Chapter 12 #2
“They vanish if they require a modicum of peace and quiet,” Dev’s father said teasingly. “Many have been the times when I have wished to escape to the country to avoid the noise of this family.”
He was teasing and his love for everyone around him was apparent, so the rest of them laughed.
“The Duke of Bedminster is a dragon,” James said, his eyes going wide for a moment. “I would not be surprised at all if Lord Castleton wished to flee to the country, or even the Continent, to get away from him.”
“Do you think Lord Castleton has slipped away to the Continent?” Amelia asked, tilting her head to the side as if considering it.
“He certainly has the means to go wherever he pleases,” Dev’s mother said.
“I do not think he does,” Evelyn countered her.
When she received questioning looks, she went on with, “My friend, Lady Charlotte, is familiar with Lord Castleton’s younger sister, Lady Diana.
She says that the Duke of Bedminster keeps everyone’s purse strings in that entire family tied tightly, and that Lord Castleton has never had access to his own money. ”
“Nonsense,” James said. “Every man, particularly every earl, has access to his own money.”
Dev glanced at Kitty as subtly as he could. Evelyn’s friend Charlotte had the right of things. Kit had been a virtual prisoner in his own home for too long.
Kitty met his sideways look with a worried one of her own. It made Dev wish he could spare his beloved the strain of listening to gossip about herself.
“Though it pains me to say it,” Dev’s father went on before Dev could devise a way to change the topic of conversation, “it seems as though it is likely that Lord Castleton has been killed. ”
“Do you think so, Papa?” Evelyn asked, the light of excitement in her eyes. For Kitty’s sake, Dev wanted to scold it out of her.
Dev’s father shrugged. “It seems entirely plausible that the earl was caught by footpads or other nefarious sorts while he was out and about. The men might not have known who they attacked and robbed, and they may have left him for dead.”
“But then would Scotland Yard not have found the body and identified it?” Evelyn asked.
Dev cleared his throat and sat a bit straighter. “Perhaps we could find a different topic of conversation for the final course of our meal?”
His family looked sheepish and repentant, glancing apologetically at Kitty as they did, and let the topic drop.
“Miss Dryden, you must come visit us all at Pewsey Park later this summer, when we are all in residence,” Dev’s mother said with an apologetic smile. “London is no place to pass the warmer months of the year, and the beauty of Wiltshire when it is in full bloom cannot be matched.”
“I…I believe I would enjoy that,” Kitty said, though her discomfort was obvious.
Supper continued, and Dev considered Kitty to be a true heroine as she sat through more questions, not to mention the general silliness of his family when they were left to themselves, mostly.
The next great test of everything came after the meal ended, when the ladies departed to their sitting room and the gentlemen retired to theirs.
“I am not certain I am ready to be left alone,” Kitty whispered as they left the dining room for the hall.
Dev was not certain either. He was not certain he wanted to be parted from his beloved just then. But he said, “You will be fine. My family already adores you, and I am certain they do not see you as anyone other than who you truly are.”
Kitty glanced up at him with a look of deepest fondness and gratitude. Dev’s words were evidently enough to give her the courage she needed to go with the ladies while he went with his father and brother.
“I never thought I would say this,” James teased him once they were alone in the study, “but Deveraux appears to have fallen in love at last.”
“I always knew he would find a woman who was his equal,” Dev’s father said, thumping Dev’s shoulder in approval. “Despite not being born into the highest circles of the ton , I find Miss Dryden to be lovely and the perfect complement to you.”
Dev sent his father a sideways look as he poured himself a glass of brandy. His father had no idea just how highly born Kitty was. “I like her,” he said. “Very much. She truly is everything I have always wished for and more.”
And if their luck held, his family would never know just how thorough that statement was.
He was not quite out of the woods yet, however. As soon as they sat down, James asked, “What do you think of this business with Lord Castleton, brother?”
Dev nearly swallowed his brandy wrong. “I beg your pardon?”
“What do you think has happened to the man?” James asked.
It was a simple question at first, but James’s expression quickly changed.
“Come to think of it, you were with Castleton in Hyde Park that afternoon. If I am not mistaken, that was the day the man disappeared. You do not know anything about the matter, do you?”
Dev tensed and used the excuse of downing another mouthful of brandy to consider his answer. Part of him was inclined to deny any knowledge of Castleton. A greater part of him understood that it was best to stay as close to the truth as possible.
“I do not know much,” he began cautiously, “but I can tell you that there were two men following Castleton that day.”
James frowned slightly. “Yes, I do seem to remember that,” he said. He hummed with concern and shook his head. “Now I am more worried for the man than ever. I fear the worst.”
“Scotland Yard will sort it,” Dev’s father said. “I have been mightily impressed at the courage and fortitude of those Peelers. It is my understanding that crime has greatly decreased since they came to be.”
“Not all crime,” James pointed out. “They were not able to save Castleton, if that is, indeed, what has happened to the poor man.”
“Yes, but they have done a great deal in other areas,” Dev’s father went on.
Dev was glad to let the conversation turn to a discussion of the merits of the Met. Anything that could keep Kitty out of any sort of discussion was a good thing, as far as he was concerned.
He was relieved to be reunited with Kitty fifteen minutes later and even more relieved to take her home. He could not do that until his mother pulled him aside and had a word with him, though.
“My darling, I just wanted to congratulate you on your find,” she whispered to Dev as Kitty was helped into her wrap and bonnet at the other side of the front hall. “She is the essence of charm and grace, which is quite unlike the women you have kept company with of late.”
His mother’s eyes held teasing, but Dev took that as a very good sign indeed. If she had suspected anything at all, she would not have eyed him like it was already time to order food for the wedding breakfast.
“Kitty is very much unlike any woman I have kept company with,” he said, not even meaning it as a concealed joke. “Which is why I feel as though my ship has found its home harbor at last.”
His mother smiled as if she had given him a magnificent gift.
“It is a pity she has no family left,” she said, keeping with the story they’d told about Kitty’s origins.
“I would very much have liked to invite them to stay with us in the country for a time. As it is, perhaps I should invite Lady Everly as her patroness. It has been too long since I have called on Lady Everly in any case.”
“Then you should call on her,” Dev said. He leaned in to kiss his mother’s cheek, partially as a way to end the conversation so that he could whisk Kitty home. “Let me know when you do.”
His mother was gracious. The entire family was kind and warm as they said their goodbyes to Kitty and saw her and Dev out the door.
“And there you have it,” Dev said, smiling as though he’d solved a riddle. “My family adores Kitty and is ready to accept you as one of their own.”
“I’ve never seen anything like it,” Kitty sighed, shaking her head. “I never knew families could be so…kind.”
Dev’s heart came close to breaking with those words. Kitty truly deserved more than she’d gotten in life. Fortunately, with the first hurdle crossed, it was growing increasingly likely that he’d be able to give Kitty everything she had always dreamed of and more.