
“The truth always gets out. And certainly there are invitations we’ll never be privy to, but we don’t want those anyway,” Luke said with a shrug.
“You’d also be surprised how much is forgiven when some pompous jackass’s spoiled son needs Luke’s services,” Belle added with a satisfied grin.
“How did Michael meet his wife?”
“Oh, he bid on her at a virgin auction, to be his courtesan,” Belle replied in a blithe tone, only to laugh when Xander spewed his sip of whisky back into his glass.
Luke leaned forward, and Xander wondered if they had planned this conversation. “Cheltie met his wife when she came to him for funding to expand her apothecary business…”
Xander raised his glass, but Luke put his hand on Xander’s arm to stop him from attempting another drink, “…at a sex party.”
He blinked. Tried to form a response. “That’s nice” didn’t seem adequate. He blinked again, lowering his glass.
“Why, you might ask, are we sharing all this with you at once?” Belle asked.
Xander narrowed his eyes. He’d been correct; it had been preplanned. “I might.”
“For two reasons.” She straightened away from her husband.
“First, I hope you’ll understand that as a woman who worked hard to gain independence so she’d never have to rely on a man’s whim for her happiness—as did Cheltie’s wife, Slade’s wife, possibly even your mother—I had limited ways to influence my future.
Something you did not have to worry about even before you were a duke.
Think about the laws you’ve seen and how many of them even refer to women, much less address the rights of women.
We are largely ignored by society and governed at the whim of men. ”
Luke squeezed her shoulder, and she took a breath. “I apologize, for my fervency not my content. ’Tis a subject near and dear to my heart.”
“Thank you for being so candid with me,” Xander murmured. “Dare I ask what the second reason is?”
Belle smiled. “To show you that not all Londoners are nobs, not all members of the Ton value only titles, and that even a pub manager duke can be happy here when his presence is needed in Town.”
Xander wondered how she’d gotten hold of that moniker. She was a formidable force, better to have as a friend than a foe.
Belle’s grin turned devilish. “By the way, we went to visit Evie yesterday. And by we, I mean Charlotte, myself, and your darling mother. And Evie added one event you neglected to mention—her declaration of love and apology. She said your reaction was to laugh in her face and slam a door. I’ll let you explain that one to your mother.
Either way, I’d encourage you to think about the efforts other women have had to make to secure their future before deciding a well-intentioned lie is so terrible. ”
With that, she walked away, leaving Luke to sip his cider and wait for Xander to recover.
* * * *
Xander spent the rest of the party in near silence watching the women, the men, and the men’s attendance on their women.
His mother said almost as little as he did.
He wondered whether that was because she was always nervous in London or around anyone who was a lord this or lady that, or because she was waiting to talk to him about his reaction to Evie’s apology.
He shuddered at the prospect of that. The lesson his mother harped on the most as he and Bruce grew up was to always treat women with respect.
Luke hung close, their previous time together in London giving them more than a passing relationship. He also had deeper insight into Xander’s experiences at the hands of titled lords.
North fetched his mother a plate and brought it to where she sat talking to Belle and Charlotte.
His stepfather then leaned down to smooth her hair and kiss her temple, the act surprising Xander based on his experience with nobs.
He’d seen them be affectionate at home, but no titled lords expressed such a thing in public.
Luke leaned in and said, “My father was never demonstrative with my mother like that. In fact, I’m not sure he was as attentive, although he loved her dearly and took years to get over her.
My memories are vague, but I suspect she would have been the one making him a plate whilst he discussed politics or business. ”
Xander narrowed his eyes at his stepbrother.
Enough was enough. They all thought there was a way back to a relationship with Evie, but he couldn’t see it.
“You don’t need to beat me over the head with it.
I got your message and Belle’s. I’m not quite sure what to do with all that information, however. ”
“I suppose it depends on whether you’re in love with her, too. The women seem to think you are, and they’re rarely wrong.”
Xander winced. His mother’s chastisement later would include that. “I thought I was. But trust is important to me. And she broke mine in the worst way she could have—lying and being a titled nob.”
“Did she break your trust, or hurt your feelings? If her purposes were not nefarious, then it was a mistake in judgment on her part. A terrible one, as it was, given your dislike of us ‘nobs,’ but a mistake. And in order to succeed, any relationship has to include forgiveness. You’ll make mistakes.
Hellfire, by the sound of it, you already have. ”
Xander pressed his lips together when Luke laughed at his own joke. “So, what? I tell her I forgive her? Then what?”
Luke guffawed, bending over as though unable to catch his breath from laughing too hard. Not the reaction he’d hoped for, and not helpful in suggesting anything better.
Belle looked around but remained sitting. Apparently, she’d said her piece.