Chapter Nine #4
They chattered on and left me to my thoughts, which were as scattered as the crowd we’d left at the Waymonts’.
No matter what Maggie or Georgiana said, I could not deny my disappointment with Lady Diana, though I could not quite place why I did not feel excited.
The dukedom needed someone like her—strong, opinionated, intelligent, and a sure leader.
But the woman could have been more amiable!
She could have at least tried to tell me what I wanted to hear.
Instead, I’d felt irritated, and not in the way Georgiana made me feel.
Georgiana irked me, but to humor. She bothered me, but predictably so.
In a way that was less frustrating, more I wanted to irk her right back.
I was surprised when the carriage came to a stop a few doors down from her brother’s apartment. So was she.
Her apartment door was wide open. A carriage was parked directly in front of it, being loaded with trunks by lantern light. It looked as though . . . she was leaving.
I stepped down, turning to help her, but she brushed past me.
“What is the meaning of this?” she asked. Her eyes were round, lips parted. “Sir, these are my trunks. Where is my brother?”
Where is my ring? These people could not leave without first giving me my ring! “I will find him,” I said, stepping forward. I was not even halfway to the door when Mr. Wood exited the apartment.
The man was in a bad way. Hair a mess, eyes bloodshot even under the lantern light. The top few buttons of his waistcoat were undone. He had not struck me as anything but proper, but perhaps, as Miss Wood had lectured, first impressions were not always as they seemed.
“Mr. Wood,” I called.
“Georgiana!” He seemed to either not have heard me or was blatantly disregarding me. “I’m so sorry. Amelia is unwell, and we must leave at once.”
“Peter,” she whispered, her voice a mixture of surprise and evident confusion, as she grasped his arms. “What has happened?”
“She fell.” He looked near to crying, and I wanted to look away—I should—but I had to know. “I received a letter a few hours ago. She fell hard on the stairs.”
Georgiana gasped. “And the baby?”
He swallowed hard. “Dr. Bennett said the baby is well, but how can we be sure? What if he’s wrong, Georgiana?”
“Oh, Peter,” Georgiana breathed, leaning in to her brother.
“We must go to her. I am so sorry, but I have to see her. I have to ensure she’s resting, and then dismiss whoever let her walk the stairs alone.”
Georgiana nodded, stepping back. “But I—” She looked over at me, and I felt oddly out of place. Oddly unsure of what to do or say, and I was never unsure.
We had plans. She had my ring. And though I could not fully understand the desperation Mr. Wood must be feeling, I envied him for it all the same. To be tied to and loyal to one person above all. I could not blame the man for rushing home.
I only wished I had put such a circumstance in the contract.
“Is everything well?” Maggie asked from the carriage. She stepped down alone. “Tell me you are not actually leaving so soon.”
Georgiana hung her head and frowned. “My sister-in-law has had an accident. And my brother is— It seems we must return home and ensure her well-being.”
“We shall try to return before the Season wanes,” Mr. Wood said to both Maggie and me.
But what if they didn’t?
“Try? I do not like that word one bit. We’ve made plans.” Maggie hooked her arm through Georgiana’s. “We must do something, Your Grace. What can we do to help?”
“That is everything, sir,” a servant said to Mr. Wood, and he looked more anxious than ever.
“Forgive me,” Mr. Wood said, “but we must go.”
“I understand your plight, sir, but surely your sister can have no reason to hurry off,” Maggie argued. Only a woman of her station would feel so bold. She looked to me. “We have plenty of rooms at Ashburn Abbey, do we not?”
My thoughts swirled in a panic. We did. She was clearly insinuating I give one of those rooms to Georgiana, but that seemed unwise for many reasons. The first being that it would look questionable to the ton. I cleared my throat. “I worry—”
“There would be rumors,” Georgiana finished my thought.
Sensible woman. “That, yes.”
“Not if she was a guest of mine.” Maggie looked among us. “Mr. Wood, would you be opposed?”
“You’ve only just met,” Mr. Wood said to Georgiana.
This is all happening very fast, I thought. To have her by my side on a few occasions was one thing, but to have the woman in my home? Dining with me? It was well above what we’d agreed to. There would be no question our family had accepted her. For better or for worse.
“But the duke is her dear friend,” Maggie reminded him firmly. I certainly wasn’t acting like it, was I? “And you can meet my husband.” She grinned at Georgiana. “He’s a bit of a recluse.”
What could I say? “No, actually, I refuse to help my friend in her time of need.” Clearly, Maggie did accept her, even after recognizing her name from the papers.
She had befriended her under the assumption that I, too, accepted her.
That was all it took, just as Georgiana had imagined.
If tonight hadn’t already been enough, with my companionship and Maggie’s, Georgiana would be back in the ton’s good graces by morning.
She’d also be in my home.
Which meant I would also have the ring in my home. Would have it back as planned. We would not have to delay our arrangement. We could ensure things moved swiftly along, and then I could send her on her merry way back to Hampshire.
Why, then, did I hesitate?
“Just for a short time, and we can make arrangements for her if your return trip is truly delayed, Mr. Wood. It’s no trouble at all, is it, Marlow?” Maggie released Georgiana and squeezed my arm.
Georgiana looked to me as though to seek my permission.
I felt less in control by the second. “No trouble,” I muttered, still half in shock at the turn of events.
“Switch her things over,” Mr. Wood instructed his servants. “And inform Jane. Move her to Ashburn Abbey. Quickly.”
The poor men sighed as they worked in the darkness to unload. To their credit, they made quick work of it. Just long enough for Georgiana to have a proper conversation with her brother, and for me to assure him she’d be under my protection and kept well.
“I know this isn’t ideal,” he said to me as the ladies returned to the carriage. “And not according to plan. But I appreciate your kindness nonetheless.”
I nodded. “I am surprised you agreed. What with how worried you were over her this evening.” He eyed me like he was trying to gauge my level of sarcasm, so I added, “My cousin enjoys her company. She will see to her every need. And my mother . . .” My mother would likely run herself to the ground accommodating her just to stay busy.
“My mother will be delighted to have another young lady in the house.”
Mr. Wood’s jaw popped. He did not trust me, but what choice did he have? “Thank you. She takes care of herself, but after what happened with Sir Ronald, I have learned that she is quite fragile.”
Georgiana, fragile? I wasn’t sure I agreed. “Safe travels home to your wife, Mr. Wood.”
He nodded once, his eyes tracking his sister. Torn, I could only imagine, between two women he loved very dearly.
What must it feel like, to love so deeply you’d abandon your family with strangers?
“Come along, Marlow, the night is young yet!” Maggie called, and I turned to follow them into the carriage.
I hadn’t had a guest at Ashburn Abbey in ages. Not since before Father died, and even then, not a woman. I had routines, comforts that could be upended by a stranger in my house.
Deuces, I was the Duke of Marlow! It was my house.
My rules.
I would live my life as usual, and Georgiana would simply have to adjust.