Chapter 30
Nathanial
They entered London quietly, with little fanfare. The house he’d rented was a row home. His wife would be able to have teas and at-homes but not throw a ball. A dinner party would be the largest gathering possible.
Hereford House had been rented out before the Season started.
That money had been what was feeding the girls and the Milfords for the whole Season, as well as giving Nathanial the blunt he’d needed to remain in London searching for a bride.
Though he could have exerted his ducal authority and returned to the house, he was not looking to make any more enemies among the ton.
It would also have required hiring a great deal of staff, not to mention the interest it would have garnered from the rest of Society.
Nathanial’s goal for the rest of this Season, until Julianna’s debut, was to be as uninteresting as possible.
Not only did the Baron of Fife’s departure from London mean that his house had opened up, but it had also provided a gossip cover for Nathanial’s return. Who cared about a duke who was now off the market when there was a new scandal to exclaim over?
The Baron and his Baroness had been caught delecto in flagrante with the Earl of Denby’s eldest, unwed, daughter in the conservatory at her engagement ball.
The daughter had been sent to the countryside, the Baron and Baroness had immediately departed for Scotland, and the lady’s fiancé had remained in the capital, putting on a show of indifference.
It was the perfect time to return. Tongues would wag far harder for a broken engagement and a scandalous encounter than something as passe as a nobleman being trapped into marriage. Even a duke.
As expected, their arrival did not go entirely unnoticed, but there was no surge of nosy guests appearing at their doorstep.
Thankfully, Drake had sent over several of his staff to assist until Nathanial could hire his own.
Drake swore Nathanial was helping him out, as it would give the under butler and the woman training to replace his housekeeper some practice doing things on their own before eventually moving upward in his own household.
There were also several footmen and maids, all of whom had been forewarned about Telemachus and had very little reaction to a fox running underfoot.
The first day, Nathanial had acquired a collar and leash so Fiona could take Telemachus to the park at the center of the square, with the promise that she understood that was the only place he could go outside while they were in London.
The last thing Nathanial wanted was to have some young bucks deciding on an impromptu fox chase in the middle of the city.
Fiona would be devastated, and who knew what kind of damage could be caused.
Hopefully, the pink bow she’d tied to his collar would make it clear to all that he was a pet.
By the end of the second day, several invitations had come to the door for upcoming events. The ton was acknowledging their return to the capital. Though part of him wanted to hide away, he knew it was best to meet them head-on. He and his wife needed to present a united, utterly boring front.
With any luck, by the time Julianna debuted next year, the fact that their marriage had been under rather scandalous circumstances would be barely a memory in the ton’s mind.
It was all about appearances. If they saw a boring married couple who were completely amicable and altogether unremarkable, they would accept that and move on.
Which meant he needed to speak to his wife.
She was in the drawing room, helping Fiona sound out some of the more difficult words in a book about animals they had found at the bookstore the day before. As things went with his sisters, he had to admit he could not have hoped for better when it came to how she cared for them.
While he’d had some concerns over whether she’d be an appropriate guide for them through the ton, she’d thrown herself into the role with enthusiasm.
A dancing instructor had already been hired for both Julianna and Emma, and a pianist by the name of Arabella Goddard had been hired to brush up their rusty piano skills.
Julianna remembered a bit more than Emma, but neither had had a piano to practice on for a very long time.
Fiona had never had lessons, and she was starting now, under his wife’s tutelage.
No, he had no complaints about his wife’s conduct in regard to his sisters.
Whether her family’s issues would affect his… Well, they would need to venture into Society to determine where they landed in the ton’s eyes.
The opportunity arose on the third day when Gregory and Tiffany came to call.
“I am sorry we could not get here sooner, but you did not give us much notice of your arrival,” Tiffany scolded him, kissing his cheek. “Where is Kalina?”
“I sent one of the maids to fetch her. I believe she’s currently helping Fiona, my youngest sister, with her fingers on the piano.”
Tiffany lit up with interest, and Nathanial belatedly remembered that she was a music lover and an incredibly accomplished pianist herself. Unfortunately for her, and fortunately for him, his wife was already arriving at the front hall.
“Tiffany!”
“Kalina!”
The two embraced, and the simmering resentment that had been somewhat soothed at Hereford Hall began to bubble up in Nathanial’s chest again as he witnessed how easy it was for Tiffany to accept Kalina as her equal.
Though Tiffany and Gregory’s marriage had also started with a scandal, it had hardly been Tiffany’s fault.
If anything, it was Gregory who had trapped her into marriage, though that had not been his intention at the time.
“Well.” Gregory clapped Nathanial on his shoulder, breaking the dark mood that was starting to settle on him. “Married life looks good on you.” He was looking around at the house, not at Nathanial, thankfully, as Nathanial did not know how to react to such a statement.
“It is good to see you,” Nathanial said, rather than replying to Gregory’s statement directly. He was still eyeing Tiffany and his wife, and doing his best to hide his disgruntlement. “Since you’re here, you can help us.”
“What do you need help with?” Tiffany asked, smiling as she stepped away from his wife.
“Well, you can start with what the current gossip is about us, and we’ll go from there.” Nathanial managed to smile.
Kalina
It was so good to see Tiffany and have her friend’s belief in her reaffirmed. Sometimes, with Hereford, her guilt crept up and swamped her. Living with someone she had wronged, even if she had not meant to, was not easy. Tiffany’s easy renewed acceptance of her helped.
Marriage suited her friend. Tiffany was beaming and beautiful in a sky-blue day gown decorated with a darker blue calico pattern, which matched Gregory’s dark blue waistcoat. The two of them together made a striking pair.
Hereford and Kalina informed their current butler, Stalling, that they were not at-home to any visitors other than family and fellow dukes—Kalina quickly tacked on Delilah’s name to the list as well—before escorting Tiffany and Gregory into the drawing room.
Kalina rang for tea, musing on how natural it felt even after so many days of living at Hereford Hall, where she and the girls would get their own.
Gregory and Tiffany took the couch, naturally, while Kalina and Hereford sat in the chairs across from them.
The delicately carved furniture looked almost comical when being used by the men, though Gregory seemed more comfortable than Hereford did.
It did not escape Kalina’s notice that they fell into the seating arrangements naturally, without any discussion.
In fact, if it had been reversed, she rather thought she and Hereford would both have been stiffly uncomfortable beside each other on the couch, whereas Gregory and Tiffany would have been loath to be parted by the chairs. It emphasized the difference in their marriages.
Quickly, Tiffany and Gregory brought them up to date on the town gossip, which was how she finally heard the details of the Fife scandal that had sent him and his family flying back to Scotland.
No wonder the house had been suddenly available.
She could also appreciate that in the wake of such titillating gossip, her and Hereford’s return to London would be of less interest to the ton than usual.
That did not mean that they’d fully escape the ton’s scrutiny.
The conversation halted briefly when the tea arrived and resumed immediately after the maid closed the door behind her.
“At least a third of the ton thinks Kalina trapped you into marriage for your title, another third thinks you trapped her into marriage for her dowry, and the last third thinks you’re a love match,” Gregory said baldly, rather than dancing around the issue while Kalina poured tea for each of them.
Kalina blinked in surprise at the last, which distracted her from her guilt at knowing that some of Society laid her father’s misdeeds at Hereford’s feet.
“A love match?” Hereford asked in astonishment. Kalina glanced at him, but he was staring at Gregory in frank disbelief. “Why on earth would they think that?”
“Ah, well, our fault, a bit, I think.” Gregory smiled sheepishly. “It worked for us after all. And a story about how you went to the house party to see if you would suit and then after Christian began to show interest, it pressured you to move…”
“Of course, there are those at the house party who know the truth, but it has confused the issues at least,” Tiffany put in.
“It does not hurt that they also saw the two of you getting along quite well. Just last night, I heard Lady Collette telling her friends that she would have put money on your match at the beginning of the house party if she’d had anyone to bet with. ”
Hereford muttered something under his breath Kalina could not quite make out, but it was probably for the best. She was not sure what to make of any of it. While she’d become used to the ton’s interest in her and her family, she was hardly an expert on how to move forward.
“What have my parents said?” she asked, curious. At some point, she was going to have to face her father again, and though she’d forgiven him at her wedding, after living the reality of his decision for days now, she was not sure she could be so sanguine when she saw him now.
She was aware of Hereford shooting a quick glance at her, but now it was her turn to avoid his gaze. Lifting her teacup to her lips, she took a small sip. The flavors were weak compared to what she’d grown up with, but she’d become accustomed to them here in England. Such as it was.
“They’ve been quietly keeping to my mother’s side,” Gregory said.
“No one will dare say anything with her beside them, and she’s recruited the Dowager Countess of Spencer and Lady Blackstone to her cause.
Not that Lady Blackstone needed much encouragement, as it was her house party.
And she brought the Duchess of Ormonde along with her, of course.
Even the most outrageous of the harpies watch their step with that kind of support rallied around your parents. ”
Kalina noted that he did not mention Lady Astrid. While she might have forgiven Kalina and believed in her innocence, forgiving Kalina’s father would probably take more time if such a thing ever occurred at all.
At least her father had not been allowed to do more damage. Now that she thought of it, perhaps that was another reason the ladies had gathered round her parents. Not just to keep the harpies away, but to ensure her father did not make any further missteps.
That was a relief.
“So. What’s the best way forward from here?” Hereford mused, though it sounded more as though he was speaking his thoughts out loud than asking for opinions.
Gregory answered him, anyway.
“To keep the gossipmongers off your back? Present a united front. Give them, if not a love match, at least contentment. The lack of response will make them lose interest far more quickly than anything else, especially when they already have a far juicier morsel to chew on.”
There was a little twinge of guilt at taking advantage of another’s misfortune, and Kalina felt very sorry for the earl’s daughter, but she knew she was not at fault. They were merely taking advantage of the timing of an event that none of them had any hand in.
“The ton is not interested in content or happy marriage,” Tiffany agreed. “Right now, speculation is far more engaged in which duke will be the next to marry. With Nathanial no longer available to the marriage mart, my brother, Christian, and Matthew are fair under siege.”
“What about Zachary?” Nathanial asked, frowning at her.
“Rumor has it he’ll be engaged to Lady Annabelle soon, a rumor which is heavily supported by his mother and hers. Which, of course, has only invigorated the interest in the other three.” Tiffany’s blank expression did not give away any of her own feelings on the matter, though she must have some.
With such rumors swirling about, and by his own mother no less, Delilah must be heartbroken. Kalina’s own heart went out to her. Even though he was not yet engaged to the young lady, from the way Tiffany spoke, it sounded almost inevitable.
“Right then.” Nathanial leaned back in his chair, then immediately sat upright again as the wood creaked. “That goes along with my own thoughts. If we’re amicable with each other and unremarkable in most ways, interest will not linger on us.”
Amicable.
The word should not make her heart ache so, but it did. Looking across her teacup at Gregory and Tiffany, caught in the trap her father had set, Kalina finally had to face the truth.
She had not wanted a duke, other than to please her father.
Nor had she wanted an amicable marriage.
She’d wanted a love match.