Page 38 of His Stolen Duchess (Stolen by the Duke #7)

Chapter Thirty-Two

L ysander knocked on the door and waited. He looked back at his horse, which he had tethered to a post at the front of Eastbeck Manor. The horse huffed and bowed its head. Lysander turned around as the door opened.

“Your Grace,” the butler said. “A pleasure to see you, of course, but I’m afraid Lord Eastbeck is not at home at the moment. He has gone to Berwick-upon-Tweed on business. I hope this does not put you out.”

“Not at all,” Lysander replied. “I’m here to see Lady Eastbeck. I’m sure that when you tell her I’m here to speak with her, she will see me privately.”

The butler’s lower lip moved up and down a few times of its own accord as he stared at the Duke and tried to work out what was happening.

“I don’t like to be kept waiting.”

“No, yes, of course not. Won’t you please come in, Your Grace?” the butler asked, regaining some of his former composure.

Lysander followed him into the house and waited in the entranceway as the butler went off to speak with Lady Eastbeck, looking around the foyer as he waited. It was thoughtfully decorated, even lavish in parts. Money was obviously plentiful in the house.

The butler returned a few minutes later, walking with his shoulders pushed back.

“Lady Eastbeck would be glad to entertain your request, Your Grace. She is currently taking tea out in the conservatory and has asked me to show you out there.”

“Lead the way,” Lysander ordered. “How long has Lord Eastbeck been away on business?”

“Two weeks, Your Grace. He is scheduled to finish out the month up north before he returns. He will be sad to have missed you.”

“I’m sure,” Lysander said.

The butler led him through the house and out the back door onto the lawn. They walked across the grass to the small conservatory, and the butler opened the door to allow Lysander to enter.

Lady Eastbeck was sitting at the small table in the middle of the greenery, pouring herself a cup of tea.

“Ah, Your Grace, what a pleasant surprise,” she called when Lysander entered. “Won’t you come and join me?”

Lysander walked over to the table. Imogen Lockridge, the Marchioness of Eastbeck, didn’t look at him once as he approached the table. The tea looked like it was piping hot, and there was a meager assortment of cakes on a small plate, as if everything had been put together at the last second.

You want to seem in control and have me believe you were out here, but all of this is to give us some privacy because you know there are some things you don’t wish the staff to hear.

“That will be all,” she said to the butler, not looking at him either.

And there it is. We will be all alone. You are doing well to keep your composure, Lady Eastbeck.

“Won’t you sit down and join me?” Lady Eastbeck offered.

“Gladly,” Lysander replied. “We have a lot to talk about.”

“I hope I can be of some assistance. My husband takes care of our business, and I don’t know a lot about that. Perhaps I should have been more involved, but he never needed my help.”

“You can drop the act, Lady Eastbeck,” Lysander said.

She looked up at him blankly. “I don’t have the first clue what you mean. Won’t you have some tea?” She didn’t wait for a reply and poured some into a second cup. “Please, help yourself to some cakes, Your Grace.”

“Is this really how you want to play it?” Lysander asked.

“I don’t expect much of you, Lady Eastbeck, but I thought you might take some responsibility for what you did.

What were you going to do once you had her?

Hold her here for as long as your husband is away? Then what? What are you capable of?”

Lady Eastbeck frowned. She tilted her head like a puppy struggling to understand a command. “Perhaps I missed something, but this sounds like some weirdly constructed fairytale. I don’t understand a thing you are saying, Your Grace.”

“Your husband doesn’t know about any of this, does he?”

She tilted her head in the other direction. “About what, Your Grace?”

He might have been annoyed if he didn’t believe he was getting the truth from her, but he could see her fear bubbling just below the surface. He had to admire the way she continued to pretend, but she wouldn’t last much longer.

“Were you with Lord Abbington before or after he was betrothed to Georgina?” Lysander asked.

“Lord Abbington ?” She queried in a tone brimming with mock astonishment and confusion. “Whatever has he to do with anything?”

“It’s better for him to be on the Continent, isn’t it? What a disappointment he turned out to be.”

“Don’t you—” Lady Eastbeck clamped her mouth shut and grunted. “Please don’t come into my home and try to rattle me with some stories you have in your head, Your Grace. Perhaps it’s best if you take your leave.”

“No, not yet.” Lysander picked up the small jug of cream and added some to his tea before dropping in two sugar cubes and stirring them.

“You brought me out here, you sent your staff away, and you know exactly what all of this is about.” He took a sip of the tea and placed the cup back down on the saucer.

“Then perhaps I should go,” she said, picking up the napkin and wiping her hands.

She was about to stand up when Lysander commanded, “Sit down, Lady Eastbeck.”

She did as he said, looking him in the eye and swallowing. She didn’t speak.

“Here’s what I know,” Lysander said. “It took some time to put it all together, but you can learn almost anything when you put coin in the right pockets. You are in love with Lord Abbington. This poses a problem, of course, because you are married. Happily married by all accounts. When Lord Abbington left the country of his own volition, you blamed Georgina for that. That is why you accosted her at the ball. From what I can tell, you have been sending him money. I don’t know what your end goal is.

Do you intend to be with him? Do you hope he returns to England, or will you go overseas to be with him?

How much do you love him, Lady Eastbeck? ”

Lady Eastbeck sighed, and a calm seemed to wash over her. “Your Grace, I will admit that you have a flair for the creative, but I must ask you to leave my house. It is not right that I am here alone with you, and I may have to call a constable. I don’t wish to cause any trouble for either of us.”

“Oh, it’s far too late for that,” Lysander said.

“When you caused trouble for Georgina, you caused trouble for yourself. You sent three men after her. You sabotaged my coach, didn’t you?

So your hired ruffians could go to the townhouse where we swam, the one with no staff present, to kidnap her and bring her back here. ”

Lady Eastbeck tried to pick up her tea, but she put it down again when her hand shook.

“I am beginning to become offended, Your Grace. I have been nothing but gracious since you arrived, and you have insulted me at every turn. I don’t know who told you these things, but they were clearly lying.

I did hear a rumor that you were at a townhouse where three men were burgling it, and I’m sure that they would have said anything for more leniency.

They obviously mentioned my name as a scapegoat, and you were taken in by it. I feel sorry for you, Your Grace.”

Lysander reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a folded document. He placed it on the table and pushed it toward Lady Eastbeck.

“This is a full sworn confession from Douglas Harding, one of the three men who attempted to abduct my wife. He swore on the Bible that you paid him handsomely for the job, and that they were to bring Georgina here to you. You can read it if you wish, and then I can supply you with the sworn testimonies of the other two men, and before you claim there was some collusion, three men made their testimonies separated from each other, supplying the same details each time. I’ll give you a moment to read the document and then state your piece. ”

Lysander took another sip of his tea and picked up a custard tart while Lady Eastbeck picked up the document and unfolded it to read.

“Now, before you claim there is more collusion,” Lysander said before taking a bite of the tart. “I have also traced the money you are sending overseas, the money your husband has no idea is being sent out each month.”

“She’s a harlot’s get!” Lady Eastbeck snarled, referring to Georgina.

“Good,” Lysander nodded. “You can finally be honest with me.”

“She’s a guttersnipe!” Lady Eastbeck hissed.

“I’ve heard worse insults from a parrot,” Lysander said, taking another sip of his tea.

“She ruined him!” Lady Eastbeck snapped.

“She had it all, and then she went and ruined him. She said things about him and spread rumors, and now he won’t come back to England.

” She wiped her eyes. “I love him like she never could, and she spoiled it for me. You have no idea what she’s genuinely like, do you?

You have no idea what she could do to you. ”

“I know exactly who she is and what she could do to me,” Lysander admitted. “You’ve been blinded by love.”

“That’s it? That’s all you have to say? Come on, pick me up and toss me against the wall if you’re so fierce. Come on, slap me across the face!”

“No.” Lysander shook his head and shrugged. “You don’t deserve my time or energy. I don’t feel angry at you anymore, Lady Eastbeck. I pity you.”

“Oh, save your pity.” She spat to the side.

“I’ve had contact with some men loyal to me over in France,” Lysander told her. “Do you know what Abbington is doing with the money you send him?”

“He’s waiting for me. He’s setting up home over there and waiting until I can escape this wretched place.”

“No, he’s not doing any such thing. He might have a place to stay, but he doesn’t have a home.

And the money you send is going straight to wine, women, and gambling, not necessarily in that order.

He deserved everything that happened to him, and do you know something? You deserve him, Lady Eastbeck.”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about!

” Lady Eastbeck shouted. “He loves me, and I love him, and you don’t have any idea what that is like, do you?

You don’t know what it’s like to be kept apart from someone you love.

And all because of your precious Georgina.

You’re not the only one who has people talk to them.

I know she’d gone to her sister’s house.

You put up with her for longer than Lord Abbington did, I’ll give you that. ”

Lysander only pitied her more. Her rage at Georgina was so fierce that he could tell her any truths about what Abbington was up to on the Continent, and she still wouldn’t believe him. It was a fury that he had to extinguish.

I do know what it is to have feelings for someone and not to be able to act on them. Yet perhaps there is a lesson to be learned here. You have problems you are trying to overcome, despite how terrible your wants are. Perhaps it is time for me to act.

“I have asked the constables to keep your name out of the case,” Lysander said. “I did this for two reasons. I don’t want Georgina to be more afraid than she already is. I don’t need her to know that you sent men to kidnap her. The second reason is that I wish to deal with you myself.”

“So, you came here to threaten me?” she asked.

She had shrunk in her chair, and the way she challenged him, it felt like she wanted him to strike her to punish her for what she knew was wrong. He wasn’t there for that. Not this time.

“Yes, I came here to threaten you,” Lysander confirmed. “I will not reveal your crimes, not to the constabulary, nor your husband, nor the ton , but only on one condition. You are to leave England within the week.”

“L-leave?” she asked.

“Yes. That is what you want, isn’t it? You’ve been planning to leave your husband and go to France to be with Abbington.

This is the push you need. Leave London and go to him there or anywhere else for all I care, and in return, you won’t be ruined or socially exiled.

I don’t care which you choose. If I never see you again, it will be too soon, and if I get the chance to ruin you, then it is exactly what you deserve. ”

Lady Eastbeck gritted her teeth so forcefully that Lysander thought they might crack under the pressure. She picked up her teacup, her hand still shaking, but not as much as before, and took a sip, looking at him over its rim the entire time.

When she put her cup back down, she looked like a different woman—more relaxed, calm, almost at peace.

“You won’t ever see or hear from me again,” she said.

“Then we have an agreement,” Lysander said. “If I so much as hear whisperings of you being back in the country, there will be no warning when I come for you, and when I do, it will be swift and just. Do you understand?”

Lady Eastbeck twisted her mouth, and Lysander expected a final insult, but he had broken her.

“Please just leave me,” she muttered.

Lysander stood up. She hadn’t confirmed that she would leave, but she didn’t have to. She was slumped, defeated, and ready to retreat. He would check in on her later, but he was sure he would never see her again.

“Thank you for the refreshments, Lady Eastbeck,” Lysander said. “It has been a pleasure talking with you, and I look forward to never seeing you again. I’ll show myself out.”

Lysander left the conservatory and took a route around the house, back to his horse, instead of going through. He mounted his horse and rode from the estate.

There was somewhere he needed to be.