Page 11 of I Never Forget a Duke (The Night Fire Club #1)

“I sympathize, my lord. Please be assured that I have no designs on monetary compensation. I had not considered the possibility until just now.”

“Let the chase begin, then,” said Lark. “Please proceed.”

Lady Adele folded her hands neatly over her crossed legs.

“Last week, a man was tossed out of a carriage and landed on the street near my home. The man was unconscious and had sustained a serious blow to the head. When he awoke the next morning, he could not recall who he was or where he came from. I’ve been working with him for the last week to try to recover his memories.

Although little bits have trickled back, he still cannot recall his name or where he lives. ”

And suddenly she had his interest. Lark leaned forward. “A blow to the head, you say?”

“Yes. And now I have reason to believe the man in my house is the Duke of Swynford.”

“How did you arrive at such a conclusion?” Lark didn’t want to get his hopes up, but he believed this woman for some reason.

She produced a reticule deep from within a pocket of her gown.

From it, she pulled out several folded sheets of paper.

“He believed he owned a signet ring that perhaps his attacker stole. He recalls the ring had these animals on it.” She showed Lark a crude sketch of the Swynford coat of arms, with its boars and lions.

Lark was familiar because he had seen it in Hugh’s house and on the doors of his carriages many times.

The dowager duchess took great pride in the Swynford name and displayed it wherever possible.

Lady Adele went on, “He also recalls that an S was inscribed on the ring somewhere, so we deduced that this coat of arms belonged to a family with a name that began with S . I was on Oxford Street today to see a bookseller I know so that I might review a copy of Debrett’s for some ideas on any family that might meet these criteria.

On my way to the bookshop, I happened to see a drawing of the missing duke in a print shop window.

I am fairly certain that the man in my house and the Duke of Swynford are one and the same. ”

“That is compelling evidence.” He held up the drawing.

“This looks like the Swynford coat of arms. And I have suspected for some time that he was abducted or attacked and did not merely wander off or run off to Scotland to elope, as some have suggested. It is very unlike Hugh… that is, His Grace the Duke, to be anywhere he is not supposed to be.”

“Hugh?”

“That is his name. Hugh Baxter, the twelfth Duke of Swynford.”

The woman smiled to herself. “Hugh. It suits him.”

“I should like to see him right away.”

“Yes, of course. The doctor suggested that being around something familiar might help encourage His Grace’s memory to return, but until today, I had no earthly notion what might be familiar to him. Perhaps seeing a friend would be helpful.”

“If I had more time I’d summon a few of his other friends, but perhaps we will need to introduce him to society a little more slowly.”

“He is still recovering from his injuries. We’d best not overwhelm him.”

“Yes. All right.” Lark was eager to go, so he stood and set off for the door with the woman on his heels. “We’ll take my carriage.”

“What shall I do with mine?”

“Send him home.”

Lady Adele let out a frustrated grunt. “My lord, if I may, my carriage is already sitting in front of your house. The horses are ready and my driver knows the way. It will save time if you come with me.”

“I suppose I could take a hackney back home.”

“And I understand you are eager to see your missing friend, but please be advised that while the evidence is compelling, I am not completely certain the man in my house is your Duke of Swynford. I also believe it is best to gradually reintroduce him to his old life because I do not want to shock him. He sustained quite a serious head injury and is still subject sometimes to pain and dizziness.”

“All right.” Something broke through Lark’s worry for Hugh and he really saw this woman, who was a little aggressive and seemed protective of Hugh. Lark wondered if he should infer something about her. He was certainly curious to see how Hugh regarded her.

They walked outside. A carriage that had seen better days was indeed waiting in front of the house.

The Sweeney coat of arms was painted on the door.

As a devoted reader of the scandal sheets and society columns, Lark prided himself on his knowledge of everyone in the ton , and he could not recall how the Paulsons and the Sweeneys might have been related. Lark gestured to the Sweeney symbol.

“Perhaps I should have explained,” Lady Adele said. “I am a companion to the Countess of Sweeney. I reside in her house in Marylebone, near Regent’s Park.”

The address surprised Lark. Had the Sweeneys fallen on hard times? But there was a more pressing question. “How did Hugh end up in Westminster?”

“That remains a mystery, my lord.”

As the carriage got underway, Lark asked, “Does he remember how he came to have a head injury?”

“No. He doesn’t remember much of anything before he woke up at my house six days ago. He’s recovered snatches of childhood memories, but not enough to reveal his identity.”

Lark nodded.

“Can you tell me much about him?”

Lark considered the question. “I’m not sure what would be best to reveal.

His father, the previous duke, died about six years ago.

He and Hugh were not especially close. His parents had one of those customary ton marriages where they knew each other for about three days before the duke offered, and once the requisite heir was produced, the duke left his family in the country and spent most of his time in London.

But Hugh is quite close with his mother, despite the fact that she is a difficult woman. ”

Lady Adele huffed out a laugh and said, “This tells me nothing about the current duke.”

Lark nodded. “I suppose if he has lost his memories, he may have lost some aspects of his personality as well. But the Hugh I know is a very proud man who performs his duties without complaint even though I know he loathes some of them.”

“Give me an example.”

“He hates balls for once. Don’t tell him I told you that.”

“Does he hate dancing?”

“No, it’s not that. I think he is fond of dancing, in fact, but he will never admit it.

” Lark laughed softly, thinking of a discussion they had on the last night Lark had seen Hugh.

“You see, as a handsome duke of good marriageable age, all of the society mamas have been throwing their daughters at him. He is the most eligible bachelor in London, you see.”

“Oh. Of course.”

Lark watched her face carefully for a reaction.

He was not disappointed. She’d obviously grown quite fond of Hugh in the time he’d spent at her house.

Lark supposed that made sense; Hugh was a good man, even if his priorities had been a little off-kilter of late.

Lark worried he’d been close to succumbing to his mother’s pressure and just picking some debutante at random.

Hugh had always said he’d wanted more for himself than a marriage like his parents.

Hugh’s father’s absence had made Hugh feel disconnected from his title in some ways, or so Lark had long hypothesized.

He played the role of the noble duke for the sake of his mother, but some part of Hugh had wanted a quiet life and a family and none of his ceremonial responsibilities.

Perhaps that was still possible; plenty of members of the peerage, even those with familial ties to the king, lived far from London and did not participate much in the rituals of society.

But the dowager duchess had plans for her son.

Lady Adele clasped her hands in her lap and looked forward, as if willing herself to get home faster. Likely Lark was making her uncomfortable.

“You do not travel with a maid?” he asked, likely pushing his luck.

“I did not see the need when I left home a few hours ago. My intention had been to look up the coat of arms at the bookshop to see if I could identify from which family His Grace came. Based on his manners and the few memories he’s been able to retrieve, I gathered he was a lord, although I honestly had no idea he was a duke. ”

“They are precious few, the dukes. Although my father is one, so I forget that sometimes.”

“Who is your father?”

Lark smiled. “The Duke of Beaufort. Hugh and I are in fact cousins of a sort. We’re both descended from ancestors who married into royal family at some time.

Only his relative is a great aunt and mine married a Plantagenet.

My future dukedom was a weird consolation prize from Charles II.

As in, sorry your family was nearly brought to ruin by several generations of Tudor rule and then civil war, but here is a title. ”

Lady Adele laughed, but it was reluctant. “Do you and His Grace sit around discussing English history? You just said quite a lot. I barely recall the lessons my governess taught me, although I admit I was an inattentive pupil.”

“I suppose we do. It’s an interest for both of us.” Lark tilted his head. “We could perhaps mine his memory for any of this knowledge. He may know it somewhere deep in his foggy brain.”

“Perhaps you can try that. But no need to spell it out more for me. We are here.”