Chapter 8
Iwould have agreed, Cash.
It hadn’t been an empty boast, but Athena couldn’t stop thinking of her words to the man who’d broken her heart.
And aye, she knew having one’s heart broken required one to be in love, and she was smart enough to admit that’s exactly how she’d felt about Cash.
Excuse me, His Grace the Duke of Cashard.
Cursing her own stupidity—and stubbornness—Athena kicked at a stone in the muddy path, sending it skittering along the edge of the otherwise finely manicured garden walk.
Her great-grandfather had been the one to build Newfincy Castle, and while she could understand how her oldest brother Lyon preferred the wildness of Auld Oliphant Castle, there was plenty to be said for how beautiful this place was maintained.
It had rained that morning and the air still held a feeling of heavy, damp potential. Overhead, the gray clouds swept across the sky, blown by a wind higher up than she could feel. Still, Athena tamped down a shiver she didn’t quite feel and wrapped her arms around her waist as she walked.
Walked? Nay. She was sulking, and was bright enough to recognize it. At least Callan wasn’t there to see that, sometimes, adults threw tantrums as well.
Her son had thrown a tantrum on Saturday, the morning after that disastrous ball.
She’d gone up to the nursery to find Annie preparing him to leave with her for their daily outing to the river, and Athena had to sit her son down and explain they wouldn’t be swimming under the oak that day, or any other day.
He’d looked so confused, her heart had broken. Gathering him in her arms, she’d promised him, “We can swim in the river some other place, sweetheart. Just the two of us.”
That’s when the poor lad had begun to wail, demanding Matthew. Knowing how close the two lads had become over the last weeks, her own tears had flowed. She was denying her son the first true friend he’d had, simply because she had quarreled with Matthew’s father.
Nay, it was more than a quarrel. They’d realized, despite the act they’d been putting on all summer, there was no future for the two of them.
Love sought is good, but given unsought better.
Aye, she hadn’t intended on falling in love with Cash, but somewhere along the way, it had happened.
To her, he wasn’t a cold imperious duke.
He was a reserved man, aye, who had required some coaxing to emerge from his shell, but one who took the time to truly be with his son, who cared about her son in a way which surprised Athena, and who was gentle and loving and damned arousing.
But he was also a duke.
She sighed and tilted her head back to glare up at the clouds, refusing to allow the tears to form.
He was a duke.
Had he been just a simple landowner, or perhaps a baron, she would’ve felt free to engage in the physical relationship they’d started on Friday at The Sword and Sheath. She would’ve felt free.
I was going to ask you to be my mistress.
The word “mistress” implied being a kept woman, being beholden to one man, in exchange for gifts and securities.
Athena still wasn’t certain if she would’ve gone that far, despite what she’d boldly claimed to Cash.
But the point was the relationship would’ve been on her terms, because she knew she was his equal.
But no’ when he is a bloody duke!
A duke could keep a mistress as long as he wanted. Athena wouldn’t have been his equal, and while a part of her was so damned angry to find out the truth and have their gentle interlude destroyed, the rest of her was glad she’d found out his identity before she’d committed to anything.
I was going to ask you to be my mistress.
I would have agreed.
Oh, damn. Here came the tears.
Blinking rapidly, Athena turned toward the sound of the river and debated walking in that direction. After the morning’s rain, it would likely be churning heavily and flowing strongly, which matched her current mood.
However, the idea of going anywhere near the river made her chest tighten. Despite her promise to Callan to take him swimming, just the two of them, she hadn’t managed it in the days since that disastrous ball.
So many times, in the last few days, she’d been tempted to hike to the bend in the river where they’d met Cash—the Duke of Cashard—and Matthew, just to see.
Just to see if they’d been going swimming without Athena and her son.
But what if they were? What if this separation hadn’t affected them one whit?
Scowling, Athena turned back toward the manor.
Dinnae be silly, lass. He wouldnae be there. He is a duke, and he has responsibilities.
But what if he was there?
Huffing in irritation at her argumentative mind, Athena hiked up her skirts and stomped back toward Newfincy Castle.
Kidder, her father’s butler, saw her coming and opened the front door without even raising a brow at her muddy boots, although his gaze did flick meaningfully to the scraper. Smiling ruefully, Athena stopped to wipe the mud off as best she could before tracking it throughout the fine house.
This meant that she couldn’t help but overhear the rather impassioned conversation coming from the private family parlor off the foyer.
“Och, milaird, please forgive me! I dinnae ken what happened!” That was the castle’s cook, Mrs. Oliphant. Everyone was a Mrs. Oliphant around here. “One minute it was there, and then I turned my back, and it was gone!” The plea ended on a wail, and there was the sound of Athena’s father harumphing.
“Dinnae fash, lass, I’m certain it’ll be alright. What’s gone missing now?”
A feeling of cold certainty settled in Athena’s stomach as the cook sniffled, “It’s the trifle! For luncheon! The one you specifically requested because it’s your favorite!”
Oh dear. Trifle was Athena’s favorite as well.
Da grumbled, “It’s one thing when little items go missing—where the shite did all my favorite pillows go? But an entire trifle? I doubt one of the maids got hungry.”
The cook began to blubber again—half apology, half defending her staff…and Athena blushed. She had a fairly good idea what had happened to the trifle, and knew what her father was implying. She needed to get up to the nursery to confirm her suspicion.
Straightening, she found Kidder eyeing her boots, as if he knew she’d been lingering in order to eavesdrop, so she sent the butler a beatific smile and strolled toward the staircase at a leisurely pace.
Once out of the man’s sight, however, she hiked up her skirts once more and quickened her pace. The nursery was on the third floor, and if she didn’t miss her guess, that’s where she’d find the missing trifle—with her mischievous son.
She was already calling his name as she stepped into the room. “Callan? Lad, where are ye?”
The nursery appeared empty, and Athena frowned as she began to poke under tables and behind chairs, calling her son’s name again.
There was a sound, and she straightened to see a surprised-looking Annie standing in the door which led to her small room.
“Lady Athena!” The young woman blinked in what seemed like genuine shock. “What are ye doing here?”
Wasn’t it obvious? Athena’s frown deepened. “I am looking for my son. Where is he?”
The nurse’s eyes widened as she glanced around. “He’s no’ with ye? I thought he was with ye! He’s always with ye in the mornings—”
“No’ today!” Athena cut her off as her hunt turned frantic. She tossed aside pillows and looked into the hearth, as if there was a chance Callan was hiding inside it. “He was supposed to be with ye this morning, and now the trifle is missing, and he is missing, and—”
She suddenly straightened, pulling a pillow to her chest. Dear God in Heaven, what was the lad up to now?
Turning, she pierced the nurse with a stern look. The woman paused in her own search—really, what were the odds Callan was hiding inside his own boots?—and eyed her worriedly. Athena hugged the pillow, then exhaled and straightened her shoulders.
“I have been meaning to talk to ye, Annie.”
“About Callan?” the nurse prompted hesitantly.
Athena nodded firmly. “I have been told Callan has been getting into mischief in the last few weeks, thieving things.”
“No’ Callan—”
“Aye, my son is the culprit.” Athena knew as well as any that her lad could get into mischief.
“I trust my father’s judgement, and he claims he saw the lad swipe books from the library, blankets, that sort of thing.
He stole a pair of spectacles from my brother’s new wife before they were married, and now he has acquired an entire trifle? ”
“Milady,” began Annie hesitantly, “I’ve no’ seen those items.” She looked around the room, her arms held out from her side.
“Surely if he was thieving them, he’d bring them back here?
” She went as far as to spin in a circle, looking around the room.
“But I havenae seen anything new arrive in the nursery, no’ like that. ”
Hmm.
Frowning, Athena looked around, admitting that, at first glance, she didn’t see any of the pilfered items either.
A stack of books might be hidden among the children’s reading material, perhaps, but a pair of women’s eyeglasses would stand out, as would the number of pillows which her son had filched.
And a pilfered trifle would definitely stand out!
With a groan, Athena sunk down onto one of the chairs, suddenly exhausted. A headache was building behind her eyes, and she knew it was because of the tears she hadn’t fully shed that morning.
“Callan is fine,” she muttered to herself. She’d taught him how to be self-reliant, and knew he was just poking about the manor, likely trying to find someplace to hide the trifle he’d pinched.
Honestly, how in the world did a lad his age manage to steal an entire dessert? Was he just wandering around the manor at that moment, struggling to balance a giant crystal bowl of cream?
This will be messy.
Annie fell to her knees beside Athena. “Oh, milady! Please forgive me! All these times he was allegedly stealing these things—”
“No’ allegedly,” Athena corrected wearily. “I believe my father. Callan is the culprit.”