Page 52 of A Tale of Two Dukes

Since Richard was obliged to go to London at the Regent’s summons, and they were reluctant to be separated so soon after they had found each other again, Viola and the boys accompanied him, taking the long journey in easy stages that would not be too tiring for her.

She was in excellent health, suffering no ill effects of pregnancy this time, but it could not be guaranteed that she would always feel so, and winter was coming on fast; wise people on the Ventris estate had looked at the signs in nature, and now shook their grizzled heads and said that it was going to be an uncommonly bad one this year.

Thank God that the manifold improvements Lord and Lady Ventris had already set in train had made life more bearable there already.

It was decided that Ventris Castle could be left behind for a while by the family and occupation resumed in spring, when much of the interior work would, they hoped, have been completed.

They’d stay at Armstrong House for a few weeks now, and then perhaps go down to Winterflood for Christmas with as many Constantines as cared to come.

Richard had agreed to this scheme with the alacrity of a man in love who had absolutely no idea what he was letting himself in for.

This meant, of course, that Viola could spend time in Town with her sisters, and with her mother – an unalloyed pleasure, where the girls were concerned, but a mixed blessing, perhaps, in the case of Mrs Constantine.

Lady Ventris saw her alone first, which seemed wise, as she was not entirely sure that Richard was quite prepared yet for his mother-in-law’s devastating frankness and clear-eyed judgement.

He still had a lot to learn about her family; she could only hope that since he had very little kin of his own, save for his unpleasant brother, he might be disposed to think them normal, even if they weren’t.

They were hers, and she loved them. Even Leontina.

Nothing had changed in Great Russell Street since she had last visited. Her mother looked her up and down in her usual penetrating manner and said flatly, ‘I see that meeting your husband’s ridiculous deadline will not be a problem for you, if all goes well.’

She was annoyed to feel herself blushing hotly.

‘It is astonishing to me that you can tell merely from looking at me. In earlier ages, you would have been burned at the stake, Mama. But yes, you are correct, I am with child, though only a few weeks gone. And well, as you can see. We are all well, in fact.’

‘That is satisfactory. You will be able to be comfortable together soon enough, without the incessant anxiety over money hanging over you, which counts for a great deal in life.’

‘I know,’ she said quietly. ‘Believe me, I do know.’

‘And how are the boys liking their new father?’

Viola thought it wise not to quibble with her mother’s choice of words and say stepfather .

‘Very well, I believe. There have been moments of awkwardness, but few of them. It would have been harder if Ned and Robin were older, I imagine. But no, they have accepted him better than I could have hoped. They have spent a great deal of time together over the past few weeks in the country – he takes them fishing, and is teaching them to shoot at targets, which is something I try hard not to think too much about. They go riding together, exploring the Ventris estate, and all enjoy themselves enormously. It is excellent for Ned and Robin to have a masculine influence in their lives again, and he’s very good with them. ’

‘It is hardly to be wondered at,’ her mother responded drily. ‘He is their true father, after all.’

This was beyond uncanny. Viola’s heart lurched, and then settled; she took a calming breath, and released it slowly.

She was a grown woman, and had been for years.

She should not be intimidated by her mother any longer.

Nor would she lie – though in all honesty, that would probably be nothing more than a waste of time anyway, given Leontina’s unnatural powers of perception.

‘I do not know how you can possibly be so confident of that. I have told nobody, and you can be sure Richard has not either, except his brother, who was convinced of it already. I have not said a word to my sisters, or to Emily, even. I hope Tarquin Armstrong has not been spreading gossip abroad when Richard was so certain he would not!’

Mrs Constantine shrugged, apparently unconcerned.

‘As to that, I do not know – I have not heard any rumours to that effect. I doubt there are any, and I doubt it would matter if there were, so long after the… event, and Edward safely dead these many years. I speak merely from my own observation. I suspected something of the sort when you first fell pregnant, given your husband’s history, but there was no profit in talking of it while he was alive.

I could see that you had no wish to tell me your secrets, which was probably wise, and he was plainly more than content with matters as they stood.

But when I saw Ventris at your wedding, how much he resembles them both, and saw into the bargain the way he looked at you, and you at him, as if you claimed each other, despite grave doubts, after hurtful years apart, I was certain of it. Edward always knew, I suppose?’

Viola snorted derisively. ‘Knew? He engineered the whole situation, I promise you. He did everything but lock us in a bedchamber together and feed us oysters. I promise you, Mother, I am not exaggerating. It was exactly what he wanted.’

She had rarely seen her mother taken aback, but she did now, albeit briefly, before the mask of composure – if it was a mask, Viola had never been certain – was resumed.

‘Good heavens,’ Leontina said mildly after a moment.

‘Well, it is for the best you did not tell me this at the time. I was under the impression that you had taken matters into your own hands, realising that Edward was incapable in some fashion I don’t propose to enquire into more closely, and I would not have criticised you or any child of mine for showing such good sense, however unconventional it might be.

But I certainly did not realise your husband had forced you into another man’s bed.

I would have had strong words with him if I had known, I assure you. ’

‘Not forced,’ said Viola resolutely. ‘He was not quite that bad. And in all honesty, there was no need, in the end, so drawn to each other as we were. But he manipulated us both; invited Richard to stay for that purpose, then left us alone together deliberately for days at a time. I was so lonely and unhappy – he had made me so; perhaps even that was a part of his wicked plan, I have since thought – that falling in love with Richard was all but inevitable. And Edward did not care about my feelings, not one jot, nor his cousin’s, as long as he got the son he wanted.

Richard has said that he tried to breed us like so much livestock, and with as little compunction, and it is true.

He was a weak and selfish man, Mama, and used us like merest pawns.

I could have no esteem for him after I knew that, and I told him so.

In all respects but our shared love for the boys, our marriage was a sham for years. ’

‘I am sorry,’ Mrs Constantine said slowly.

Viola wasn’t sure she’d ever heard her mother apologise before, if that was what this was.

‘I deeply regret that I ever considered him a suitable husband for you. I always knew he was too old, of course – but I saw that as a positive, since I judged him not strong, perhaps suffering pains and telling nobody, and I thought that very likely he would die soon enough – especially if he over-exerted himself in the bedroom – and leave you an independent widow.’

The ruthlessness of it left Viola a little breathless, and she found herself laughing, somewhat against her will.

‘Well, you were right in that, Mama, and must congratulate yourself on your prescience. He did not live ten years after our marriage, though not, I assure you, because of any exertions in my bed. I realised in the end that my maid Jennings was his mistress, and had been for years – but by that point, I didn’t care. He had that comfort; I did not.’

Leontina accepted this further revelation with equanimity, which was perhaps why Viola had told her now, and never anyone else, not even Richard.

‘No wonder you pensioned the creature off as soon as Edward was in his grave – I should have realised why, if I had thought. But ten years is a long, long time if you are unhappy. I do know that. Really, Viola, I am sorry. I have always been aware that picking men for you girls was a desperate sort of lottery, with similarly poor odds of success. I could justify my actions by saying that I had little option; it does not alter the fact that I choose wrongly for you. I allowed myself to be blinded to his poor character by his wealth and status, but a duke is a man like any other, and I should have looked deeper than I did.’

Viola shrugged. It had mattered so much once, and it still did, but it was far too late to change things now.

‘I know you had little choice, and nor did we. How many women have the strength of mind to turn away a gentleman who has such a position in society, and is handsome and amiable besides? I have never claimed, even in my darkest times, that I was forced to marry him. He was a good man in many ways – you could have chosen much worse. If he had only treated me a little better… But it all came from his obsession with getting an heir. You must have known that when he offered for me. Dukes do not generally marry women of much lower social standing without an excellent reason for it. He knew that Sabrina had just had a son, did he not? That prompted his offer to me. Let us be frank at last, Mama, now that we are talking – I am sure you told him so yourself, so there could be no mistake.’

Mrs Constantine was long past the age of blushing, if indeed she ever had shown signs of normal human embarrassment or shame in all her life, but she had the grace to look a little uneasy now, which was a notable event in itself.

‘I might say I don’t recall after so long – yes, of course I told him with sufficient plainness, but subtly, as though it were a mere piece of happy family news.

I knew we had no rank or connections to tempt him, and he could have looked much higher for a bride.

I knew he was marrying you in a last gamble that he might get a son from you.

Of course, I stressed your advantages of youth and beauty and a fertile line.

You may say that makes me no better than he was.

You may justly remind me that you were only seventeen and deserved better.

It’s true. I have no defence I can make to you for dealing so cavalierly with your future happiness. ’

Viola had not expected such honesty from her mother, and was touched by it.

‘You know better now, though, don’t you, ma’am?

I think you do. It has not escaped my attention, or Sabrina’s, that all our youngest sisters are past the age at which we older ones went to the altar.

Beatrice is almost four and twenty, Cecilia is turned twenty, and even Bianca is rising eighteen.

I cannot believe that you have lost your touch in husband-hunting, that could never be, so I must hope that you have realised that there is no desperate urge to find them matches to avert destitution.

We will always take care of you all and make sure you want for nothing. I will.’

‘I know you will,’ Mrs Constantine said, her voice as close to unsteady as her daughter had ever heard it.

‘I have been luckier than I deserve, I think. As for the girls, Beatrice says she will never marry, that she has no interest in men, whether they be rich or poor – I do not know if this is true, but it is what she says at present, and Cecilia and Bianca are young yet. You and your sisters have bought them precious time, and I am aware that in your case at least, it was at no little cost to yourself.’

Viola made some incoherent noise of agreement, tears pricking at her eyes, and then, since so much unaccustomed emotion made them both uncomfortable, she turned the topic, and began to speak more lightly of her pregnancy, of life at Ventris with her sons, and Richard’s visit to the Regent, and the grand title he was to be honoured with.

Mrs Constantine took the news that her new son-in-law had never been a criminal but instead a trusted government agent with equanimity, just as she had originally taken the tidings that Viola was to marry him despite his sullied reputation.

She had the enviable facility of worrying little about matters that she had no power to change; Viola would have said before today that the experience of regret was entirely foreign to her, in which regard, she was scarcely human in her coolness, but she knew better now, and felt happier somehow for knowing it.