Chapter 2
Two
Dear Mr. Forrester,
I appreciate your offer in your latest correspondence; however, I must decline your invitation.
The duchess has had a rather difficult pregnancy and I believe it to be in her best interest, and the baby’s, that I remain at Caerlaverock throughout her confinement.
We would both be grateful if you could dispel the rumors of the two of us holding a tendre for one another.
I am simply a female relative assisting the duchess through her sorrow and confinement.
Please advise Ross he will not be allowed entry into Caerlaverock.
The duchess is determined to protect her child at any cost and has banned all men from entering the castle walls.
This is to include you and all male staff.
The footmen are being temporarily housed at the dowager house outside the walls of Caerlaverock.
Paddington, Her Grace’s ever-faithful butler, will be the only man allowed entry into the estate.
If you need to communicate with Her Grace, you may do so in writing, or I will meet you at the dowager house and bring any papers she may need to read or sign to her.
Please understand this is a happy, but also sad and stressful time in the duchess’s life. The midwife, along with the duchess and myself, believe this to be the best course of action for Her Grace’s health and the babe’s.
With kindest regards,
Lady Drake
—A letter written at the end of April 1811 to Mr. Joshua Forrester, Esquire from Lady Phoebe Drake citing an article in The Whispers of the Ton gossip rag which accused the duchess of attempting to seduce male staff to become impregnated with a bastard child and claim it as the late Duke of Nithesdale’s heir.
In truth, it was to dissuade Ross and Mr. Forrester from traveling to Caerlaverock.
DECEMBER 1811
She was here. Somewhere inside the cold, damp stone walls of Caerlaverock Castle, Lady Phoebe Drake was doing what she did best. Hiding from him.
Joshua, solicitor to the Duchess of Nithesdale, and the lady in hiding, sat in the blue drawing room of the ancient castle where he had served the former Duke of Nithesdale prior to his passing.
The same drawing room where he had introduced the duchess to Lady Phoebe Drake almost nine years earlier.
So many firsts had occurred for him in this room.
His first ducal client had hired him here after summoning him to the Scottish Lowlands.
“Mr. Forrester.”
The duchess walked into the room, or rather waddled into the room, if he was being completely honest. Her gait was much different in the late stages of pregnancy than what it had been the last time he’d seen her.
It took everything in him to school his utter shock at how large she had become.
Her attire looked more like a bombazine tent than a gown.
Just the fact that his mind went in that direction made him wince from the mental slap his mother was giving him from heaven. Apologies, Mamma.
He rose to his feet and bowed. “Your Grace, I didn’t expect to see you.
I had meant to meet with Lady Drake regarding a rather important matter.
I did not mean to undermine your directive that no men enter the castle during your confinement.
I understand why you would like to avoid any hint of scandal that may bring into question the parentage of your child. ”
The duchess rolled her eyes. “Please stop calling me ‘Your Grace.’ And secondly, you asked to see Lady Drake, not me. I can hardly decline your admittance to Caerlaverock when you’re not here to see me. Besides, you could hardly impregnate me now.”
“I will never forget your station, Your Grace. That is why I’m surprised you’re the one greeting me, and not Lady Drake.” He hoped that was enough to cover his shock at seeing the duchess in her current condition. The duchess he had served pre-pregnancy looked nothing like the woman before him now.
“I will sack you, if you don’t start speaking less formally, and gawking at my protruding belly.”
His eyes shot to hers, heat rising up his neck. He hadn’t even realized he was staring at her stomach. “Of course, Your Grace.”
The duchess laughed but her mirth quickly turned into a sharp gasp as she froze in front of the settee. Joshua quickly moved to her side and grabbed her arm to steady her. “Are you alright, Your Grace?”
The duchess took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, then smiled. “My child is attempting to murder me. Slowly.”
“Would you like me to send for the doctor or midwife?” Dear Lord, don’t let her go into labor while he was there.
She shook her head and gave a feeble smile. “I’m told false labor is to be expected. If I sit for a bit, everything will be fine.”
Joshua nodded and helped her lower herself to the settee.
Once she was seated, she gave another sigh and waved him over to the seat across from her.
“To what do we owe the pleasure of this unexpected visit today? I thought you were coming after the first of the year to discuss the title and its holdings.”
“Are you worried about the holdings being passed on to your child?”
The duchess shook her head and rubbed her stomach. “I’m not concerned. I know this little demon inside me is a boy, and I have nothing to worry about.”
Joshua refrained from wincing. “But if it’s a girl?”
“Then my daughter will always have a home at Caerlaverock and I have faith in you to ensure the rest of the ducal estates, tenants, and servants are well taken care of.”
With that statement he did wince. “Mr. Jarvis has made it blatantly clear that my services will no longer be needed if he is the duke’s heir.”
She leaned as far forward as her stomach would allow and patted his hand. “Then you have nothing to worry about, because I know this child is a boy. A girl would never treat her mother in such a roughshod manner.”
He nodded his agreement but wasn’t certain a mother could determine if she was having a boy or a girl with that sort of barometer. If the duchess had a girl, it would not bode well for the servants or tenants of estates. “I’m actually here to see Lady Drake.”
The duchess grinned. Her expression somehow slier than the cat who ate the proverbial creme. “As you said. You don’t need to hide your affection for Phoebe from me. I couldn’t be happier for the two of you.”
He cleared his throat and nearly choked. “I—I assure you I don’t know what you mean.”
“Mr. Forrester, how long have I known you?”
“I’ve been in your service for almost a year, Your Grace.”
She waved her hand in dismissal of the meager timeframe. “I have known you since I was fourteen years old. I am now three and twenty.”
She spoke as if she were ready to move to the dowager house. “Our relationship when you were a child was a bit different than what it is now.”
“That’s true. You used to be my knight in shining armor.”
He blinked. Surely the duchess did not mean what he thought she meant, and yet for the life of him, he didn’t know how to respond. If Phoebe had been sitting in front of him, saying the same thing, the flirtation would have been automatic. “I hardly know what to say.”
The duchess stretched her back, appearing more uncomfortable by the moment.
“You don’t have to say anything. What I’m trying to convey to you is that I am aware of the attraction between the two of you.
How I missed it before is beyond comprehension.
I’ve spent a good part of these past few months running over the different times I’ve witnessed the two of you together over the years, and the attraction was rather obvious.
Yet not one person seemed to be aware of it. Except of course, Nithesdale.”
“He was the most observant man I’ve ever known. Nothing got past him.”
Her eyes teared up. “I miss him every day and I wish he was going to be here to see his son born.”
“I suspect he is still plotting and moving us on his chessboard from heaven.”
She chuckled. “I believe you are correct.”
Phoebe walked into the room and her eyes went wide as she froze just inside the door.
He had believed she was avoiding him, her stunned expression proved otherwise.
She’d been unaware of his arrival. He glanced at the duchess, who wore a pleased expression on her face, and he realized he had an ally where he had least expected.
His gaze returned to Phoebe as he drank in her beauty and rose to his feet.
“Forgive me. I didn’t mean to interrupt,” she said and began to back out of the room, her gaze landing everywhere but on him.
“Don’t be ridiculous.” The duchess let out a deep breath as she finished speaking. The girth of her stomach taking a tremendous toll on her decorum.
Joshua crossed the room, unable to stop his perusal of Phoebe’s lush curves immaculately displayed in an emerald green day dress with pearl beading across her breasts. He bowed before her, suddenly envisioning her being round with pregnancy. The idea held more appeal than he’d ever imagined.
Phoebe pregnant with their child.
He took her hand and kissed the back of her knuckles, allowing his lips to linger as he looked up into her eyes and conveyed exactly what he would like to do to her without saying a word.
Color rushed to her cheeks and before she could pull away, he placed her hand on his forearm, unable to take his eyes off her as he escorted her to the chair next to his.
God, how he’d missed her. Her exile within the walls of Caerlaverock had been killing him.
To see her again was like breathing the country air after being trapped in London for an entire year. The weight on his chest eased.
Despite being drawn to where she bit her lip, he didn’t miss the surreptitious tuck of her other hand into the folds of her skirt. She’d walked into the library with a folded piece of paper that she was currently attempting to hide from his view.
The duchess was a woman on a mission, however, and called Phoebe out. “Is that your New Year’s Resolution list?”