Page 37 of Only a Duke (Ladies Who Dare #6)

L ouisa’s mind drew a complete blank.

Oliver had left only a few seconds ago after his admission. He’d strode from Camilla’s chamber, his shoulders stiff but his steps firm. He hadn’t looked back. Not even half a look. Not even a slight tilt.

The Duke of Mortimer... his family... they were behind the kidnapping all those years ago? The man who had kissed her, comforted her, held her... he was part of the nightmare that gripped her for the last ten years?

Her breath turned to ice in her lungs.

She might as well have been plunged beneath the surface of dark, freezing water. That darkness seeped into her mind, and she could hear the laughter, the droplets of rain dripping from cracks in a roof. Feel the hard mattress...

And a gripping fear that wouldn’t let her go.

Her gaze shifted back to the spot he had occupied moments ago, denial pulsing from her heart.

No.

It couldn’t be.

Surely . . . there must be some mistake.

“Louisa, you are forbidden to ever speak to that man again. Do I make myself clear?”

Louisa slowly turned to her father, meeting his furious gaze, the present moment coming again into sharp focus. Instant indignation rose at the command. “Then you are forbidden to ever speak to your wife again.”

“James!” the duchess exclaimed, and Louisa thought she might cast up her accounts at the false display of grievance from that woman.

“That is not a reasonable request, Louisa,” her father answered. “There are matters I need to deal with, and to deal with them I need to have a conversation with Camilla.”

“What would be a reasonable request, then? What will you do when Bow Street arrives to hold your wife accountable for her actions? Did you know that two men with the surname Fury approached Leo to retrieve the betting book for them so they could have leverage over her?”

Her father’s face paled. “What?”

Finally an appropriate reaction. “So you know about those burly fellows.” Good. “Did you know they are at war with her as well? That your title does not scare them?”

“That’s not true!” Camilla exclaimed. “I don’t even know those blackguards. How can I be at war with them?”

“How indeed?” Louisa glared at the woman. “Then ask me where Havendish’s ledger is right now.”

The duchess’s eyes widened, and a flicker of fear flashed across her features. “You gave it to them,” she breathed, her words filled with horror.

“Oh!” Leo suddenly exclaimed. He’d been rather silent for a while, but this jolted him into verbal action. “That’s why they kidnapped me—for that ledger!”

“They did what?” their father thundered, his face flushing a deep red once again.

“Yes,” Louisa said flatly. “And the Duke of Mortimer helped rescue him.” She didn’t care if it was a bit of a rough summary of events, she wanted to ensure that her father understood the true enemy they were facing.

Her kidnapping . . . the Cavanaghs . . .

She couldn’t dwell on that now. She had to make sure that their efforts to seek justice and stop criminal activity now were not in vain.

“Camilla is the reason for all of this,” Louisa finished.

The duchess’s face contorted in a supremely ugly fashion. “No matter what, you cannot let them arrest me. I am the Duchess of Talbot! The Talbot family name will be ruined if the truth is revealed!”

Louisa couldn’t help herself—she laughed, bitter and sharp. Her stepmother finally seemed to be giving up any pretense of innocence. “So, Camilla, your true face is finally showing.”

The woman’s eyes narrowed, her lips curling into a sneer. “I will show you my true face, you just wait!”

“Camilla,” her father growled, a low, dangerous warning. “ I will deal with you later.”

Leo suddenly grasped Louisa’s hand in his. “Don’t worry, sister, I am on your side.”

A soft, relieved breath escaped her, and the throb in her chest eased a bit. “Thank you, brat.”

Leo nodded solemnly, his young face set with determination, informing their father, “I don’t know what is going on, but if Stepmother has done anything wicked, she should be punished.”

“You are too young to understand, Leo,” the older man said with a deep sigh. “There are many things to consider.”

Leo stood taller, challenging the duke’s authority without fear. “If you are talking about Louisa and myself, we shall be fine. It will say more about our character if we hold a family member accountable than allowing harrowing deeds to go unpunished.”

Louisa stared at her brother, stunned by his words. She could hardly suppress the surge of pride swelling in her chest. Without thinking, she grabbed his cheek and squeezed it affectionately. “Little brat, when did you get so wise?”

“Have you forgotten?” Leo said with a grin. “I always follow you around.”

Their father cursed under his breath. “Camilla, you are not to leave this chamber for the time being. In the meantime, pack your belongings.”

Camilla’s eyes widened in disbelief. “What do you mean by that?”

“My children have decided,” her father replied, his tone clipped and resolute.

“Honestly, I would have wanted nothing more than to deal with this matter silently, but your actions have not only brought a jackal into my house, it resulted in my children being placed in danger. I cannot tolerate that. I need to settle some matters here, then we will be returning to London.”

Louisa blinked, the sudden shift catching her off guard. “We are?”

“Not you,” her father said in a way that brooked no argument. “You shall remain here with your brother. Camilla and I will pay a visit to Bow Street.”

“James!”

He ignored her. “I cannot predict the backlash, so I do not want the two of you near London.”

Louisa wasn’t daft. Her father also didn’t want her near the Duke of Mortimer, who was probably already on his way back to London to hand over the evidence this very minute.

“Why didn’t you demand the ledger from the duke?” Louisa asked, curious. It seemed rather out of character for him to let the duke go so easily.

Her father scowled. “What would be the point when he would just refuse to hand it over?”

Louisa understood. It was a matter of pride. Pride and power. Her father wouldn’t ask for the book because he didn’t want to lower himself to make the request and because he’d been confident—at that moment, at least—in his power to suppress it.

Louisa was suddenly tired.

She’d been exhausted before, but this... the life nearly drained from her body. She didn’t want to think about the past, she didn’t want to argue with her father, and she didn’t want...

Oliver to have left like this.

She rubbed her temples, a low ache starting to form there.

Her father had once again reminded her why she wished to avoid men like him.

He wasn’t a bad man. He cared for his children immensely.

She believed he always did what he thought was right and honorable.

But there was another side to him as well. A darker side.

We all have them.

But that didn’t mean we all had to act upon that side. That didn’t mean hatchets couldn’t be buried. That didn’t mean one couldn’t look toward the future instead of the past.

Louisa sighed but lifted her head to stare straight at her stepmother. “Her servants are not to be trusted.”

Her father nodded. “I’ll handle them. Hire new ones while I am away.”

“Will she return with you?” Louisa pressed. There were some things she would not tolerate any longer either. Such as Camilla’s presence in her brother’s life. “I won’t accept her as family.”

“This is ridiculous,” Camilla said furiously. “No matter what happens, you cannot strip me of my title.”

“I can if I press for a divorce.”

Louisa’s eyes widened. She’d never expected her father would ever consider such a thing.

While not impossible, it was certainly frowned upon.

And divorces were rarely granted, as they required an act of Parliament.

However, it would make their stance on the matter clear if this matter became public. A clear divide.

In any event, this matter was between her father and his wife.

She had done what needed to be done. However, one point of interest still refused to be dismissed. A faint, stinging question lodged deep in her heart, unresolved, and she didn’t quite know what to do with it.

Oliver . . .

His absence had left her cold.

She’d always known their adventure would end this way.

Everything she had done, she’d done without regret.

But coming to the moment, the moment when their paths split, she couldn’t help but regret that the only thing she had left were memories of him—breathless, heart-stirring memories. And nothing else.

“The Duke of Mortimer . . .”

“He is not up for discussion, and his name shall never echo within the walls of our house. That is final.”

Louisa stared at her father, but she didn’t contradict him. There was no need to. Oliver had already left. And he wouldn’t return. They had parted ways, as they were always meant to do.

*

Oliver couldn’t move.

His mind still reeled from little Leo’s announcement, Talbot’s careless confession, and the horror on Louisa’s face when he admitted the truth he had hoped for purely selfish reasons that she would never discover.

He stared at the steam rising from the untouched cup of tea before him.

Around him, the light murmurs of conversation hummed, and in the corner, the barman laughed at something a customer said.

He’d returned straight to the tavern below his Ashford lodgings after leaving Talbot’s residence, which was far preferable to the unnerving silence in his room.

He should be happy.

He had gotten what he wanted and more. He would submit the evidence to Bow Street and expose the secret women’s club, and they would dismantle it one member at a time.

So, why did he feel so deuced empty inside?

It couldn’t be just because Talbot had revealed the truth to Louisa. It didn’t make any sense. His hopes aside, she still deserved to know the truth.