Page 24 of The Duke’s Replacement Bride (The Wild Brides #6)

“ T ell me, Caroline, will your cousin be hammering on the pianoforte all afternoon?”

Three days had gone by since Caroline’s family had arrived at the estate, and things had gotten progressively worse.

The first day, Levi had thought he might find this bearable.

They’d mostly kept to their rooms, coming out only for meals, and Levi had been able to forget they were there for the most part.

On the second day, Lord Highgate had arrived with a whole carriage full of flowers and profuse apologies. He’d begged his wife to forgive him and come back home to him. And she had refused.

That was too bad. Levi had thought he might be rid of her that day. Instead, their visit had dragged on, and now Bridget was playing the same tune over and over on the pianoforte, loud enough to wake the dead.

“She’s only practicing,” Caroline defended her cousin. She pulled Levi aside so that she could speak to him without being overheard.

“Well, I think she’s done enough practicing. She’s just playing the same song again and again, and she’s not improving at it. I am a man who likes my silence, as you well know!”

“Please, Levi, give her a bit of space,” Caroline said.

“They’ve all been through so much lately.

She’s not going to be able to go to any more events this season, because Mother wants the girls to stay close to home—and, truly, I don’t blame her.

I think all Bridget has right now is the power to daydream about her future and to prepare herself for a day when she might be able to look to marriage. Let her play the piano.”

“It drives me mad.”

“This is a huge manor. Go to a different room if you don’t wish to be around her.”

Levi couldn’t deny that she had a point. He didn’t like the idea of being forced out of rooms he wanted to occupy in his own home, but he had to admit that there was nothing really wrong with Bridget wanting to play the piano. And Caroline was right—he was more than capable of walking away.

He did so and made his way up to his study, closing the door behind him. How long were they going to be here, he wondered—and how long would it be before he lost his temper completely?

“Constance, please come home!”

Lord Highgate stood in the foyer, a bundle of flowers in his arm.

His daughters and his niece were on the second-floor balcony looking down at him, and Lady Highgate stood on the stairs facing her husband.

Levi moved toward the baron from the sitting room, where he had been reading and drinking his evening scotch, and positioned himself between Lord Highgate and the rest of his family.

“I’m going to have to ask you to leave, sir,” he said firmly.

“You can’t order me away,” Lord Highgate growled. “You have my family here. I’ve every right to see them.”

“Only if they wish to see you, and they don’t,” Levi said.

“I won’t allow you in my home without my permission, Lord Highgate, even if they are your family.

If they want to see you, I will extend my consent for you to pay them a visit, but I don’t believe there’s anyone here who desires your company.

Unless I’m mistaken?” He turned to look at Lady Highgate.

“No,” she said. Her voice was slightly shaky, but her expression was firm. “We don’t want to see him. We want him to go.”

“There’s your answer,” Levi said firmly. “They don’t want to see you. Do yourself a favor and leave of your own volition—don’t make me throw you out of here.”

Lord Highgate didn’t acknowledge Levi. “Constance,” he said. “Prudence is my daughter. I’m her father. And you are my wife. Your proper place is with me. You’re embarrassing yourself by running away like this.”

“You mean she’s embarrassing you ,” Levi interjected. “You’re afraid people will find out you couldn’t keep your wife in your home, and that they’ll judge you for it.”

“Well you’d know all about that sort of thing, I suppose,” Lord Highgate said nastily. “Left by a lady the night before you were to marry. Forced to marry the least appealing of my daughters because no other would have you.”

The rage that surged within Levi at hearing Caroline described as unappealing rendered him momentarily incapable of speech.

When he found words, they were not for Lord Highgate.

He turned to his butler, who stood in the corner.

“Take this man out of here and throw him into the street,” he growled.

“He’s not to be allowed on the property anymore.

If he is seen on my land, remove him, and use force if it’s necessary to get him out of here quickly and without trouble.

I don’t want him around from this moment on. ”

“You can’t do this!” Lord Highgate howled.

But the footmen were already on him, dragging him out the door. Levi turned to face Caroline, to make sure she was comfortable with what had happened, and she inclined her head ever so slightly, letting him know that she was.

Her father wouldn’t darken their doorstep any further—at least, not until Levi was told that the family was ready to see him again.

“The rumors about your marriage continue to fly,” Levi’s solicitor, Bradley, told him.

“I begin to think someone is spreading them deliberately,” Levi grumbled.

“There’s just no basis in reality for them, is there?

What I mean is, no matter what people might want to say about Caroline and me, there is no evidence.

There have been no scandals between the two of us.

And it isn’t based in truth at all, because I can happily confirm that she and I are pleased with our arrangement.

So, if the rumors are still spreading, I think it must be because someone out there wants them to spread. ”

“That might be,” Bradley agreed. “All I know is that it isn’t good for your business to have people talking about your relationship with your wife, speculating that she wants to leave you. It would be better if we could put a stop to that kind of talk.”

“Well, I’m doing all I can,” Levi said tersely. “I’ve been attending the events of the season, trying to show people that my relationship with my wife is good and healthy. What more can I do?”

“I can’t say that I know, exactly,” Bradley admitted.

“I think we need more information,” Levi said firmly.

“I would ask you to do what you can to find out the origins of these rumors, Bradley. Find out if there is a common source, if you’re able.

If there is, that person is the one who must be questioned and made to stop saying such dreadful things, because there is no excuse for slandering a duke or his personal life.

And there is certainly no excuse for speaking ill of my wife—I won’t tolerate that! ”

“I may be able to discover more,” Bradley agreed. “I’ll look into it for you. But in the meantime…I don’t know what your relationship is with your wife, exactly?—”

“And you don’t need to.” Levi glowered. “The ton may feel entitled to information about my personal life, Bradley, but surely you know better than to think that you ought to have it.”

“You want me to help you, don’t you?”

“I do.”

“I’ll be better able to do that if I know exactly what’s going on and how much of the rumors are true.”

“If you’re not able to help me without that information,” Levi said darkly, “I suppose I’ll have to find someone who can. You aren’t the only solicitor in London, you know. I’m happy to take my business elsewhere. It’s your decision, though.”

“I meant no offense,” Bradley grumbled.

“Well, you gave it.” Levi rose to his feet. “If you look for gossip about the duchess and myself, you are truly no better than the rest of the ton.”

He went to the door and held it open, inviting Bradley to depart. A moment later, the man did.

“You know,” Levi said to Caroline later that evening, “I find I’m getting rather used to having your family here with us.”

She looked at him. “Are you? I find that the longer they stay, the more ready I am for them to leave!”

The two of them were sitting across from one another over a game of chess. Levi laughed as he advanced a pawn. “You were the one who wanted them here,” he reminded her.

“Well, I still don’t want them out on the street, nor do I want my sister forced into a marriage that would make her miserable, of course,” Caroline said. “But I find myself nostalgic for the life you and I had before they got here.”

“Do you really?”

“You must admit, we were beginning to get used to one another.” Then she darted him a rather nervous look, as if she thought he might disagree with that assessment.

He was eager to put her mind at ease. “Yes, you’re right,” he told her. “We’ve been having a good time together. And you’re not the only one who’s eager to get back to that life. But I thought it was different for you. I thought you were happy and excited to have them here.”

“I’m glad we can provide for them, but…I think perhaps I’ve spent too much time free of the burdens my family put on me to easily go back,” Caroline admitted.

“I’ve had the chance to learn things about myself that I never knew while I lived with my family, and it’s been a real gift to me.

They always expected me to be so selfless.

What my father said about me being the least appealing of my sisters… ”

“That was an abominable thing to say,” Levi growled. “And it isn’t at all true, Caroline. I hope you know that.”

“I…” She blushed prettily. “Thank you.”

“You have beauty he has never taken the time to see. I mean no disrespect to your sisters, of course, but you’re the only one I would consider being married to.

To me, you are the best of the lot. The brightest and most beautiful.

Your father may not understand this, but I am deeply thankful that Prudence didn’t wish to marry me.

When she made that choice, it meant that I was able to find myself in a marriage with my perfect duchess. I wouldn’t exchange that for anything.”

Caroline touched her fingertips to her lips, which were slightly parted.

Levi knew what she was imagining. He was thinking about it too.

For a moment, he considered it. Getting to his feet. Sweeping her into his arms. Forgetting the chess game and losing himself in another kiss with the lady who was coming to occupy his every waking thought.

But no. Not with her family in the house.

He would wait until they left. And once they did…well, then he would have Caroline all to himself once again.

He could hardly wait.