Page 30 of My Disastrous Duchess (The Untamed Ladies #2)

“Your Grace,” Lady Jane said, curtsying and forcing the younger woman down into a curtsy as well. “You will have to excuse Miss Talbot and me for stealing Her Grace after the concert. Was the choir not so lovely?”

“Quite.” Alexander fixed Margaret, wondering what they had been discussing. She looked no more inclined to talk with him than she had earlier. “I wondered where you had gone.”

“Not so far as to cause you any worry," Margaret said. “But if I did cause worry, I am sorry. I made a quick exit when I saw Lady Dudley approaching you earlier.”

“For that, you cannot be blamed,” he replied. “She is a ruthless negotiator.”

Lady Jane nodded. “Negotiated me out a rather substantial donation, too. There is nothing Christian about that! Where in the Bible did Christ ask for twenty guineas before healing the blind? The woman should be ashamed of herself...”

Margaret laughed under her breath. “Regardless, I did not want to intrude.”

"Mr. Hawthorne and Miss Bell have joined a tour of the cathedral,” Alexander said. “So it appears we must remain a while more.”

“Then might I use this opportunity to thank you, Your Grace? Not only for saving Margaret the night of the storm, but also for making a bride of her. When she was here last, I failed most terribly in my duties to protect her, as her hostess. That everything should have sorted itself out so tremendously has lifted a great weight from my shoulders, it must be said.”

“It must not be said,” Margaret argued. “You have never failed me and never will. These are the results of my own actions.” She looked up at Alexander, her brown eyes softening for the first time that morning. “And for better or for worse, I am happy.”

Alexander fought a smile, then inclined toward Lady Jane. “Your devotion to Margaret is admirable. But like Margaret, I feel there is no need to thank me.”

“Still...” Lady Jane’s cheeks flushed with more than the cold. “If you will allow it, I would not retract my thanks. That would be unheard of, though I am relieved that you are not cross with me. I was just telling Margaret?—”

“What you were just telling Margaret does not need to be repeated to His Grace,” Miss Talbot interrupted, and Margaret looked thankful. “His Grace already knows you are not to blame—Margaret just said so.”

“For our appearance in the scandal sheets, you mean?” Alexander guessed. “That’s what you’re implying, isn’t it?”

Lady Jane raised a brow at her niece. “You see? His Grace has been thinking it, and I am mortified, even though, in your position, I would hold the exact same suspicions... While I did hope Margaret would find a suitable husband, I swear I told no one of her stay with you that night. And Mr. Plim, who is still my most steadfast servant, would never have disgraced her either. I do not know who wrote the press with the story, but such disloyalty is appalling.”

“Lady Jane,” Margaret scolded, before addressing Alexander.

“Well, there is no use lying, is there? That is partly what we were discussing before you arrived—the situation with the press. I told you it was not Lady Jane, though it hardly matters now, does it? Really, the whole ordeal should be put to bed.”

“If that is your decision,” Lady Jane said. “But you know what I think, Margaret, and what I would do in your shoes...”

“Do go on, Lady Jane,” Alexander insisted, a little amused, a little jaded. He cast a discreet glance at his pocket watch, and when Margaret noticed, he saw her glower.

“If such a thing happened to me or my Helena, I would not rest until I had located the traitor and had them flogged. In this instance, things have turned out quite admirably for you both. But one does not sit on a sinking ship and not bother searching for holes. Bad things come in twos. Now, I am not suggesting you have any other secrets to profit from. No, never. But is it not better to be prepared, to discover the orchestrator of such a betrayal, the rat, before they strike again?”

“Dudley should have recruited you for the fundraising committee,” Alexander joked. But it wasn’t a laughing matter. There was sense in Lady Jane’s warning words, behind her theatrics. “It is something to consider.”

“That is all I ask,” Lady Jane replied, satisfied. She grabbed Miss Talbot’s arm, evidently preparing to leave. “Now I have said my piece, I will leave you be.”

Alexander and Margaret watched as Lady Jane guided her niece away. The wind swept up again, carrying the scent of blackthorn blossom and faraway tea. He sighed, eyeing Margaret with curiosity.

“Gossiping behind a cathedral?”

“It is not a sin,” she replied playfully.

“There may be no scripture on the topic, but I am not convinced it is entirely moral.”

“Well, when you introduce me to the bishop, we can ask him what he thinks.” She toed the grass with the tip of her shoe. Her face disappeared beneath her hat. “Do you believe Lady Jane?”

“Surprisingly, I do.”

“Then you must also believe that the rat resides at Somerstead Hall, where presently we have many secrets that we are hoping to keep hidden. I say this for your benefit, but also for mine.”

“I will not conduct a crusade on my staff when there is no definitive evidence that any of them are guilty.” He sighed, pausing a moment when Margaret looked up again. “But if it would put you at ease... I will ask Mrs. Howard if she suspects anyone.”

“I think that is wise.”

“Well, then...” Alexander glanced around. “Now that is settled between us, would you like to join the tour with the others?”

“Absolutely not,” Margaret laughed. “I would sooner walk all the way back home on foot, even in this arctic weather.”

“That can be arranged, Duchess.”

“Much to your detriment, I’ll have you know." She grinned, challenge sparking in her eyes. "You would likely stumble upon me on the road again, frozen into a block of ice this time, with no chance of saving me as you once did. What would the scandal sheet writers have to say then?”

“Perhaps, Margaret Somerton, turned to ice in Wiltshire. Could not be saved by husband and bishop. A tragic waste of a perfectly fine duchess .”

“A waste? You’re toying with me now. You could find another in a heartbeat.”

He parted his lips to say something witty. But it occurred to him that he did not want to – neither say something witty, nor find anyone else to replace her.

A piece of blackthorn blossom had caught in her hair. Alexander reached his gloved fingers toward it, plucking the petal from the ringlet by her face. The back so his fingers lingered a moment on her cheek, before he cleared his throat and let the petal drift away.

“So, no tours for us then,” Margaret murmured, her complexion turning pink. “But perhaps you would condescend to taking this freezing duchess for some cake?”

He smiled, folding his arms, as he led them back toward the courtyard.