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Edward decided to take an early morning ride through Chodstone Hall’s lush fields, hoping that would clear his mind after a restless night of questions with no answers. But he’d only half crossed the first field when he turned Jupiter around. “Back to the stable, boy.”
Jupiter picked up his pace. “Ah, you want your breakfast. That is understandable, but we’ll walk back, or you will be too hot to eat.”
As if the horse understood him, it relaxed and walked on while Edward determined he would speak with Elizabeth and demand she answer his questions.
By the time Edward had returned from his ride, his mother had left word with the butler that she had everything packed and was waiting for him in the front parlor.
She wrung her hands as she stood gazing into the fire, lost in thought. Had Vera told her about the scene the night before?
“Mother?”
She grabbed her skirts in her hands and spun on her heels. “We are leaving.”
“Is this not unexpected?”
“I would think it was decidedly expected after your scene last night.”
“Have you spoken to Chodstone this morning?”
“His Grace left for London before I rose, which is just as well, considering the circumstances. I have no want to speak with him at present.”
Edward angled his head to peer at her drawn features. She was still a beautiful woman, who exuded all the grace a countess should, but her eyes were red and swollen. Had she been crying? He couldn’t stand it when any woman cried, but his heart broke to see his mother so unhappy. He understood she would be upset over the duke’s revelation that he and Elizabeth were to be married, but she seemed more upset over Edward’s misdemeanor. He couldn’t fathom why. Surely, she also knew he was more than willing to do the honorable thing. None of it made sense.
It wasn’t as if this were the first time, he had caused a scandal. He and his friends were always getting into scrapes once they had come of age and arrived in town. He had never minded the gossip because, as he saw it, if they were talking about him and his friends, they were leaving some other poor wretch alone.
“I offered for Miss Davis.”
“So I hear.” She threw her hands in the air. “But what were you thinking, Edward? To seduce an innocent is one thing, but to seduce the Duke of Chodstone’s ward––apparently the woman he’s going to marry––is another. He could ruin you and therefore me too. He has enough power to put you in dire straits. I cannot allow it. You will not see Miss Davis or His Grace again. You will return to London with me, the banns for your wedding to Vera will be sent out, and you will retire to your country seat with your bride.” She paced across the room. “You can go on with your vineyard plans and, in time, you will take your seat in the House of Lords as your father did before you and as your son will after you.”
Noticing she hadn’t used Chodstone’s name once, he closed the distance between them and took his mother’s hand to stop her from pacing. “Are you angry at me for offering for Miss Davis or are you angry at Chodstone for announcing his engagement?”
“Pshaw. I am not angry with you, I am sad for you and I am so sorry you must marry someone you do not love, but your affection for Vera will grow in time. Miss Davis cannot stay here in our––ah... England. I cannot take any more upsets. I cannot abide being the talk of the ton. I cannot do it anymore. You must do what is right. For you, for Vera, and for me.”
But Edward didn’t move; he studied his mother. There was something she wasn’t saying.
A knock sounded at the door. “Come in,” the countess said.
The butler pulled the door open and said, “The coach is ready, my lady.”
“Thank you, Sanderson. We’re coming now.” She gave a pointed look at Edward and flounced out of the parlor.
Left standing there, Edward frowned. What in damnation was wrong with her? He had never seen her like this before. She was usually the essence of decorum. Her emotions were not usually so obviously displayed.
Edward followed but stopped in the foyer and asked the butler, “Where is Miss Davis?”
“She left with His Grace for London this morning, my lord.”
“Did she?”
As he knew it was a rhetorical question, the butler bowed but said nothing.
With that, Edward took himself out to the coach.
***
After travelling an hour in silence, Edward could not take it anymore. “Mother, I will not marry Lady Crompton.”
His mother narrowed her eyes at him. “I will hear no more about it. The banns are already sent.”
“I care not about the banns. I will not be subjected to a marriage without affection.”
“A good marriage rarely begins with affection. You have always understood that.”
She had him there. He had thought he had no choice but to agree to the arranged marriage. But that was before Elizabeth. Before he knew what it was like to feel something for a woman, to feel something other than lust. Not that he didn’t lust after the beautiful American, but he also liked her. He started. He did like her. She was funny, kind, and cared for others before her own wants. The day at the fete proved that. She had so wanted the last purple ribbon at the stall. However, when a small child became upset that she had bought it, she asked why. Once she found out the child wanted it for her mother’s birthday, Elizabeth gave the ribbon to her.
He gave a silent shake of his head. He knew if he couldn’t have Elizabeth, there was no chance of a love match, but he still could hope for some smidgeon of affection, couldn’t he?
“Mother, I know I would be a fool to expect a love match, but I want to choose my own bride. I will not marry a woman whose only want is a title and wealth.”
“You will become fond of her with time. My father arranged my marriage, as did your father’s father, and we got on fine.”
“Really? What about father’s mistresses? Are you telling me you were happy to be married to such a man?”
Alice flinched and, with tears glistening in her eyes, pointedly stared out of the window.
Edward mirrored her flinch. Charming. How could he be so cruel to his own mother, the woman who tried desperately to keep him from coming to his father’s attention when his father was deep in his cups? And when his father did seek him out for some imagined wrong or other, the woman who took time to rebuild his self-esteem, the woman who would tell him repeatedly he was worth so much more, he could do anything he put his mind to, nothing was out of his reach if he were an honorable man, an honest man, a sympathetic man?
All the things his father was not.
His father, Edward Cavendish, the late Earl of Wellsneath, had brought up his son and namesake in his shadow. When he was young, Edward would do anything to make his father proud. But when his father took him to a club, a club no honorable man on the ton would enter, the earl had said that the Prince Regent attended the parties at such clubs and that made it respectable, at least in the ton’s eyes.
Edward, however, had no stomach for such things, and refused to go again. It was at that time that his relationship with his father became strained, and his father began to demean Edward at every opportunity, especially when deep in his cups.
He glanced at his mother’s profile. Her sad eyes stared unfocused over the gentle swells of land full of grazing sheep and cattle.
He wanted to apologize, to take back what he had said, but in truth he could do no such thing. His father, her husband, was all those things and more. Edward determined to find a way to make it up to her, to have her smile again once they arrived in London.
However, once they regained the Wellsneath townhouse, his mother sequestered herself away in her rooms claiming a headache and asking not to be disturbed.
Unable to speak to his mother and restless after the long coach ride, on that first day in London Edward found himself in front of Chodstone House.
He rushed up to the door and knocked before he could change his mind. He had to speak with Elizabeth whether Chodstone liked it or not.
A footman not known to Edward opened the door. “My lord?”
“I’m here to see Miss Davis.”
“Are you Lord Wellsneath?”
“Yes, what of it?”
The footman shut the door and a few seconds later, he opened it and handed Edward a letter. Before Edward could say anything, the footman shut the door once more.
Scrunching the letter in his fist, Edward strode home. Once he was in the library and seated behind his desk, he smoothed out the letter, broke the seal, and read it.
Dear, dear Edward,
I’m sorry but I cannot see you again. We are not suited.
Goodbye.
Yours truly,
Elizabeth (Izzy)
Edward reread the letter, trying to find something there that would answer his questions, but all it did was raise more. He grunted and threw the letter down. Women are untrustworthy creatures.
***
Two days passed and still Alice wouldn’t see him. That put Edward out of sorts, and he spent most of his time at White’s, trying to get Elizabeth out of his thoughts and ruminating on his mother’s behavior. White’s suited his mood with its dark, somber atmosphere and old clientele.
Even when his father’s adulterous ways were the talk of the ton, he had never seen his mother so sad. Even then, she still attended the balls and soirées, holding her head high and partaking in the entertainments with her true friends, but avoiding any of the ton’s gossips.
During the hours he spent at the club, his mind circled from his mother to Elizabeth and back again, never coming to any real conclusions on either. But by the end of the second day, Chodstone had infiltrated his thoughts also.
Something niggled the back of his mind.
He wanted to despise Chodstone but, in all honesty, he couldn’t. Something had changed during his time on tour with James and while guesting at Chodstone Hall. It was easy to dislike someone one hardly knew, but once he’d come to know Chodstone, saw how he treated his staff and friends, Edward couldn’t bring himself to hate the man as his father had.
He also began wondering if all his father had told him was in truth.
The duke hadn’t seemed like some rakehell and neither did his character appear unprincipled, as Edward was made to believe. However, while Chodstone hadn’t seemed dishonest on the whole, something wasn’t quite right about him.
Although Edward’s reason told him it was unlikely, he had the strangest notion that the three people who had held his thoughts hostage these last two days were concealing some truth from him.
Resolved to find the truth of the matter, he left White’s in the late afternoon and made his way home.
Upon entering the townhouse, he was delighted to see Larson carrying a tea tray across the foyer to the front drawing room. “Larson, is Lady Wellsneath in there?”
Larson stopped, setting the teacups jingling. “Yes, my lord.”
Entering the room after the butler, Edward was stunned to find Lady Vera Crompton visiting. He hadn’t seen her before they left Chodstone Hall and, in truth, he had hoped never to see her again.
“Ah, Edward,” his mother said, standing with a flourish. “I was just telling Vera, I have a previous appointment. Please do accommodate her while I am gone.”
Edward placed his hat on a seat and narrowed his eyes at her smiling face. Her eyes were bright, a sign of happiness, and her smile was genuine. What had happened to so change her disposition?
Carriage wheels sounded directly outside the townhouse. Alice glanced out of the window and immediately swept from the room, calling for her pelisse and parasol the moment she entered the foyer.
Going to the window, Edward was stunned to see Chodstone’s crest on the now stopped carriage. With the top open, Chodstone’s profile was easily recognizable as the duke held the reins of two of the finest horses Edward had seen. The bays, perfectly matched, must have cost some blunt at Tattersall’s.
What was his mother doing going about with the duke, a man affianced to another?
Vera’s cloying lavender scent swirled through the air, reminding him of his unwelcome guest. He turned to find her close, snaking her hand toward his arm. Aware she was about to link her arm in his, he stepped out of her reach.
Her hand hung there for a moment before she waved it around as if that had been her intent all along.
“I’m so glad you are here, darling. Have you seen the paper today? The banns are out and the date is set.”
“The date for what?”
“Our wedding, of course.”
He huffed. What was his mother thinking? He refused to be shackled to the woman. “I will retract the notice immediately.”
“You can’t do that. I will be the talk of the ton. No. I will not allow you to ruin my... my son’s life.”
“Don’t bring Michael into this. His life will not be ruined if you have the grace to stop encouraging my mother in her endeavors to marry me off. I am not on the marriage market now, nor will I be in the future. There will be no scandal. Coin will have them printing a retraction, citing the paper’s mistake.”
“You are not the same man you were just a few weeks ago, my lord. I fear Miss Davis has fogged your mind. I understand you are physically attracted to her, as is James, but you cannot think for a moment she would make an ideal countess. She has no brains for dealing with servants or running the manor of an earl.”
“But she will make an ideal duchess?”
“I doubt James will go through with the marriage once he takes what he wants, and from what I have heard, they are already privately acquainted.”
Although Edward knew she was lying, his gut convulsed at the thought of Chodstone, of anyone, touching Elizabeth. She was his.
He rubbed his chin. Could she still be his? He still suspected her of secrets, but even so, he didn’t care. He wanted only her in his life, now and always. Whatever kept her from dealing with him, he would overcome.
Edward turned his cold eyes on Vera. “I have no like for gossip.”
All Edward wanted at that moment was to be out of Vera’s presence and to talk to Elizabeth. But how? His mother had arranged his marriage. And he couldn’t fault her for posting the banns because, before Elizabeth, he had been content enough with the idea.
He had promised his brother he would look after Vera and their son, and Edward was extremely fond of Michael. He was also in need of an heir and a countess for his estates so he could spend more time building up his investments.
He frowned. It had seemed the most satisfactory arrangement at the time.
However, that was all before Elizabeth crashed––he hid a smile––into his life. He had to think this through, but first he had to withdraw the marriage notice without scandal.
He bowed low, hoping the threat in his eyes would silence Vera. “I bid you farewell, my lady.” He strode to the door and angled his head back.
“Have the phaeton readied,” he commanded Larson, who was pretending to arrange a vase of flowers on the table near the drawing room door.