Chapter 18
M organ knew that, if his brother had no interest in taking a wife, then he would have to do so.
He was not the most eligible; his brother was, but the second son of a duke was nothing to scoff at for the hopeful young ladies of the ton.
It would be easy enough to find someone willing, he thought, and once he had settled that matter he could possibly prove to Thomas that he had to become a man too.
Embarrassment was, after all, the only thing that made him change.
And so, he found a nice girl and courted her. She was pleasant enough, and pretty, and that was all he required. He was hardly a man himself in those respects. Fortunately, Lady Annabelle was a good match for him that way.
"Do you truly think he makes a worthy duke?" she asked him during tea one day. "I understand that he is the oldest, but… well, he is not exactly what one pictures when they think of the nobility."
"Perhaps not, but that is not for us to question. It is the way things are."
"Indeed, but at least when we are married and he decides this is not the life he wants, we shall have the matter settled for us."
"You certainly have high expectations."
"I always have. Being one of seven children gives one a desire to stand out. I am more than happy with what you have, but to be a duchess, well, there is no comparison."
She was a social climber, and Morgan knew that, but he did not mind that so much. She was a pretty lady, with striking blonde hair and green eyes, and she came from a good family. That was all that he needed for the marriage he was seeking.
"You know, my brother may never give up his title."
"Perhaps it will be stripped from him then, as you and I both know he needs to do better."
"And if all goes to plan, he will. Fear not, my family name is respected and we are very fortunate. Duchess or not, you shall be very well taken care of."
But she hated his hesitancy, and Morgan could sense it. She wanted to be more than the wife of a second born son, and it was the one thing that he did not see changing.
Even so, he never would have expected her betrayal.
He had not wanted to attend the ball that evening.
He did not want to go into society with his father recently dead, nor did he want to hear a thousand fake apologies.
He did not want to listen to the ingenuine sympathy that was bound to come his way.
It was for the best that he did not go at all, and mourned in peace.
"Brother, I shall not hear any of that," Thomas groaned when Morgan told him as much. "You refuse to frequent our club with me, but you will not refuse a societal event. I am the Duke now, and I do not think I am able to do it alone."
"I do not want to hear anything more about our loss."
"It shall be worse for me in any case. They will look at me as though I am happy about it."
Morgan had to accept that. With newly titled nobility, there was always the assumption that they were more pleased to have a title bestowed upon them than they were upset at their father's loss.
He knew there would be many whispers of that about Thomas, as all he had done since gaining the dukedom was go to White's and drink.
"Very well, I will go, but you are not to leave me at any point during the night. We will be there for one another, yes?"
"Of course. I promise."
But Thomas' promise meant as much as any other one he made. It had only been five minutes when he vanished, and Morgan rolled his eyes and allowed the ton to begin.
Except, to his surprise, there was no word of their loss.
All that anyone cared to discuss was how awful Thomas would be as duke.
The worst of it was that, though he tended to agree with the mutterings, he wanted to defend his brother.
He could not, however, as it would have been viewed as an outburst and only worsen the rumors.
He stepped outside, and he considered leaving altogether, but the gardens were lovely and he decided instead to marvel at them until the evening had drawn to a close.
Then, he would take Thomas sharply by the arm and leave, giving him yet another lecture that he would not listen to the following morning.
"Oh, My Lord, it is dreadful. Can you imagine it?"
He bristled. He would have recognized that voice anywhere, as it was none other than that of his betrothed. He remained still, waiting for her to pass by so that he could see who she was with, but they never did. They remained behind him, and so he turned around to look at them.
It was indeed Lady Annabelle, accompanied by a gentleman that Morgan recognized.
It was David Beaufort, a Frenchman that had recently returned to accept the title of Viscount of Fremton after a relative had passed.
The Fremtons were known to be incredibly wealthy, according to Thomas, and as a titled man he was precisely what Lady Annabelle had been searching for.
"I cannot fathom why you ever agreed to an engagement," Fremton laughed. "You should never have lowered yourself to that man."
"To that bear, you mean," she giggled, her fan swept across her in a way that made Morgan nauseous. "If only I had another gentleman willing to protect me from him."
"Perhaps you might soon find one."
"Perhaps I already have."
She was pressed against him, and if anyone were to see them in such a situation they would have been forced to marry one another regardless.
Morgan did not love her, but he had respected her a great deal and all of that fell away at that moment.
When they kissed, he felt his heart fall.
Without thinking, he stepped out from hiding and strode toward them.
"Your Grace!" Lady Annabelle gasped. "This is a misunderstanding, I–"
"I have already heard everything," he sighed. "Let us not do all of this. I shall take back the ring, and the two of you may do as you please."
"But–"
"Enjoy your life together," he nodded to Fremton. "I hope that your new wife learns to speak French, as her talent as it stands is nothing to be too pleased with."
He took Lady Annabelle's hand, removed the ring from her finger, and walked away.
He never thought about her again. Mercifully, with how many escapades Thomas had, Morgan was too preoccupied to give a moment to the lady he had proposed to. She faded from memory, and then he married Dorothy, and it had all ended there.
"Morgan,
If you are reading this, then you shall be more furious with me than ever. Fortunately, I will not be around to see any of it.
I should have told you long ago that I was spending time with a lady, but I knew you would force me to marry her. I do not want to marry her, and now I must do what is necessary to avoid that.
She has a daughter. We have one, I should say. I am not prepared for that, and I have done enough to this family without adding an illegitimate child to all of it. This is the only way to fix all of this. I know that you will never forgive me, but I do not know what else to do.
When I am gone, I shall need you to provide for the lady.
I know that it is yet another burden for you to take care of, but you may consider it my final unruly action.
It is also the final thing that I shall ever ask of you.
I must also tell you, of course, who she is, but that is where you will truly loathe me.
I should have told you, and I apologize for that.
The evening your engagement came to an end, I had left you alone.
I was with the lady then, and I have been with her many times since.
She was in love with me, but nothing could be done about it.
You see, she was Lady Annabelle's sister, Elizabeth Blackwood.
When the two of you were betrothed, we knew that we could never marry.
When the engagement was cancelled, she and I considered marriage, but then the child came.
I abandoned her. I should not have, but I did.
I have been sending funds to her, but she wants more than that. She expects me to marry her, but I cannot. I could never do that to you. You have been stoic about Lady Annabelle, and you do not deserve to spend your life reminded of it because of a selfish decision that Lady Elizabeth and I made.
Forgive me, Morgan. I know you may never do so, but I know that you will at least care for these girls in a way that I never did.
Yours sincerely,
Thomas Lockheart
The Duke of Ulverston"
His hands trembled. It had been the ultimate betrayal, and it had taken three years for Morgan to learn of it.
Thomas could not have known that Lady Elizabeth would not be taken care of, and that she would take matters into her own hands.
He would have assumed that Morgan would find the letter and then the lady and do what had to be done, but that was not what had taken place.
Instead, the lady was left abandoned and was left with what she felt was no other choice. His skin began to crawl.
He looked up at Dorothy, who was looking at him expectantly. He had told her everything about Lady Annabelle, but he had not yet given her the letter to read. He was too busy doing so over and over, hoping that if he did so it might begin to make more sense.
"What is it?" she asked.
"Are you not angry with me?"
"Do I have reason to be?"
"I never told you that I had been engaged."
"I never asked. Believe me, I do not care. Under the circumstances, our marriage being arranged that is, there was no reason for me to know. That is not what I care about. I want to know why you look so… so angry."
He blinked. Was he angry? He had every right to be, but he did not seem to have it in him.
"I spent years trying to help my brother," he said quietly. "I thought that If I helped him when he found himself in situations that he could not control, eventually he would have to see things differently. Instead, he decided I would always be there."
"That is not your fault. You did all that you could."
"But it was not enough. I was not able to prevent this."
He handed her the letter, and she read it quickly. As she reached what he imagined was the lady's name, she looked up at him with confusion in her eyes.
"My word," she gasped, "you could never have guessed that he would do something like that to you."
"No, which is likely why I never thought of her."
"Do you still plan to tell Catherine about her?"
"I shall have to. What other choice do I have?
I promised her that I would tell her who her mother was, and that she could visit her resting place.
What happened to me is of no consequence.
The only thing that matters is that she finds her answers, and that among everything that has happened to her she can find peace. "
Dorothy looked at him with sympathy, but he did not hate it. If anything, it was precisely what he needed. He felt foolish for thinking about the past, as he should have moved past it, but to see someone supporting him meant more than he ever would have expected.
"Would you like to tell her alone, or would you like me to be there?"
He did not know the answer to that.
"Would you like to be there?"
"I believe I would, yes. I should very much like to be there for you, and if I am there then you will not need to tell me about it afterward."
He sighed, nodding and walking to the door, with her following behind.
"Very well then. Let us go and tell her."