Chapter 7 #2
After two years, rumors had begun to settle in that she was barren, just as she and Philip had anticipated.
Philip’s title and estate would eventually pass to Michael, and then Michael’s firstborn son, and life would gallop onward.
Both she and Philip had agreed that a marriage of friendship was far better than anything else either of them would encounter—they each knew one another’s secrets, accepted them, and were willing to guard them.
Philip would not find another bride so amenable, and if she married another man, Audrey would forever wonder if her “affliction” as her mother had once called it, would ever be exposed.
A marriage of friendship was the safest option for them both—and as luck would have it, they enjoyed one another’s company.
However, Genie’s glow of happiness over the forthcoming baby rubbed at Audrey in a way it shouldn’t. Why the devil should she care? It was a baby. They were born every day.
Carrigan pulled to a stop, and in another few moments, Audrey found herself in the foyer of number 38 Grosvenor Square.
New paper adorned the walls, an understated, silver-and-gray ivy pattern.
The previous paper had been a pretty yellow floral, and that had been new as well.
Audrey raised one brow and wondered how many more patterns before Genie was satisfied.
She couldn’t imagine caring enough about the foyer paper at Violet House to have it changed once, let alone twice.
Andrews, the butler, showed Audrey into the front sitting room and left.
She took a turn around the room, too restless to sit and wait patiently.
How long would Philip remain in that upstairs tavern room before he could come home?
There would be a grand jury hearing and then perhaps a trial in the House of the Lords…
but his privilege of peerage, even at the highest ranking of duke, didn’t seem to be springing him from Bow Street.
And from her visit earlier, she wasn’t certain he even wished to come home.
He was wallowing. There was not a doubt in her mind that he felt guilty about something.
But it couldn’t be the murder.
“Audrey?” Genie’s soft voice came from the sitting room entrance. Her sister-in-law hesitated in the doorway. Her golden-brown hair was swept up into a loose bun, with two curls fringing each temple. She wore a day dress, the blue linen billowing around her to obscure any hint of a swelling belly.
“My apologies, Genie, I should have sent word first that I planned to call.”
“Nonsense.” A smile wobbled over her lips. She came forward, her steps equally unsure. “Michael advised me to leave you be, otherwise I would have called on you myself.”
Of course, he’d advised as much. Audrey was a social pariah now that her husband sat in prison for murder.
She felt a surprising burst of appreciation for Millie, who had taken the risk.
Belatedly, she registered that no one else, not even Genie, had attempted to call on her.
Even if Barton had turned them away, he would have passed on their cards to Greer, who would have then given them to Audrey.
So caught up in thoughts of Philip and Mr. Marsden and her investigation, she hadn’t stopped to give it a thought until now.
It felt like all the air had fled her lungs as Genie surged forward and clasped Audrey in an embrace.
“Oh, my darling, I cannot believe this horror is happening.”
Audrey tried to pull back, but Genie hung on another awkward moment. Nothing, no image or vision, formed, and another rush of unexpected jealousy arose inside her for the woman. Genie had no demons to haunt her. She was far too happy and coddled to possess them.
Unlike Mr. Marsden. The brown-haired woman that had erupted in Audrey’s vision when he’d grasped her by the elbow was still in the shallow recesses of her own memory. Her delicate nose and creamy skin and full mouth. Whoever she was to him, she was important.
Audrey didn’t wish to think about the officer, however.
Genie finally released her hold. She stepped away and the two of them took seats around a small cherry wood table.
“I’ve rung for tea,” Genie said. “You will stay and visit as long as you like. Please don’t feel you must leave.”
Audrey hadn’t—at least, not until Genie mentioned it. Just days before, Audrey would have been an illustrious guest in any household. Now, however, Genie’s nervous demeanor showcased how brittle her standing in society truly was.
“I cannot stay long,” she told her sister-in-law. “I only needed to be out of Violet House for a little while.”
“It must be dreadful without Philip there. I can’t imagine if it were Michael…
if he were taken from me…” Tears glistened in Genie’s eyes, and Audrey felt a stroke of guilt.
Genie was indeed madly in love with Michael, and he with her, and Audrey knew the pair of them believed the same regard existed between her and Philip.
Childhood friends who grew to be lovers.
And while Audrey did love Philip, it had been a chore to put on the facade of deeper, truer love.
She simply couldn’t match the way Genie looked at Michael with such blatant admiration and longing.
It tended to leave her feeling like a fraud.
“I’m worried for him,” Audrey admitted, again feeling too cool and bland in the face of Genie’s emotional reaction.
“Of course, you are,” she replied. “Michael told me Philip isn’t speaking. That he’s in some horrible stupor.”
Audrey nodded, saying nothing of her visit to the Brown Bear earlier, or the fact that he had broken his silence—at least with her. She didn’t want Michael to know of her visit. He would not approve, and his censure was not something she needed.
“If he cannot defend himself—” Genie started to say.
“Please, stop.” Audrey closed her eyes. She had already gone over every possibility during her sleepless night.
If Philip was not deemed fit to stand trial in the House of Lords, he might be proclaimed insensible.
Insane. He would be sent away to an asylum most likely.
It had been one of his most intense fears, ever since he’d lost someone once before to such an institution.
“Forgive me,” Genie said after moment. “This must be torture for you.”
Audrey gathered herself, trying not to think of the things that had kept her awake last night. Like the fact that Philip could be stripped of his title, his fortune, his estates, and holdings…that he could be sent away by force the same way the first man he’d ever cared for had been.
Frederick Walker and Philip had been close at Cambridge, finding a common preference to books than to shooting, and conversation and music to billiards.
In Freddie, Philip found a friend. Then, he’d become something more.
Unfortunately, over a summer holiday from term, Freddie was discovered by his father in a tryst with another young man.
Had it been a woman, a wedding would have ensued.
Instead, Freddie’s father had sent him to the north, to a place much like the one Audrey had suffered for two wretched years when she’d been seventeen years of age.
She had never known Freddie Walker, but she could sympathize with him.
Philip had learned of his circumstances through gossip at Cambridge when term resumed, and he had not seen him again. It was as if Freddie had been erased from existence. Ever since, the fear that he would be erased had lived in the back of his mind.
“It is Philip going through the torture, not I,” Audrey now told Genie.
“Don’t discount your own adversity,” she replied, and while Audrey knew the advice was well-meant, she bristled.
The only thing that hung in the balance for Audrey was her reputation and social standing.
Philip stood to lose so much more…unless Audrey could find the one who had truly harmed Miss Lovejoy.
She cast her whole attention onto her sister-in-law.
Genie was a kind soul, sweet and earnest. Sometimes, Audrey wondered if Genie didn’t feel gloriously lucky to have won the affection of a younger man from such solid circumstances.
Though perhaps that wasn’t charitable. Audrey herself had felt lucky, too, when Philip had proposed a marriage of friendship.
It had saved her, much as Genie had been saved from spinsterhood.
Audrey believed Genie sincerely cared for her and Philip. She was bargaining on it, in fact.
“I’ve been closed up at Violet House, afraid to so much as take a breath. I thought I might convince you to take a turn with me in the park?”
It was just past two; a fashionable time for ladies and gentlemen of good society to be parading through Hyde Park.
A quiver of uncertainty, and a little bit of tension, coiled in her stomach at the thought of seeing her peers, but if she could lay eyes upon Lady Wimbly and find an excuse to speak to her…
well, perhaps she could find something useful for her investigation.
She saw her misgivings reflected in Genie’s expression. “Oh. Well, of course fresh air would be good for your restless state,” she began, though clearly flummoxed on what more to say.
To be seen with the Duchess of Fournier in so visible a place would be a social gamble, and Audrey was almost certain Michael had advised his wife to do no such thing.
Genie continued to waver. Audrey made her next move by feigning a gasp and averting her eyes. “Of course, I understand. How thoughtless of me. You can’t possibly be seen with someone like me now. Please excuse me, Genie, I meant no harm.”
Audrey stood, surprised to feel the sting of real tears behind her lashes. Perhaps it wasn’t all an act, she considered as she started toward the sitting room door. It took only a few more moments before her sister-in-law crumbled.