Page 320 of Desires of a Duke Collection

A rather uncomfortable guest had arrived…

The Baron paced restlessly across the antique 17th Century Spanish Cuenca carpet, its intricate patterns lost on him. He hardly cared if he wore holes where he tread. He hated this dreadful homestead. It only served to remind him of everything his brother had stolen from him.

Looking around at the opulent surroundings, he curled his lip in disdain. Ornate chandeliers hung from the high ceilings, casting a soft glow over the richly furnished room. Portraits of long-gone ancestors lined the walls, their haughty gazes seeming to judge him. Plush, velvet-upholstered chairs and mahogany tables gleamed under the light, but all of it felt suffocating to him.

He felt much more comfortable in his London townhouse situated in the ever-popular Mayfair. When the children were in town, they stayed with him. Although the Baron couldn’t say that he loved them—the children, that is—he at least held some sort of fondness for the twins.

It was their scheming mother that he truly couldn’t stand. Her innocent eyes and hurt glances made him sick. She was ever the consummate actress, always seeming so abused and put upon.

He rolled his eyes in disgust. The woman should be grateful he married her and gave her bastards a name.

The door eased open, followed by the family retainer. “The Baroness of Mangrove, the Misters Rotherford, and The Honorable Celia,” he announced.

As they all entered the room, the Baron felt a moment of uncertainty. Eloise had certainly come with reinforcements.

The Baroness came to a stop right before him and gave a respectful curtsy. As always, her manners were completely impeccable. “My Lord, we are honored by your visit. You must be famished. Do you wish for some refreshment or perhaps a drink with the gentlemen in the library before dinner is served?”

As a rule, alcohol was not usually served before a meal and certainly never alluded to by a woman. But the Baron knew that this was an olive branch that the Baroness was extending to him. He wasn’t about to look a gift horse in the mouth.

“A drink will be just the thing, my Lady. I have a few bits of correspondence to attend to and will return from the library forthwith.” He turned to the Rotherford sons. “You may attend me if you wish, of course.”

Charles and Spencer opted to stay in the drawing room with the Baroness and CeCe while Robert and the Baron exited quietly.

CeCe whipped her head around. “Do you think he suspects something is amiss?”

The Baroness patted her forehead with her handkerchief. “I thought I would die offering him to take a drink. Thank heavens he took me up on it.”

Crane poked her head around the door. “Lady Mangrove, please come right away! Lady Stephens has awakened, and she’s quite hysterical.”

The Baroness, CeCe, Charles, and Spencer bounded up the stairs, quickly followed by Crane. As they reached the guest wing, they could hear the physician’s deeper tones, followed by the higher pitch of Lady Stephens.

The Baroness turned to Crane. “Please ascertain if it is feasible for all of us to visit Lady Stephens.”

For a moment, Crane looked confused before CeCe exploded in a harsh whisper, “Oh, good heavens, woman, just make sure she’s decent.” CeCe opened the door and shoved Crane inside.

Moments later, Crane peered out at them, looking a bit piqued. “Lady Stephen’s isn’t accepting company.”

“She will see us,” the Baroness decided, pushing the door open as Crane stumbled to get out of her way.

They marched into her aunt’s bedchamber just as Lady Stephens, seeing that her wishes were to be ignored, shrieked and yanked the coverlet above her head.

“She seems to be doing well,” CeCe commented dryly.

The Baroness sent her daughter a side eye before speaking with Doc Curry. “Is there anything physically wrong with her?”

He shrugged. “She refuses to let me examine her, but from what I can tell, she only suffers from a terrible disposition—oh, and a small bump on the crown of her head.”

“I heard that!” Lady Stephen’s nasty voice rang out from beneath the covers.

“See!” Doc Curry said with a look. “Nothing wrong with her ladyship’s hearing. I’ve left something her maid can mix with her tea to help with the pain.”

As if on cue, Lady Stephen’s groaned in agony. It was rather unsettling to see a grown woman hide petulantly underneath her bed linen. But stranger things had been afoot on this day.

“Aunt Stephens, we need you to come out and talk to us,” CeCe tried to reason.

“No,” came her quick refusal.

“Where is Cousin Elizabeth?” CeCe asked. “Surely she can talk some sense into her own mother?”

With a dramatic flair that but the Baroness’s acting to the pale. Lady Stephens dropped the sheet and began to sob. “That wicked, wicked girl. After everything I’ve done for her, this is how she repays me.”

“Aunt,” CeCe asks, a frown beginning to form. “What are you talking about?”

Lady Stephens pulled out a lace handkerchief and blew her nose heartily. Then she began to tell her story: “It’s only a matter of time before everyone knows. Elizabeth has always been headstrong, never thinking that the rules applied to her—that she was superior to everyone around her. I know that you all think I perpetuated this behavior, and I suppose I did.”

Lady Stephens sat up further on the bed and asked for a bit of water before continuing. “Recently, she had started running with a fast crowd. I know that it piqued her that she hadn’t been asked to marry. I had tried to coach her in being feminine and demure, but she was ever so headstrong. When she found these friends that gambled, I was at first just happy she fit in somewhere.

There were young people about the house from excellent families, every bit as noble as our own. It wasn’t as if she were going to the gambling houses. That would be improper. It wasn’t until I noticed little things missing around the house—some antique opera glasses, older jewelry, and ornate snuff boxes. Trifles, yes, but things were adding up, and I worried the servants were stealing from me.

Being a widow, I turned to my brother, your husband, Eloise. He point-blank told me that my daughter was the laughingstock of the ton. Everyone knew that she was in the dun territory. I was shocked. She had spent not only all her allowance for the year but five thousand more besides.”

Lady Stephen’s wrang her hands fitfully. “My brother has been very generous in the past. I know you’ve had your differences with him, Eloise. But I didn’t know where else to turn. I’m a widow; my jointure is only two thousand per annum.” Lady Stephens looked at them pleadingly. “I didn’t know what to do. He said we had to come here, to the family estate, and that he would deal with the issues at hand. I’ve no idea what that could possibly mean. Then he told me he would find someone to marry Elizabeth so that she could be someone else’s problem.”

Lady Stephens appeared stricken.

The Baroness, feeling compassion for the older woman, went to sit beside her. “Nobody wants that said about their child, no matter what they’ve done.”

Lady Stephens tried to smile. “If only that were all of it. Apparently, she owed more than the five thousand—closer to fifteen thousand. I’ve only just learned these past few days. I have been fighting with her to leave her room and just admit the truth to her uncle. But she refused. I’m terribly ashamed that I’ve been hiding her from all of you. When I received word he was coming today, we got into a massive argument. I went into the garden to take a walk and noticed she was sneaking into the stables. I followed and confronted her. She told me she was just going for a ride. When I insisted she take a footman, she became agitated.”

Lady Stephens stopped to blow her nose once again. “I should have been wise to her trickery when she said she would walk me back to my room. We’d no sooner passed the kitchen when I felt a terrible pain at the base of my head—and then—nothing. The next thing I knew, Doc Curry was poking and prodding my person without my permission!”

“Isn’t that what doctors do?” CeCe muttered to Spencer. His lips twitched, but he was wise enough not to answer.

Charles glared at them both before moderating his expression into concern as he spoke with Lady Stephens. “We are dreadfully sorry this happened to you, madam. We’ll give you a moment of privacy with the Baroness. However, before we go, did Elizabeth give you any clue or indication of where she might be headed?”

Lady Stephens’s brow wrinkled in confusion. “That’s the strangest part of all. The only person that she ever visited was that widow… What was her name?”

“Widow Abbott,” CeCe asked incredulously. “Elizabeth has been visiting Widow Abbott?”

“Yes, that’s the one,” Lady Stephens replied, sinking back into the pillows and moaning. The Baroness ushered everyone out and went to get a cold cloth for Lady Stephen’s head.

“What do you make of that?” CeCe said when they were out of hearing.

“There is no way in the pearly gates of heaven or in the fiery depth of hell that Elizabeth has developed a fondness for Widow Abbott,” Spencer said fiercely. “Something is wrong.”

“Agreed,” Charles and CeCe said unanimously.

At that very moment, Eli happened upon the three of them. “What are you agreeing upon, and is anyone having dinner?”

“See here,” the Baron’s voice started CeCe. She’d nearly forgotten he was in residence. “Why are you gathering in the hallway? Is dinner to be served soon?”

“It is,” Eli said with certainty. “Let’s make our way to the dining room, and then you can tell us what the three of you were up to.”

CeCe swallowed hard and followed Eli and her father, unable to think of anything to say. Thankfully, Charles was able to steer most of the conversation. He spoke of business trends and investment funds until the Baron’s eyes glazed over. The pompous man wasn’t about to admit he hadn’t the foggiest idea what Charles was talking about.

Gathered in the dining room were none other than Frances and Widow Abbott, who had graciously accepted Eli’s last-minute invitation to dine.

As Charles helped to seat CeCe, he whispered, “Just breathe. Everything will be alright, my love. I’m right by your side, and I’ll always be there for you.”