Page 12 of Duchess By Accident (The Matchmaker’s Scheme #5)

Chapter Twelve

“ I take it my sister has been causing all sorts of trouble since she arrived?” Duke Emberly smiled as he took the glass of whiskey Adrian offered him.

The two men were sitting in a private room at the gentleman’s club in the village near Blackwood castle. Adrian had received a letter from the Duke requesting that they meet and had agreed.

“And who told you that?” Adrian narrowed his eyes, he did not like the thought that his servants had been speaking about his affairs.

“You did with your answer.” Duke Emberly gestured. “I was simply guessing that she might get up to some nonsense and mischief. I trust it has not been too wearing.”

“Nothing that I cannot manage. If anything, I have found the whole thing rather entertaining” Adrian replied, stretching languidly. “Besides, we have come to an understanding now.”

“Have you?” The Duke raised an eyebrow in disbelief.

“I believe so.” Adrian sipped his drink nonchalantly.

“Then I owe Rose a guinea.” The Duke shook his head. “She said that Natalie would stop her antics before we came to visit. I said that she would continue them until you were both old and grey.”

“I do not think you should pay your wife just yet, Duke. The truce between us may not last.” Adrian thought of their time in the garden together, and that moment they had shared.

“Natalie can be rather headstrong when she wishes and does not always know when to stop.” Duke Emberly shook his head. “The trouble she used to get into as a child. At one point I thought we would never find a governess for her.”

“I see her fighting spirit is not a recent development then.” Adrian canted his head towards the other duke.

He laughed. “And she is not above stretching the truth to prove a point. As I was in the area on business, I thought it prudent to meet with you and ensure the invitation to your castle was genuine.”

Adrian inclined his head towards the Duke. “It was. I believe the invitation was only extended to yourself, the Duchess, your children and Lord Peter. Na- my wife felt that having the entire family at one time would be overwhelming for my daughter.”

If Duke Emberly had noticed Adrian’s near use of his sister’s Christian name, he gave no indication of it. “She is probably right. There are rather a lot of us these days.”

“It is only Lord Peter who remains unwed.” Adrian recalled.

An odd emotion Adrian almost thought was pain flitted across the other man’s face, but it was gone too quickly for him to be sure. “Yes. My sisters Olivia and Marie are married, with growing families. Both Rose’s sisters are married now as well. Sometimes it is hard to keep track of all my nieces and nephews.”

“Do they visit often?” Adrian knew that they did—it had been in the dossier Mr. Kember had given him on Natalie—but it seemed polite to ask.

Duke Emberly gave him a look that told him he knew exactly what he was doing. “There is rarely a day that goes by that they are not visiting us or we are not visiting them. When we are all together, I tend to hire extra staff. Our numbers seem to grow near daily. And I am sure they will continue to do so.”

Adrian nearly choked on his whiskey as the Duke gave him a knowing look. He was unsure if Natalie had told her brother the full extent of their agreement and had not thought to ask her. When he had proposed it to the Duke, he had not given him all the details though he had not implied it was a love match either. Perhaps I should have been more clear about the nature of our relationship.

The embarrassment spread and a stab of irritation went through him. He would not usually be bothered by such an implication, but for some reason this felt different.

“I was talking about Emily. She is expecting.” The Duke gave Adrian an innocent smile that was the exact match of Natalie’s.

“Of course you were.” Adrian replied rubbing his chest.

“I have always thought Natalie would make a good mother.”

“She does have a way with my daughter, Melody.” Adrian agreed.

“She is an only child I take it?” The duke asked.

“Yes.”

The Duke nodded and Adrian decided to move the conversation to safer ground.

“You said you had business nearby?” Adrian canted his head towards the other duke. “What was it?”

“I thought you were supposed to know everything.” Duke Emberly grinned at him, reminding Adrian of Natalie. “I was visiting one of Lord Bolton’s women.”

Adrian furrowed his brow, imagining a library in his mind and going through the book labelled Bolton. “That would be Marjorie Green and her son Gregory?”

“Yes. We were finalising the details of her case.” Duke Emberly shook his head. “Given the machinations he put my sister through, it is hard to believe he has been so sloppy.”

“He is used to getting what he wants. A man like that has little regard for servants. He counted on the fact that they would be powerless to move against him. After all, few magistrates would believe their word over his.” Adrian’s mouth twisted in disgust.

When he had first approached the women, they had refused to believe that he would help them. It had taken a great deal of convincing to earn their trust.

“But they have letters from him! Some of them he was stupid enough to seal with his own mark.” Duke Emberly made a disgusted noise.

“Yes, but how many of them would believe they could stand up to a man like that? Half of them did not even know where to start when I met them.” Adrian gritted his teeth. “He is not a pleasant man. He broke many of those women. He delights in it.”

Duke Emberly winced. “I dread to think what he would have done to Natalie.”

“She is strong.” Adrian shrugged, but a stab of anger shot through him as he imagined Lord Bolton trying to break Natalie. “She might not have broken beneath his fury.”

But he remembered the way Lord Bolton had glared at her, the venom in his eyes. The thought of him hurting her made Adrian’s blood boil. A sudden urge to break something filled him, and he had to consciously loosen his hold on his glass.

Duke Emberly clenched and unclenched his hand. “I am glad we did not have to find out. I will always owe you a great debt.”

“That debt has been paid.” Adrian made a dismissive gesture.

“Nonetheless, you have my gratitude, Duke.” Duke Emberly frowned. “This is the problem with spending time with another duke. You end up calling each other duke and the whole thing gets rather confusing. And it feels bizarre to call you sir, even if it is correct.”

Adrian smiled. “Then what do you propose?”

“You may call me Emberly. We are brothers now after all.”

“I suppose we are.” Adrian nodded. “Very well, you may call me Blackwood.”

Emberly clinked his whiskey glass against Adrian’s and drank the last measure.

“How is Lord Bolton?” Adrian asked. “The last I heard he had to pay a tidy sum to Anne Taylor and her children.”

Emberly grinned. “I thought he would burst when the judge read out the sum he owed. And the other women have been given similar amounts. They will not be living a life of luxury, but they will not be destitute. It is a pity the payment is the only one they will get.”

Adrian noticed a dark look flit across the other duke’s face. The man shook his head and sighed. “While the money will have stung him, he will face few other consequences.”

“And the women will still have a hard road ahead.” Adrian ran a hand through his hair.

“My mother-in-law had a few thoughts on the matter.” Emberly poured them each another healthy glass of whiskey.

“Did she?” Adrian asked.

“Well, a fallen woman is one thing, but a widow is quite another. After all, there is still a war being fought.” Emberly gave him a meaningful look.

“It seems the Viscountess is more than just a matchmaker.” Adrian drummed his fingers on the arm of his chair. “With the right support… It would not be too hard to arrange such things.”

Adrian closed his eyes, retreating back into the library of his mind, rifling through bookshelves as he searched for the information he needed. Names of Lords and Ladies who owed him favours, a collection of less than savoury characters who owed him their loyalty.

He opened his eyes, and nodded. “It would be best that we place the women as far from the reaches of the ton as possible. I have several people who owe me favours, no doubt I could place one or two in their households as servants.”

“I have a few as well, and there are others within my family who would be willing to take them on. Glassley is reasonably remote, and Maxton would be glad to help, I am sure.” Emberley nodded.

“Then we have a plan. I shall make the arrangements for their backstories.” Adrian drank his whiskey.

“You are not as heartless as they say.” Emberly said. “Plenty of men would balk at calling in what I can only assume are hard won favours.”

“Would you have let me marry your sister if you thought I was all the things the scandal sheets say?” Adrian canted his head towards the other man.

“No.” Emberly replied. “Though, I knew you were not the man they painted you as simply by virtue of you asking.”

The Duke stood up, letting out a yawn and stretching. Adrian stood up as well.

“If you were truly a devil, you would simply have taken her.” The man’s eyes darkened. “You would have given me no choice in the matter.”

“What makes you think I was not prepared with some scheme or another if you refused my request?” Adrian asked.

He was not used to being so candid with people, but there was something about Alexander Rokesby that seemed to set him at ease. An odd thing, given the man had once been called the Beast of Emberly castle. Perhaps that is why I like him.

“Firstly, there is very little you could discover about me that the ton do not already know or claim to know at any rate.” Emberly began to count on the fingers of his hand. “Secondly, I suspect you had your spies look into us rather thoroughly before you even made the proposal, and if you had found anything too scandalous you would not have wanted the match made.”

The Duke of Emberly shrugged on his coat. “Thirdly, my wife said that she trusted you. And she is a rather good judge of character.”

“Perhaps I should work harder on my devilish reputation.” Adrian shook his head.

“Reputations… Well, they are hard to control.” The Duke opened his mouth as though about to say more, closed it and shook his head.

He smiled at Adrian and said, “The Pembletons have a knack for seeing things others do not. Your reputation as marionette master of the ton will remain intact and on that note, I will take my leave of you. I shall see you in two days.”

“I shall look forward to it.” Adrian replied smoothly.

Duke Emberley laughed and disappeared out of their private room. Adrian stood for a moment longer, pondering the exchange. There was something in the way the other man had paused when they were discussing reputations.

“He was probably worried that I was going to spread about my reputation as a rake. I doubt he would want that kind of embarrassment for his sister.” Adrian nodded. “Few men would.”

He left the gentleman’s club and made his way back to Blackwood castle, stuffing his hands in his pockets to keep them from the cold.

“Emberley’s are far too dangerous.” He shook his head. “And I am about to have a house full of them.”