26. Chapter 26 #2
William climbed the stairs two at a time and sauntered into the drawing room, which was situated at the front of the house, overlooking the sea. His youngest sister was curled up in a chair beside the window, reading.
“Morning, Hetta,” he said, leaning over and pecking her cheek. “I’ve missed you.”
She closed her book and lifted a hand to where his lips had touched her skin. Her green eyes sparkled with amusement.
“It’s a pleasure to see you again, William—but what have you done with my brother?”
What was she talking about? “Isn’t a man allowed to kiss his sister’s cheek?”
“Of course, but that’s the second time in a week. You haven’t shown me that much affection since before you went up to Cambridge.”
Hadn’t he? That was an oversight on his behalf. “Maybe I’m remembering the importance of family.” Not least because he hoped to start one of his own. With Kitty. But that dream was drifting further away from him by the minute.
“Have you escaped from the beauty? Anthony said you were flirting with her while you painted her portrait and feared you might get entangled.”
William pulled a face. “Do you have to remind me? It turned out she was a married woman.”
Hetta’s head jerked back. “Oh! That must have been a shock.”
Charlotte burst into the room. “Will! Rowson told me you were here.”
“I was right,” Hetta crowed. “He hasn’t fallen for the beauty, and he couldn’t have wed her anyway because she already has a husband!”
His twin rounded on him. “What? You were flirting with a married woman?”
He felt all the weight of her accusation. “Don’t judge me too harshly. Nobody knew. Not even her father. Not until she accused me of killing her husband—”
Both sisters exclaimed and threw their arms around him, smothering him in their embrace. They both talked at once.
“Who is telling such lies?” asked Charlotte. “They won’t get away with it. Grandmama won’t stand for it.”
“Father will employ the best barrister,” Hetta said. “He’ll prove your innocence.”
William stood with a sister on each side, hugging him and reassuring him, with increasing volume, that everything would work out all right. It was rather soothing to his troubled spirit.
The door opened, and Anthony walked in. He lifted his brow, a satirical smile on his lips. “Dear me, I didn’t realise you were in the middle of an emotional family reunion. It was less than a week since we met you in town, wasn’t it?”
Charlotte glared at him. “I think there is some justification. Our brother has been accused of murder.”
William held up his palm. “Just a little misunderstanding. There was an accident near the house yesterday, and a man fell over the cliff.”
His twin gasped, covering her mouth with her hand.
“It’s all right. He’s not dead, though he may yet die of his injuries, but not by my doing.”
“Am I missing something?” Anthony asked. “Is there any reason to suppose the man would be at the bottom of the cliff because of you?”
“There was a fight.”
Charlotte blinked slowly. “You? In a fight? What on earth provoked that?”
“A woman. If two men come to blows, it’s always over a woman,” said Anthony. “The beauty, I’m guessing.”
“Yes.” William braced himself. “The man who fell was her husband.”
A look of revulsion passed over his friend’s face. “You were fighting over a married woman? Has your title set your moral compass adrift? I thought better of you, Lord Droxford.”
“He didn’t know,” said Charlotte, laying a restraining hand on Anthony’s arm.
His friend made some nondescript noise and stopped looking as if he was going to punch him—though William felt he deserved it. He should have listened to Kitty scolding him for flirting with Miss Barrington when it had been clear his advances were unwelcome.
“If you didn’t push him over, who did?” asked Hetta.
He combed his fingers through his hair several times, but the familiar action did nothing to calm his agitated spirits.
“It’s complicated. Mr Barrington claims it was an accident.
He’s the local magistrate, so no one will question his word, and he’ll be able to prevent a coroner from investigating if the man dies. ”
“That’s a good thing, isn’t it?” asked Charlotte.
“Not really, because he has made it quite clear he’s doing me a favour. If we say someone tried to murder him, the finger points at me, but we suspect smugglers, as the man’s a riding officer. There’s also a servant in Mr Barrington’s household whom we reckon is in league with them.”
Anthony folded his arms and tilted his head to one side. “We?”
“Kitty and I.”
Charlotte tutted. “So now your beauty is spoken for, you turn your attention to Kitty. About time! We saw at once what a treasure she was. I hope you don’t tire of her as quickly.”
William sighed. “I will never get bored with Kitty.”
Anthony’s nonchalance disappeared in a flash. “It’s a little early to be making such a rash statement, isn’t it?”
“Why? Ask Castleford. Your brother knew Georgie was the one for him almost as soon as they met. Why shouldn’t it be the same for me?”
“I hate to remind you, but you were pursuing a different lady not long since.”
“Not seriously. I just wanted to paint her. The thought of being forced into a life with Miss Barrington made me realise how wrong she was for me—and how right Kitty was. Only a fool fails to learn from his mistakes.”
Hetta clapped her hands in glee. “You’re in love with Kitty! Are you going to ask her to marry you?”
“That was my intention when this business with Mr Jenkin’s accident has been cleared up.”
Her smile vanished. “Was? It’s not now?”
“I just learned something that makes it way more complicated.”
Three pairs of eyes fixed on his face. If he voiced what he’d discovered, William feared they would confirm what an insurmountable barrier existed between him and Kitty.
Hetta poked him in the stomach. “Don’t keep us in suspense.”
He brushed her hand away. Better get it over and done with. “It’s probable that her father was the natural son of the Duke of Wessex’s younger brother.”
Charlotte flopped into a chair. “Oh heavens! You know how Grandmama dislikes scandal and how protective she is of her husband. She’s forever saying that he’s borne too much already.
I suspect that’s a skeleton she’ll want to keep shut away in the Duke’s familial closet.
I doubt Grandmama will give her blessing to such a union. ”
A sharp pain caught William unawares. His twin had stated the fear he had not wanted to speak aloud. That his family would struggle to accept his choice of wife.
Poor Kitty. She probably thought his silence was due to embarrassment at the dubious circumstances of her father’s birth. If only that were all they had to contend with.
She did not know what a blow it had been for him to learn that her grandfather was Lord Edward Hampton. She hadn’t known he shared a surname with the Duke of Wessex and could not have guessed he was the Duke’s brother.
How ironic. It was Kitty who had reminded him to value his family—yet it seemed likely he would have to fight against them in order to make her his bride.