The Duke’s Responsibility (Dangerous Dukes #14)

Chapter One

‘How can one misplace an earl?’ Reuben Carter, the Duke of Alton, furled his brow. ‘Seems remarkably careless.’

‘Perhaps he got tired of being put upon and misplaced himself,’ Reuben’s brother Ezra suggested in a languid drawl.

‘Boys, this is no time for levity,’ their mother scolded, smiling nonetheless.

‘I will be the first to admit that my friend, Lady Dalton, can be a little … well, overwhelming and opinionated at times, but I am perfectly sure that she and Lord Dalton had a harmonious marriage. Besides, he would never abandon his family, so something terrible must have happened to him. Earls do not simply disappear. It’s unheard of. ’

Reuben raised his brows and shared an amused look with Ezra.

Their mother had been fortunate enough to marry for love ? a rare situation within the upper echelons of society.

The aristocracy looked upon marriage as a business contract that either enhanced a family’s social standing or filled depleted coffers.

Generally speaking, love played little part in the negotiations.

Reuben’s father had been dead for two years, but his mother still mourned his loss, and her sparkle had diminished noticeably.

The soft-hearted lady possessed a romantic soul and wanted everyone to find their heart’s desire.

Reuben and Ezra knew how fortunate they were to have a mother with such idealistic views, since she put no pressure on either of them to enter the married state.

‘Let me see if I understand you aright,’ Reuben said, realising that his mother had not raised the matter of the missing earl out of idle curiosity. ‘Dalton, our neighbour, has supposedly been here on his estate these past few months, taking personal control and putting matters straight.’

‘And not before time,’ Ezra chipped in. ‘From what I have seen, the place is in danger of going to rack and ruin.’

‘But no one’s seen him here, his steward has no idea what’s become of him and now Lady Dalton and her daughters have arrived to find the place closed up.’ Reuben scratched his chin. ‘Has there been no correspondence between Dalton and his wife during all of that time?’

‘I asked that same question of my friend and she said not. But she hadn’t been unduly concerned by his silence. She said that the earl is a dreadfully tardy correspondent, and she would have been surprised if she had heard from him. Besides, she has had her hands full launching Lady Sophia.’

Reuben laughed. ‘You make her sound like a ship. Will she crack a bottle over her head, do you suppose?’

‘Oh my dear, she was quite the sensation – as you would both know had you troubled yourselves to be in town for her presentation.’

‘Pressing matters of business prevented it,’ Reuben replied, telling a half-truth.

He could have made the time but preferred to keep a low profile, knowing that he would have been pursued relentlessly by ambitious mothers with daughters to marry off.

It had been that way before he inherited the dukedom.

He shuddered to think how much worse things would be now.

‘She is quite the beauty,’ Ezra, who had shown his face in town briefly, conceded. ‘And she appears well aware of the fact. We were not introduced, but I couldn’t help noticing her.’

‘If a young lady is handsome, then it seems only right that she should display herself to her best advantage and enjoy the attention she receives,’ their mother argued. ‘Beauty should be admired in all its forms.’

‘Given the dilapidated condition of Dalton’s estate, one gets the impression that funds are tight, which makes one wonder how Lady Dalton could afford to give her younger daughter a season,’ Reuben remarked. ‘Doing things right is a costly business.’

‘Oh, I expect funds can always be found for the important things in life. Besides, the older daughter came out last year but did not take for reasons that I have never properly understood. She received a lot of attention, I know that much.’ The dowager duchess flapped a hand.

‘As to the cost, I think Lady Dalton once mentioned something about funds having been set aside for both girls’ presentations by their grandmother. ’

Those funds would have been put to better use bringing the earl’s country seat back into good order, Reuben thought but did not say.

Why it had been permitted to fall into such a sorry state of disrepair he was unable to understand.

When he’d been a boy the place had been thriving, but now it looked almost derelict.

‘The three ladies have arrived earlier than expected and now they cannot find Dalton,’ Reuben said, seeking clarification.

‘Precisely so.’ The dowager nodded emphatically. ‘And most distressing it is for them too.’

‘I have no doubt,’ Reuben said diplomatically, wondering what the duchess expected him to do about it.

‘Well, at least Lady Sophia’s season was a success.

Her mother takes comfort from that situation and lives in expectation of her younger daughter receiving several offers.

I suppose she cannot accept any young man who declares himself though, even if her feelings are engaged, until her father’s permission has been given. ’

‘Which is why the ladies have come in search of him, I presume,’ Ezra suggested.

‘The poor girl.’ Reuben’s mother sighed. ‘I feel so badly for her. To have one’s ambitions thwarted by an errant parent is the outside of enough. You must do something to find Lord Dalton, Reuben, before Lady Sophia’s heart is broken.’

The offers Lady Sophia had received would probably have come from parties deemed unsuitable, Reuben assumed.

Youths captivated by her beauty with no fortune to their names.

Had it been otherwise, he doubted whether the formidable Lady Dalton would have left town and given any wealthy young man’s passions the opportunity to cool.

Affections were fickle and easily transferred during the madness that was the marriage mart in full swing.

That consideration would not, Reuben knew, have crossed his mother’s mind, but Lady Dalton would be fully aware of the way things worked.

‘It is such a very great shame that Lady Farrah did not find her heart’s desire when she had her season. She is now in danger of becoming an ape leader given that she will soon be twenty, but really I do not blame her for holding out until she falls in love.’

Reuben quelled a smile. ‘I am perfectly sure that you do not, Mother.’

Reuben was barely acquainted with either girl, despite their being close neighbours.

Lady Dalton preferred to be in London, and when they had been in Hampshire prior to Reuben’s father’s death both girls had been too young to be out in society.

When the eldest was deemed old enough to show her face locally, Reuben’s family was in mourning and not receiving.

‘Well anyway, Lady Dalton is calling here this afternoon, Reuben, and I said that you would be happy to help her find Lord Dalton.’

‘Where would you suggest he starts his search, Mother?’ Ezra asked, his expression full of amusement. ‘I doubt that he’s hiding from his creditors behind the furniture.’

‘Don’t be flippant, dear. This is a serious matter.

He could have been snatched by ne’er-do-wells, or held to ransom by brigands, or …

well, something.’ The duchess threw up her hands.

‘There is so much lawlessness in the country nowadays. It’s shocking.

Someone should do something. We are none of us safe in our beds. ’

Reuben agreed, at least insofar as the earl’s disappearance was a worry.

Ezra’s suggestion that he was avoiding his debts ? probably gambling debts since he was a familiar figure in the gaming hells ? was the most likely answer, but would see him ostracized by society if it proved to be the case.

A gentleman did not walk away from debts of honour.

It was the one hard and fast rule that the aristocracy lived by, and leaving his wife and daughters to deal with the consequences of his cowardly actions would be deemed reprehensible.

For that reason – as well as for fear of any ramifications arising from Dalton’s disappearance affecting the stability of the district – Reuben felt duty bound to do what he could to get to the bottom of things.

‘You will listen to Lady Dalton when she calls this afternoon, Reuben.’ The duchess’s brow creased with concern.

‘By all means.’ Reuben made the concession with good grace, even though he would infinitely prefer not to be drawn into the affair. ‘It is, I suppose, my responsibility since Dalton is a close neighbour.’

‘Thank you, my dear. You are such a comfort to me, both of you.’

‘You don’t suppose he took the cowardly way out, do you?’ Ezra asked, once their mother had left them alone in Reuben’s library. ‘It’s obvious from the state of his property that he’s in dun territory.’

‘The possibility did occur to me,’ Reuben agreed, dropping a hand to absently scratch his greyhound’s ears.

Percival rested his long snout on Reuben’s knee and thumped his equally long tail against the boarded floor.

‘But surely he’d have left a note at the very least, rather than simply abandoning his family? ’

Ezra shrugged. ‘The thought of blowing my brains out has never once crossed my idle mind, so how would I know what the correct form is?’

Reuben smiled, aware that Ezra’s mind was far from idle. ‘Does he still have tenants on the estate? What are they saying at the Black Sheep? Are local tradesmen owed money?’

‘How would I know?’ Ezra asked, spreading his hands as he threw his head back and yawned.

‘There is one way to find out and it’s right up your street.’

‘Oh Lud,’ Ezra sat up again and shook his head. ‘Sounds like you want me to exert myself.’