Page 31 of The Duke’s Replacement Bride (The Wild Brides #6)

“ T hank you for your time,” Levi said.

“No, Your Grace, thank you,” said the man. He introduced himself as Mr. Peterson, a bachelor living on a small share of land. He looked like he had been managing the plot well, and Levi was pleased to see that his holdings were being well tended.

Mr. Peterson hadn’t been much help, though.

While Levi was grateful for the man’s time, Mr. Peterson hadn’t been able to provide any valuable information about the person behind the rumors.

He had confirmed hearing them, but he hadn’t given a description of the man who had shared them beyond saying that he was of average height and average build with medium brown hair and an unremarkable face.

Well, that could be anyone at all, Levi thought sourly as he made his way back up the path to the post where he had tied his horse. I’m no farther along than I was when I began this search. No nearer to being able to return home to my wife!

He missed Caroline terribly already and wanted nothing more than to finish this job so that he could return to her. Surely he would find something soon.

But right now, he couldn’t help feeling as if he was searching for a needle in a haystack.

A break was called for, and little though he wanted to do it, he had an important job to do.

The word would get out among the tenants that he’d been here in the country, and that meant the only thing he could do was to get ahead of it and visit his mother before she could contact him and demand to know why he hadn’t.

But he hated these visits. He did care for his mother, but he couldn’t honestly say he liked her.

He didn’t enjoy her company. She was everything he disdained about society ladies—snobbish, shallow, arrogant.

She was everything he had not wanted for himself and was the reason he had turned away from the idea of marriage altogether.

Still, the visit was necessary, so he rode up to her door and knocked.

She didn’t open the door at first, though he was sure she had seen him approach—he had watched the upstairs curtain flutter on his arrival, as if someone was hiding just behind them and watching him on his way up.

She was doing this for the drama of it. He was certain of that. It was so like her to make the most out of every little thing, to act as if she had been interrupted in the middle of a busy and important set of circumstances instead of sitting about the house.

Sure enough, when she appeared at the door, she managed to look harried. “Oh, Levi,” she said with a put-upon air of distraction. “I wasn’t expecting any guests today.”

“Well, I’m in the country, Mother, and thought it only proper to pay you a visit.” He stepped through the door. “The house looks well kept.”

“Not nearly well enough! I don’t know how many times I have to tell you—I need to renovate.”

“You’re welcome to make renovations.”

“Not with that pittance you afford me to live on. I’m no better than a farmer’s wife out here.”

“Mother, that’s not true at all,” Levi sighed, following her to the sitting room. “You have the finest home in the country.”

“And yet my only son is the Duke of Mowbray - you would think my life would be more distinguished. More befitting of a duke’s mother. But then, my husband was no duke, was he?”

“Oh, do stop,” Levi said. “You chose to marry Father, if you recall. You chose.”

“I was young and naive. I didn’t know the life I was choosing.

My family tried to warn me what happens when you marry for love.

It’s a schoolgirl fantasy.” She sighed. “When I think of what I could have had…but I was a foolish child, and I didn’t listen to what my mother told me.

I married for love and lived a poor life because of it. ”

“It’s not as though we suffered, Mother,” Levi pointed out. “We were fine. We had all we needed. We were happy.”

“You didn’t know what happiness was as a boy. You had no idea the kind of life that was possible, so you settled for what you believed was enough.”

“Mother, you can’t tell me I didn’t enjoy my own childhood,” Levi said.

“Well, now you’re blessed with a wonderful inheritance.

Of course, I knew that you would be perfect for this title from the moment it was given to you—how could any son of mine not be?

Everything has truly come full circle for us, Levi.

I lost my standing in society when I married your father, but you’ve reclaimed it, and you can restore our family’s honor and worth.

And you can start by allowing me the funds I need to remodel my home and finally turn it into a place worthy of my rank! ”

“Mother, you’re putting on airs. You are still a commoner, even if I have been made a duke.

I will always see to it that you are cared for and provide for your every need.

I will ensure that you live very well. But this house—it is more than suitable, and I afford you plenty of money for your needs. You don’t need more than I give you.”

“Levi, these curtains are horribly out of fashion. And the upholstery in that sofa is beginning to wear!”

“Of course you could afford to have it reupholstered,” Levi said mildly. “That wouldn’t be too costly, would it?”

“No, but—well—I want to do more than that! So much more. I have a vision for this place, Levi. I could make it grand. And once I do, I might entertain ladies here. I could rejoin society—could you imagine? I could return to my life. At long last.”

“Well, I see no reason why you can’t have friends come to visit you here,” Levi countered. “The place is perfectly decent, and I’m sure your acquaintances would be happy to see you.”

“Do you really think I could invite the Countess of Shillingsby to sit in this room, Levi? I would be humiliated.”

“I don’t see why. You act as if your home is falling apart when it’s perfectly presentable.”

“I don’t even have maids, Levi. You haven’t even afforded me a proper staff. You can’t even do that much for your poor aging mother.”

“You have a housekeeper,” Levi said, beginning to feel very annoyed. “You want a full staff?”

“Of course I want that! How can that even be a question?” She threw up her hands. “Do you know what would happen if Lady Shillingsby came to the house and saw the way I live? Saw that I couldn’t even have a maid bring tea to a guest? I would be a laughingstock.”

“All right, perhaps not the Countess, but you must have friends among the gentry who would like to come and socialize.”

His mother sneered. “What makes you think I’m talking about socializing with people like that?

” She had an unpleasant look on her face.

“I’m trying to tell you that I’m above such people.

I was born to a higher position in life.

I married beneath me, as you know, but now that my son has been restored to his rightful place in society, so must I.

I know there is no title for me bestowed by your being a Duke, so my path to social advancement is to spend my time with the people who should be my peers.

I will not hold myself back further by associating with those who are beneath me. ”

“The whole trouble with you, Mother, is that you believe others are beneath you,” Levi said.

“Do you mean to tell me you think that they are not?”

“Everyone has value,” Levi said firmly. “I used to think I was best on my own, that no one would ever match the works I placed in myself. But since I married, I have come to see that everyone has something to offer.”

“Well, of course you feel that way about that lovely young lady you married!” His mother dropped her aggressive stance immediately.

“She has been bread for this since her birth. She understands how to be a proper wife to you, and how to give you everything you need. Your life could only improve with such a lady by your side. Now, tell me, have you two been making appearances at all the social events this season? You must show the people of London how happy you are in your new marriage and how proud you are of your wife. You must leave them in no doubt, so that they will admire you.”

“Is that all that matters to you?” Levi asked. “Admiration?”

“The admiration of the right people,” his mother corrected. “The admiration of people who matter. This is why I am so eager to have the Countess out to see me. I need her good opinion.”

“Well, I don’t need anyone’s good opinion,” Levi said staunchly. “I don’t need approval from anyone.”

“Oh?” His mother raised her eyebrows. “You tell me, then, if you are so above people’s approval, just what it is you’re doing out here in the country?”

Levi was shaken. “What do you mean?”

“Don’t play the fool with me. I do hear things from my neighbors, even if I don’t spend time socializing with them. I keep up with the gossip. You’re here because of the rumors that have been spread about you.”

“I can assure you, there is no truth to them,” Levi said. He felt as if his entire body had frozen. This was not a subject he wished to address with his mother.

She shook her head. “I don’t care if they’re true or not,” she said, waving a hand at him.

“Do whatever you like, as long as it doesn’t impact our family and our reputation.

You can’t possibly believe that your father never had any dalliances.

All men are the same, and everyone knows it, but we pretend that the good men are different.

If you wish to be perceived by society as a good and decent man, you must squash these rumors. ”

“Do you really believe that, that all men are evil?”

“I never said evil,” said his mother. “They simply do what is in their nature.”

“And you think the nature of men is to mistreat their wives?” He didn’t know whether to feel angry with her or sad for her. “I can assure you, I would never treat Caroline that way.”

But as he left the house after concluding the visit, he found himself feeling very ill at ease.

His mother’s opinions on everything reminded him exactly why he had always thought to avoid ladies of the ton.

They always did this, prized appearances over things that were real.

He hadn’t felt the same energy from Caroline thus far, and he hoped he never would.

But he knew enough to know that he couldn’t count on that. People could always let you down.

As he returned to his horse, Levi pondered the prospect of an afternoon going from house to house and continuing to ask people about the rumors.

It seemed like more than he could bear. He would be ever so grateful when all of this was over.

As it was, whoever had spread the rumors was keeping him away from his home. Away from Caroline…

Had he invested too much of himself in her?

Falling asleep with her in his arms had been so blissful.

But how could he have allowed it to happen?

He should know better than that. It ran contrary to what he had always known that he’d wanted.

He would be hurting them both if he acted as though their relationship could be something that it never could.

He had to be cautious. He had to protect the boundaries he had put in place for the two of them.

A night like that one could never happen again.