Page 4 of Never Doubt I Love (Calloway #3)

Alexander could have gone his whole life never meeting Miss Calloway and been perfectly content. Not because he had anything against the lady, and not even because he knew Hugh would take an interest on the instant. Which, yes, was a terrible thing regardless. No, Alexander wished he had never met the woman because she was the most beautiful creature he had ever seen.

He’d thought so from the moment she’d run into him, the fire in her eyes leaving him breathless and frozen in place. That he’d managed to get any words out had been a miracle unto itself. Even two days later, he couldn’t get her out of his head, as if the tiny freckles on her nose had been etched onto his brain. The way her hazel eyes looked like they were trying so hard to be blue—something he had never seen before. Her soft brown curls valiantly attempting to escape her bonnet. There should not have been anything remarkable about her appearance—objectively, the ladies on either side of her had been more comely—and yet Alexander’s heart had thumped in his chest like it had only just remembered it existed.

The whole ordeal at the park had been rather painful, and he hoped never to experience it again. His heart could stay cold and lifeless, and Miss Calloway could carry on her merry way and torment someone else with her gentle gaze.

Gentle, but with a generous helping of passion. Whatever she had been talking about with her companions, it had brought flattering color to her cheeks and left her looking... alive.

So alive.

“Almack’s tonight.” Hugh swept into the conservatory and stood only two paces from the bench where Alexander had been attempting—and failing—to read.

Alexander raised an eyebrow. “Why? You hate Almack’s.” He and his brothers had not been to the assembly rooms in years.

Hugh planted a fist on his waist despite no one being there to see him pose. “I have exhausted the usual company. It is time to broaden our horizons.”

“Lower your standards, you mean,” Alexander corrected.

Hugh scowled. “Of course not. I have simply grown complacent in whose company I allow, and several of my acquaintances have shown themselves to be unsuitable. I require replacements.”

Alexander wondered if that meant some of the ladies of his entourage had refused to indulge his baser desires. He certainly hoped so. Shutting his book, he thought through his words carefully. “Did you have someone in mind? I would imagine you are anxious to procure an heir.” Alexander was certainly anxious. As the second son, he would be expected to take over the duchy should anything happen to Hugh, and he had never had any desire to continue the legacy his father and grandfather had built.

Hugh sniffed, narrowing his eyes at Alexander. “Yes, I am in need of an heir.”

Rising, Alexander headed for the door. “Then, I shall endeavor to help you find a wife. The sooner you are granted a son, the sooner I can breathe easy.”

“Alexander.”

He paused, knowing his name had been a command to halt—one he would do well not to ignore. “Yes, Your Grace?”

“You truly do not want my title?”

In these rare moments, Hugh actually looked his age. He was only a couple of years above Alexander, though he always pretended to be older than his twenty-seven years. There had been a time once, before Father’s death, when he’d acted as a brother rather than a ruler, when they were away from the late duke, and sometimes his ducal mask slipped and revealed the man underneath.

Alexander never knew what to do in these moments. “No,” he said. “I have never wanted it.”

“Charles does.”

Ducking his head, Alexander muttered, “Charles worships the ground you walk on.”

“He has thought about poisoning me.”

Alexander’s head shot up. Surely not.

Hugh chuckled darkly as he approached the door where Alexander stood. “The apothecary came to me and told me Charles was asking questions. Hasn’t purchased anything, but he could send his man to do it and none would be the wiser.”

“There would be inquiries,” Alexander argued. “Charles would be suspect by default. And...” His stomach dropped.

Hugh nodded. “And he would have to get rid of you as well. Pity you were not born last, is it not? We should both be glad our brother is a coward, but let us pray he remains that way.”

With those parting words, Hugh slipped through the door and left Alexander feeling sick. Surely Charles was not considering such a ghastly crime, but the youngest Bailey brother had always acted like a duke. He imitated Hugh so thoroughly that he would easily step into the role—he only needed the opportunity.

Grimacing, Alexander sank against the wall and took a careful breath, reminding himself that there was little he could do about his circumstances unless he found a way to provide himself with an income, which would not be easy. But this revelation about Charles, true or not, was enough to tell him he should act sooner rather than later.

It was time to find a way out of his twisted family.

* * *

After years of attending only private functions, it felt strange to step into Almack’s Assembly Rooms that evening. Particularly because the whole place went completely silent as soon as everyone realized who had stepped through the doors.

Alexander should have been used to the attention, spending so much of his time at Hugh’s side, but so many eyes on him still stiffened his spine as the three of them worked their way across the great room.

The way he searched the crowd, Hugh must have been looking for someone specific tonight, but who—

Alexander’s stomach sank when he spotted Miss Calloway. She stood with her brother the baron, dressed quite prettily in a pink satin with flower petals in her hair. Mr. Forester stood nearby, deep in conversation with Lord Calloway while Miss Calloway watched the current dance with interest.

Had no one asked her for this set? Alexander could not fathom the idea.

“You know your parts,” Hugh muttered, coming to a halt and looking imperiously over the ballroom. “And, Charles, I trust you will pay better attention than the last time. I had to deal with that lunatic Stubbs because you failed to notice him at the gambling tables at Lord Southcott’s.”

Grumbling, Charles went straight for the cardrooms, where he would spend more time listening to the conversations than playing. And apparently keeping an eye out for bothersome individuals.

Alexander wished he had remained at home, though that had never been much of a choice. His role was far less entertaining than playing cards and gambling all his money away.

“Do you see anyone of value?” Hugh asked, his eyes scanning the crowd. Thus far, no one had dared to approach him, and he seemed to enjoy the power that gave him.

Looking in the opposite direction of Miss Calloway, Alexander sought out anyone who might meet Hugh’s standards but be intelligent enough to pay him little attention. Though, hardly anyone fit that description to begin with, and it was not as if Alexander wished to subject anyone to Hugh’s appetite.

“I know what you are thinking,” Hugh said with a chuckle.

“You couldn’t possibly,” Alexander replied dryly.

“I admire the fact that you are not afraid of me, Alexander, despite how much you rely on me for income.”

Alexander clenched his fists behind his back. “I could always work for a living.”

As Hugh’s eyes lingered on a woman with more fine jewels adorning her person than could be comfortable, he clicked his tongue. “You mustn’t let anyone hear you say such a thing, Brother. The son of a duke, laboring for his existence?”

“The second son of a duke,” Alexander corrected. “Members of the nobility take up occupations all the time.”

“You have no training.”

“I would learn.”

“You would give up all of this?”

Alexander gritted his teeth. He should not be having this conversation with the man who, at the moment, was the most powerful person in the room and who was the only thing standing between luxury and extreme discomfort. Alexander had meant it when he said he could learn some sort of trade, but he had a feeling Hugh would not easily allow him to dishonor the family name by lowering himself in such a way. He would have to take careful steps if he wished to find a path to freedom.

“Miss Cavendish, up ahead, comes from a good family,” he muttered, hating himself for playing his brother’s games.

“As I was saying,” Hugh replied, “you are wrong about my reasons for being here. If I am to procure an heir, I need a proper wife. I have moved beyond my wandering ways. Does Miss Cavendish have money?”

Alexander shook his head. “Her dowry is only two thousand pounds, but her cousin married the Marquess of Ainsbury.”

“Your knowledge of the beau monde will never cease to amaze me, Alexander. I do not know how you do it.”

Alexander paid attention. He knew the only way to keep his life from becoming worse than it was now was his ability to keep Hugh satisfied, and that meant learning as much as he could. He had saved many an innocent lady from his brother’s interest by knowing where she was flawed, just as he had kept the duke happy by finding those who did not value fidelity as they should.

Perhaps he could become a farmer. Work the land, enjoy the fresh air, rarely speak to anyone...

“Who is that?” Hugh nodded toward a regal-looking woman.

“Lady Newhart.”

“Countess?”

“Indeed.”

“Already married, then?”

Alexander sighed. “Yes.”

“A pity.” Surprisingly, Hugh’s attention turned elsewhere, as if he truly meant to disregard anyone who was ineligible. “Ah, isn’t that the young lady we met at St. James’s on Monday afternoon?”

Alexander prayed his brother meant one of the other two, but to his dismay, he found Hugh staring directly at Miss Calloway. “Is it?” His voice cracked, so he cleared his throat. “No, I do not believe that is the same—”

“It is indeed Miss Calloway. Her brother is with her; do you see? Lord Calloway has never liked me.”

That was because Lord Calloway was intelligent enough to recognize a rake when he saw one. Far too wealthy to think of selling his sister to anyone either.

Alexander hated that he had to have this argument. “If he has never liked you, then perhaps you should look else—”

“The sister is to inherit thirty thousand pounds, or so I hear,” Hugh continued, his eyes looking hungrier by the moment. “Go dance with her.”

Alexander tensed. “What? Why?”

Hugh took him by the shoulder and pushed him in the direction of the lady, though Alexander resisted. “I just told you. Her brother is not overly fond of me, and I doubt he will let me within twenty feet of the girl. But you? He has no reason to dislike you.”

“He has no reason to like me either,” Alexander argued. He likely looked ridiculous, physically tussling with a duke, but he hardly cared. “What good would my dancing with her—”

Hugh put his arm around Alexander’s shoulder and leaned in close. “Listen carefully, Brother. I desire to get to know Miss Calloway and her thirty thousand pounds, and you are going to help me unless you want to be living on the street come tomorrow morning. Dance with the girl, ingratiate yourself to her relatives, and give Lord Calloway every reason to consider me when it comes to his sister. Have I made myself clear?”

Alexander felt the threat keenly, hating every word. “You want me to court her... for you? I cannot give her my attention without certain expectations on my part.”

Hugh laughed darkly. “You still have no desire to marry, yes?”

“You know I do not.”

“Then, what should it matter? When you drop your suit just as she thinks you are to make an offer, I shall step in as the hero, saving the jilted beauty.”

Alexander felt sick as he watched Miss Calloway eye the dancers with longing. His instinct to step in and help her was rising with every passing minute, but helping her feel included in the festivities would only be playing right into Hugh’s game. Perhaps Alexander knew little of Miss Calloway, but he did know she was too good for the Duke of Tipton.

“Charles,” he said weakly.

Hugh barked out a laugh. “I need someone to woo the girl, not frighten her. Why do you think I always send Charles among the gentlemen? The only women he can charm are the ones he pays for.”

Alexander was most certainly going to be sick all over the floor. “And what if Miss Calloway has no interest in being a duchess?” he asked, one last attempt at changing the rules to this game.

Hugh released him, shoving him forward once more. “Don’t be ridiculous. What lady would not want to marry a duke? Now, go, before I lose my patience. If anyone can charm the girl into accepting me, you can. Or, if you cannot, I suppose I will have to find more extreme methods to win her. Scandals can be ghastly expensive, however.”

And dangerous for the lady, in Alexander’s experience. It seemed he had no choice but to play along and hope he could find a way to save Miss Calloway. Until then, he would play his part the best he could for his own sake and pray she saw right through him for hers.