Chapter 20 #2
“Perhaps he has a cottage by the stream,” she said with a bright smile. “Ever onward.”
As Lily walked away, my gaze returned to Louise and the duke. She was still monopolizing his attention. She spoke incessantly, laughing at her own jokes and giving the duke as many flirtatious looks as she could manage.
“There you are, Clara.” Annabelle appeared out of a small group of people and came to my side. “I’ve been meaning to visit with you since we arrived in London, but it’s been such a rush of activities.”
“Hello, Annabelle.”
She took my hands and leveled a look at me. “How are you holding up? I read the ghastly articles in the newspaper today. How small of the people who broke the news.”
“You—you aren’t appalled?” I asked, worried that she would turn on me.
“Goodness, no.” She laughed. “Why would I be? Aren’t all of us here because we weren’t good enough for America?
Until we had money, we were nobody, and now that we do, we’re trying to become somebody.
Mrs. Astor might disagree, but one day, her opinion won’t matter.
You’re no different than the rest of us. ”
“But you’re not upset that I hid the truth?”
She leaned forward. “We’re all hiding something, Clara. Don’t let anyone tell you differently.” She nodded to the duke. “Some more than others.”
A shiver ran up my spine at her words.
Alec was speaking to Lady Randolph Churchill. I glanced in his direction and Annabelle’s gaze followed mine.
“How is Alec?” she asked me.
I took a deep breath. How was Alec? How were either of us?
“I haven’t spoken to him since we arrived in London.
” She sighed. “Mother has warned me not to, and to be honest, it’s been good for me.
I have decided to leave Alec in the past.” She smiled.
“Lord Devan is quite charming. I do believe he’ll propose at the end of the season, and I’ve made up my mind to accept. ”
“Is he the man I saw you with at the opera?”
Her face glowed. “He is.”
“I’m happy for you.”
She leaned forward. “And what of the duke? Will you accept if he proposes?”
I looked in his direction again and he glanced up, noticing me in the middle of the foyer. He did not lower his gaze, but openly studied me.
It was maddening how difficult it was to read his emotions. Was he pleased to see me? Angry? Disappointed? Happy?
“I’m uncertain,” I finally said to Annabelle, though I knew I would accept, having no other option.
Several maids appeared with stacks of dance cards, which they distributed to the ladies.
“It’s been lovely speaking to you, Clara,” Annabelle said as Alec started toward us. “I’ll see you later.”
She left before Alec joined me. He glanced in Annabelle’s direction but made no move to call her back, nor did he look upset that she was gone. Instead, without a word, he took my dance card and wrote his name by the first dance.
“Finally,” he said with a tender smile, “I’ll get the first dance.”
“Thank you, Alec.”
As a maid handed Louise a dance card, distracting her attention, the duke used the opportunity to walk away from her.
My heart pounded hard as he approached and Alec stepped away.
“Miss Hill,” he said, offering me a slight bow.
“Your Grace.” I curtseyed, my legs wobbly with the effort.
“May I have the first dance?” he asked.
My lips parted in surprise, and then disappointment warred in my divided heart.
I’d promised the dance to Alec, and I wanted to dance with him more than anything else, but it was imperative that I dance with the duke.
Not only to show him that I was still eager to pursue a possible marriage, but to demonstrate to the rest of society that I wasn’t being cast aside.
Yet I couldn’t do to Alec what Aunt Maude had done to George.
Swallowing, I said, “I’m afraid—”
“I think I wrote my name on the wrong line, Clara,” Alec said, stepping forward and reaching for my dance card. “Ah, yes.” He put a line through his name and took the second dance of the night. “There we are. I do apologize.” He gave me a slight bow and then walked away without a glance back.
My heart tore in two as I knew what it had cost him to give up that dance. For me. For Aunt Maude. For his uncle’s business.
What did Alec ever get?
The duke was watching me closely, so I mustered my wits and offered him a shaky smile. “I would be honored to dance the first dance with you.”
“And the last, if you please.” His voice was even, unemotional, but his eyes continued to study me as if he was searching for something. Was he trying to ascertain if I would one day murder him? The thought was ludicrous, but then, so were the rumors Gallagher had told me.
“Of course.” I wrote his name on the first and last lines.
Aunt Maude and Lady Mandeville joined us, each curtseying before the duke.
“Your Grace,” Aunt Maude said, “I do hope you’ll join us for the dinner party we’re hosting two nights from now.”
He had already been invited and accepted, but this was the reassurance Aunt Maude needed. We still didn’t know if the prince would come, but if the duke would be there, surely that had to count for something.
He gave Aunt Maude a slight bow. “I will be there.”
Her face filled with relief, but she hid it well. “We will be honored to have you.”
The orchestra began to tune their instruments, so the duke offered me his arm. “Shall we?”
I accepted and allowed him to escort me into the ballroom.
Louise Garfield stood in the same spot where the duke had left her. She lifted her nose, just enough to tell me that she didn’t care if the duke had come to me, but I knew the truth. I could see it in her angry eyes.
The duke did not hesitate but brought me to the dance floor as the strains of the first dance of the evening filled the room. With elegant ease, he began to twirl me around the ballroom.
Somewhere, at some time, someone had taught him to dance, and he was good at it.
There were so many things I wanted to ask him about the rumors I’d heard. Alec said it was true his mother had murdered his father—but what about the other dukes before him?
“What do you want to ask me?” he said.
I lifted my eyebrows, shocked at how astute he was.
“Don’t feign innocence.” His voice was steady. “I’m certain you’ve been asking around about me, and you’ve learned shocking things that are bothering you. Come right out and ask me, and let’s get it over with.”
I took a deep breath. If he was going to be straightforward with me, I would be straightforward with him. “Is it true that your mother murdered your father?”
I got right to the heart of the scandal, and I could see it pierced his soul to hear the question.
But he squared his shoulders and nodded.
“She did.” He clenched his jaw, and it caused the scar on his face to tighten.
“Come out with the rest of it, or would you like me to just tell you all the sordid details?”
“You told me to ask, so I am asking.”
“Then ask.”
“Is it true that the two previous dukes before him, and the duchess before that, were all murdered?”
He looked away from me, storm clouds in his eyes. “Some of them came to questionable ends, but there is no proof they were all murdered.”
My eyebrows rose high. “They all met untimely deaths?”
“Yes.”
I stared at him as my feet faltered.
He continued to dance, overlooking my missteps.
“Is that why people say the castle is haunted?” I asked, just above a whisper.
“Yes.”
“And because the first duchess roams the moors at night, crying out for vengeance?”
He gave me a look. “I’ve never heard her.”
“Because you’re not one of the duchesses. Only the duchesses hear her wailing. Did your mother ever hear her?”
The duke was silent as he stared at me.
My eyes opened wide. “She did?”
“I do not speak of my mother.” His jaw clenched again.
We circled the room, and I gathered my courage to ask him another question. “Did you see the newspapers today?”
“I did.”
“And does it bother you that I’m not Mrs. Hill’s niece?”
“You are her heir, correct?”
“Yes.”
“That’s all that matters.”
His words pierced my heart this time. All he cared about was the money. Of course.
But before the dance ended, I decided to ask the last burning question on my mind. “What makes you think your story will be any different from the previous dukes’?”
As the music ended and we came to a stop, he stared down at me. “I’ve accepted my fate. I am the 5th Duke of Severton, chosen by God to bear the title and all that comes with it.”
“And what of my fate?”
“That is in your own hands.”
A shiver ran up my spine as he gave me a bow and turned away.
Alec approached as I stared at the back of the duke.
Was my fate in my own hands?