Chapter 27
They sat down to dinner, as had been their custom since arriving at Derrington Chase. Following the flying pea incident, the children were made to eat with their governesses.
However, after a week of good behavior, Royce allowed them to return to the dining room with the promise that no food of any kind was to be launched down the table.
Everyone sat idly chatting over their food when Della heard a plop and looked over to see her drink garnished with floating green peas. As she glanced up, she caught Grayson and Desmond trying to suppress their laughter while Ace and Theodore feigned innocence.
Apparently, the children had promised to behave, but the men had not.
Shaking her head at their child-like antics, Della turned to rejoin the conversation when her stomach started to rebel. Excusing herself, she shoved back from the table and walked to the foyer.
As soon as she was out of sight, she broke into a run, barely making it to the chamber pot in her dressing room before she tossed up her accounts.
Della slumped to the floor with a slight moan as she continued to hold her hand over her stomach, willing whatever was wrong with her to go away. The door quietly opened, and the Duchess let herself into the room, followed by Tilly.
“How are you feeling, my dear?” Tilly walked over to the table, poured a glass of water, and handed it to Della.
“I do not know what is wrong with me. One minute I will be fine, and the next minute I am trying to find somewhere to discreetly get sick.”
“Have you said anything to Royce?” the Duchess asked.
Della shook her head. “Other than inquiring about my well-being, he has said nothing.”
“May I ask a personal question?” The Duchess looked at her, waiting for a response.
Della nodded, taking another sip of water.
“When did you last have your courses?”
Della paused at the Duchess’s question and tried to come up with an answer. “I-I do not remember, come to think of it.”
The Duchess looked at Tilly before she smiled at Della. “I believe you might be with child, my dear. I have noticed a glow about you. You are getting ill at various points throughout the day and taking long naps in the afternoon.”
“I have to tell Royce,” Della said as she rose to her feet.
“You will tell Royce when you know for certain. It is late, but I will have a message delivered to our doctor tonight and have him come tomorrow morning. I will send Maggie to fetch a few things in town, and the others can distract Royce by taking him out riding. Do not worry,” the Duchess said, leaning over to kiss Della on the cheek.
“You have nothing to fear. We are here for you, and Royce will be thrilled.”
Della had found it extremely difficult to keep such exciting news from Royce, but realized the Duchess’s suggestion to wait was probably wise. She encouraged Royce to join the others downstairs after claiming a terrible headache.
Which was true, after she tossed and turned all night, thinking about how their lives were about to change. Royce had wanted to stay with her, but Della had insisted she would be fine after a little more sleep.
A knock on the door about an hour later produced the doctor, the Duchess, and Tilly. The Duchess informed her that Royce had practically been shoved out of the house, leaving only after she promised to check on Della. She had also sent Maggie into town—with Aden, of all people—to grab a few important things.
Della had asked Tilly to stay with her to help calm her nerves, feeling like a child again when she had begged her not to leave. Doctor Thorton was quick and efficient in his evaluation and confirmed what the Duchess had suspected.
She was with child, though how far along was a little hard to determine, but he would check back in a couple of weeks. Until then, Della was to relax, go on regular walks for fresh air, and eat smaller, more frequent portions, just in case her stomach continued its current course.
“Well, my dear,” the Duchess said with a smile as she closed the door behind the doctor. “I believe congratulations are in order. We will, of course, remain ignorant of the matter until you decide when it is best to tell everyone. Try to lie down and get some rest. Royce will make his way up here when they get back, I am sure.”
After they left, Della sat by the window to read a book, hoping the words on the page might calm her, but her excitement soon turned to restlessness, and she decided to take a walk in the garden.
Royce had yet to return from whatever the Duchess had concocted to get him out of the house, which was fine since she had not yet decided how she was going to tell him the news.
Grabbing her wrap, Della headed downstairs, reaching the bottom step as the front door opened and Maggie came in, mumbling something, while she stared at a piece of parchment.
“Maggie?”
“Do you know why my mother sent me off for some items she deemed so important this morning?“ Maggie asked, planting her hands on her hips as she looked up at Della.
“I have not the faintest idea.” Della winced slightly at her lie. “I have been fighting a headache all morning.” She desperately wanted to tell Maggie the news, but Royce needed to know first.
“I mean, how important could some of these items be?” Maggie asked, slapping the list in her hand. “Thread, various herbs for tea, and a…a…I do not even know what this is. Worse, she sent me with Samuel and Aden!”
Della had to laugh at Maggie’s outrage.
“I am sure there was a need for the items she sent you for. I am about to go for a walk. Would you care to join me?”
“Of course. Let me make sure these important items have been delivered, and I will meet you in the garden.”
Maggie hustled off downstairs toward the kitchen, still grumbling about her mother, pointless trips into town, and something about Aden, which Della did not hear as Maggie’s voice faded away.
Della ambled along the pathway parallel to a row of trees, watching squirrels chase each other as birds frolicked in the fountain. The garden was perfumed with the scent of flowers, herbs, and the divine smell of bread baking in the kitchen, creating a sense of calm within her as she placed her hand over where a new life was forming.
Carefully, she stepped over the puddles that had formed from the rain that had fallen overnight, when a rustling in the trees drew her attention, causing foot to stick in a patch of thick mud.
The sound of twigs snapping instantly made her heart race when a rabbit sprang out of the trees, startling her. Her foot broke free from the mud with a squelching sound as she landed on the ground.
Laughing at her own silliness as she stood, Della attempted to wipe the mud that now caked her slipper, when a pair of powerful arms grabbed her around the waist and hauled her toward the tree line.
“Let go of me!” Della tried to scream, but a large hand clamped over her mouth, muffling her attempt.
“Della?” she heard Maggie call out.
Anger flooded through Della, and she bit down on the man’s hand, causing him to curse. He tightened his grip, but her arms were still free, so she drove the point of her elbow into his ribs.
The man grunted, loosening his hold, and Della tried to scramble away, but she was not fast enough before he grabbed her again.
“Try that again and I will kill you where you stand,” the man snarled as he flung her over his shoulder. He ran through a thorny overgrowth that let out onto the main road where a carriage was waiting for them.
Della landed with a hard thud on the floor, her arms wrapping around her belly on instinct as the man stepped up into the carriage and closed the door.
“GO!” he yelled at the driver. The horses whinnied at the snapping of a whip, jerking the carriage forward.
Della tried to untangle her feet from her skirt as the man held out his hand to assist her up into a seat, but she slapped the hand away and sat down, her jaw dropping in surprise as she looked up. “L-Lord Haddock?”
“The one and only.” He gestured to himself. “Did you miss me?”
“Hardly,” Della scoffed. “I have not given you a second thought.”
“Oh, you thought about me. Otherwise, why would you and the entire Derrington family, and that pompous arse, Lord Aynesworth, have come all the way to Exeter in the middle of the season?”
“I cannot believe you have the gall to show your face after everything you have done.”
“And what have I done exactly, Miss Rowntree?”
“I am the Duchess of Exeter. You will address me as Your Grace, and nothing else,” Della said in her most commanding tone.
“Tsk, tsk. Such high-handedness.” A wicked smile crawled across his face. “We are going to take care of this nasty business and fix this mess you have gotten us into.”
“What business do you speak of?”
“Why the business of you becoming my wife, of course.”
“In case you were unaware, I am already married,” Della said, looking out the window.
“That can be easily remedied once we arrive at our final destination.”
“And where exactly is that?” Della asked, trying to find out any information that might help her.
“Oh, not far at all—just a quick trip across the ocean. There is a ship in Topsham that will sail in a few hours, and there is also someone who would like to speak to you,” Lord Haddock said. “I am sure His Grace will find us in short order…once he receives the note I left behind.”
Della was unsure what direction they were heading, but something her father had said kept repeating in her head; something about purchasing ships in Topsham from Lord de Courtenay.
Perhaps her father could tell Royce how to find her, depending upon the information Lord Haddock had provided in his note.
A wave of nausea crept over Della, and she laid her hand on her stomach, willing it to settle. Casting up her accounts on Lord Haddock would not go over well, especially since provoking his anger any further might jeopardize the safety of her future child.
So, she did her best to stay composed and held onto the hope that Royce would find them soon.