He could be a rake if he tells you he will return to see you rather than ask you if he may call on you again.
MISS HONORA TRUTH’S WORDS OF WISDOM AND WARNING ABOUT RAKES, SCOUNDRELS, ROGUES, AND LIBERTINES
Both Marlena and Eugenia rose from the settee as Justine made an abrupt stop.
Marlena marveled at Justine’s appearance. Surely her gown, cut low across the shoulders, was more suited for a fancy dinner party than an afternoon dress. A smoky-gold topaz dangled from a thick gold chain hung around her neck. Her ash-brown hair had been beautifully arranged on top of her head with multiple braided green ribbons gracing her crown. In one gloved hand she held a handkerchief in the perfect spot so the delicate lace trim would show.
After looking over the room carefully, Justine stared at Marlena as if she wasn’t quite believing what she was seeing. “I’m sure the Duke of Rathburne was here. When Mrs. Doddle told me I didn’t believe her, so I tiptoed to the top of the stairs and peeped. He was standing in the entryway talking to you. I know it was him. I’ve seen him many times and spoke to him at a ball just last year. He’s divinely handsome.”
“Yes, he was here. I’m sorry you missed him. He couldn’t stay any longer and had to leave.”
“Oh,” Justine said, her tall, buxom figure seeming to shrink a little at the disappointing news. “I didn’t think I took that long to change, but perhaps I did. I wanted to look my best. I couldn’t very well come down to receive a duke dressed, dressed—like you, Marlena. My word! What were you thinking to greet a duke in such a simple day dress? You should have made yourself more presentable.” She looked at Eugenia as if she started to say something about her plain gray dress but then, seeming to think better of it, gave her attention back to Marlena. “Our family may not be at the pinnacle of elite Society anymore, because of the unfortunate turn of events for our uncle, but in this house we most certainly know how to present ourselves and behave properly in front of a duke.”
“Yes, of course we do,” Marlena agreed, remembering how she’d taken the duke to task more than once and argued to remain in St. James. That certainly wasn’t the proper way to behave. But wanting to soothe Justine’s ruffled feathers with the least amount of fanfare possible, she added, “I’m afraid it was unavoidable for both of us. Eugenia had no idea the duke was here when she walked over.”
“So you met him, too, did you?” Justine asked Eugenia, still sounding a little piqued she missed seeing the duke after getting dressed up to meet him and her neighbor hadn’t.
“Briefly, Mrs. Abernathy,” Eugenia answered timidly.
Justine harrumphed and her heavy bosom heaved.
“And I was outside and came around the corner of the house to see him standing at our front door. It was impossible for me not to see him or he me.”
“Don’t tell me you were in the garden again!” Justine rolled her dark-green gaze incredulously toward the ceiling and shook her head. “Will you never learn? No, I don’t want to hear it. I don’t suppose I can worry about that now. It’s spilled milk, as we say, and we can’t put it back in the pitcher. I do hate that he couldn’t wait for me after coming over to see me. I shouldn’t have taken so long. We were introduced years ago and I’m quite sure I had a dance or maybe two with him before I wed Wallace. I was much younger then, you understand, and the diamond of the Season that year.”
Marlena doubted the dance. There was no way she could know for sure, but she guessed the duke to be at least five years younger than Justine if not more. But according to Justine, she was the belle of every ball, the most sought-after widow at every party, and every eligible gentleman in the ton was just one question away from asking for her hand.
“Did the duke seem too disturbed I didn’t make it down in time to greet him?”
That man? Disturbed?
He was too arrogant for such a human emotion.
“Not in the least,” Marlena said honestly, and a little bit perturbed herself. “And rightly so. The duke should have made an appointment, or at least alerted us by messenger that he planned on paying us a visit. It was in poor taste that he came without making us aware of his intentions to call this afternoon.”
“It doesn’t matter about that, my dear,” Justine stated, clearly not willing to budge an inch. “A duke can arrive at anyone’s home at any time and be received. You should have immediately excused yourself to go and make yourself presentable.”
She looked at Eugenia as if to add, both of you.
Eugenia seemed to take that as her opportunity to leave and said, “If you’ll excuse me, Mrs. Abernathy, Marlena, I think I should be going back home now.”
Justine nodded once.
“We’ll talk later, Eugenia,” Marlena whispered as her friend hurried past them with her head down, her chin almost resting on her chest. Turning back to her cousin, Marlena said, “I will take better care with my appearance in the future. I suppose both of us must, as the duke said he’d return another afternoon.”
“Oh?” Justine’s thick, light-brown brows lifted. She tucked her handkerchief under the sleeve of her cuff as if she were only mildly interested in what Marlena had said. “Yes, of course. I’d expect him to return. Tomorrow?”
“He didn’t say when. Just that he would.”
“I would assume tomorrow afternoon or the next. He didn’t get to tell me what it is he wanted of me.”
Marlena relaxed a little. Her cousin’s softened voice was welcomed. Though Justine was only just past the halfway mark in her thirties, Marlena had never felt closeness between them. Justine wasn’t unkind, her disposition not unpleasant—most of the time—but she was fastidious about routines and didn’t like hers upset—unless, of course, a duke was doing it. Marlena often acquiesced to the older lady’s schedule regarding when they could take a walk in the park, what time they were served dinner, or when they went out to shop for a new bonnet or pair of gloves. After all, even though they were related, she was still a guest in Justine’s house. A paid guest, because Mr. Olingworth compensated Justine for taking care of Marlena.
Justine’s most annoying trait was that she loved to talk about the past. It was as if she couldn’t enjoy the present for always remembering the time when she was younger. She loved to talk about who had sought her hand and the many offers of marriage she declined her debut year. The list was endless. Almost any subject that came up could cause her to recall something that had happened the year she was an available miss.
“I’m pleased to hear the duke’s returning,” Justine continued, absently running her fingers over the large topaz. “As I told you earlier, we’ve met before on a number of occasions at various parties. Teas, balls, and the like. And we did have a dance. I’m sure. Though it was a few years ago.” She stopped and smiled as with sweet remembrances. “I was much younger then.” She repeated her earlier statement but didn’t seem to notice. “He was younger, too. I was the diamond of the Season when I made my debut. Everyone said so, and I’m sure he noticed me. I had many gentlemen seeking my attention. Even Viscount Harthill. I suppose I should have married him when I had the chance. If I had I’d be living in a house in Mayfair now and not here in St. James.”
Marlena knew the story well. Justine loved to tell it over and over again.
“Of course I couldn’t marry the viscount. He was older than Wallace and not nearly as dashing and handsome. Every young lady wanted Wallace to offer for their hand so I had to accept when he chose me. I mean, I was the diamond of the Season. I had to marry the one gentleman every other young lady wanted.” She sighed. “But I remember the viscount courting me as if it were yesterday.”
“I’m sure of that, too,” Marlena said, not wanting her cousin to launch into another story from the past.
Justine touched her hair and then lifted her bosom and her shoulders. “Did His Grace happen to mention why he sought me out?”
Marlena didn’t know exactly how to answer that question, because Justine wanted to believe he had been there to see her. Noting the letter by the lamp, she picked it up. “It seems the reason he came over was to bring this letter from Mr. Olingworth. After being my guardian for close to ten years, he has signed responsibility for me over to my new guardian, the Duke of Rathburne.”
“What?” Justine screeched as if a rocker had just been pressed over her bare toes.
“He came to introduce himself to me.” And ended up doing so much more.
Marlena rubbed her fingers where the duke’s hand had touched hers when she’d reached for the books he was holding. As if it were happening right now, she felt his fingertips lightly caressing her skin while he untied her ribbon.
“The duke? Your guardian? He wouldn’t do that. No, I can’t believe it. There must be something wrong.” Justine gave Marlena a skeptical glance and then eyed the letter. “Let me see that.” She took the correspondence from Marlena without waiting for it to be offered. Huffing she said, “You always leave everything to me. How could you know what it says? Thunderbolts and lightning, Marlena, you haven’t even opened it yet.”
“His Grace told me what it said. I had no reason to doubt his word on something as important as this.”
“A duke? Of course not, but I’ll see for myself what this is about.” She broke the wax seal and unfolded the pages. Scanning the writing, she began to mumble the words she was reading. Her eyes grew bigger, rounder. Her mumble grew louder.
Justine looked up at her and smiled. In an instant, she grabbed Marlena and smothered her up to her ample breasts, squeezing Marlena tightly. Her cousin’s perfume had a heavy musky note of pine and evergreen. All the powder she’d added to her neck and shoulders wafted scents of lavender and had Marlena struggling to breathe without taking in the mixture of fragrances.
“Dear girl! Dear girl! If this is true, the saints have smiled upon us this day. This letter has changed both our lives forever. My cousin. My charge. The ward of a duke! Nothing could make me happier or more fortunate.”
One moment Marlena was gasping for air in her cousin’s strong grasp as she mumbled one sentence after the other and the next she’d been set free and stumbled back. Justine had never been so affectionate. Marlena was stunned.
Justine’s brows lifted again. “Unless of course if I were his ward, or his … Never mind. Though there is the possibility of that. I do believe he’s interested in me, otherwise he would have simply sent a solicitor to see us. But I must wait for that answer.”
Somber once again, Justine straightened the neckline of her gown and said, “Yet I suppose we shouldn’t celebrate too much until I speak to the duke myself. I mean I see it is written by Mr. Olingworth but he is ill. We don’t know his state of mind. I really do need to hear from the duke that he’s agreed to do this. I mean I can’t be telling everyone such fortunate news only to find that it isn’t true. I could never live down the embarrassment of such a mistake.”
“The duke told me he had,” Marlena insisted as she remembered the duke’s strong words and firm expression. “He made it abundantly clear to me it was official and there would be no changing it. He even wanted us to move into his house in Mayfair.”
“Oh, my, yes! I would expect he’d want us to do that. How utterly heavenly that will be.” Justine clasped her hands together under her chin. “To return to Mayfair where I lived with Wallace and near my dear friend Lady Westerbrook. Yes, it is a dream come true.”
Marlena knew Justine often talked about the house in Mayfair where she’d lived with her husband and the satisfying social life they’d led. After her husband had died, his uncle, who was Mr. Abernathy’s benefactor, had cut Justine’s allowance in half, and moved her from a larger house in Mayfair into the house in St. James. Maybe the reason Justine talked so often about the past was because she still hadn’t adjusted to the change in social standing among the ton.
“Of course we’ll move immediately. I’ll have my maid start packing.”
Feeling a prick of guilt to disappoint the cousin who’d been good to her, she said, “Justine, I told him no.”
“No, what?” Marlena asked with a frown. “We never say no to a duke.”
“I told him I won’t move to Mayfair.”
“Doesn’t matter, dear girl,” Justine said, “I want to and the duke wants us to. He offered us his home and you can’t tell him no. I won’t allow it.”
“I’m sorry, Justine.” Marlena took no pleasure in remaining firm on this, but she had to stay near Eugenia and finish the scandal sheet through this Season. “I know you would enjoy it but I wouldn’t. I have declined and he’s agreed. The matter is settled already. I may have to change guardians but I refuse to change houses, too.”
Justine stared pensively at Marlena and looked as if she might say more on the subject but instead said, “Well, we’ll leave it at that for now. As I said, we will tell no one about any of this until I speak to the duke.”
“Thank you for understanding,” Marlena said quietly.
“Of course,” Justine said and sniffed loudly. “We’ll stay here. Poor Mr. Olingworth has done right by you all these years. We shall never forget him. A sad thing for him to have passed, I know. But we won’t dwell on that, will we, my dear? This news of your new guardian is too exhilarating and should be given its due significance.”
“Justine, no. Mr. Olingworth hasn’t passed on. He’s still with us as of now. It’s just that he is making arrangements for my future while he still can.”
“Oh. Well. Even better for the poor soul. How thoughtful of him to keep you out of the hands of the Chancery Court. Now, that would have been madness. Dreadful. There’s no telling who they might have chosen as your guardian. You can’t trust the lot of them. It’s all about giving favors to their cronies and to whomever slips them the most money.”
“I think I would have been better off,” Marlena answered quickly. “I doubt they would have selected someone for me with the reputation of the Duke of Rathburne.”
“It’s true. They wouldn’t have even considered asking a duke at all. The titled don’t usually bother with such matters unless a very close relative is involved. That’s why I must hear everything from the duke. I will speak to him about how this came about. It’s probably because he remembers me from our dance and wanted to help me. I was the diamond of the Season, you know.”
Marlena knew. She’d heard it several times a day since she’d come to live with Justine. At first Marlena thought she’d get used to the constant reminder. But that day hadn’t come.
“I’ll find out everything,” Justine continued. “First, did you tell Eugenia why the duke was here?”
“Yes, of course. I tell her everything. You know that.”
“I do. That is why you must head over to the Portingtons’ house right now and make sure Eugenia knows she must not tell a soul about this. She’s probably already told her sister and Mr. Portington, too, but make certain they know they must keep quiet about this.”
“Justine, I don’t think we need worry about that. They would never tell anything heard in this house.”
Her cousin raised her eyebrows and said, “We won’t take any chances. This will be my news to tell when the time is right. I’ll probably tell Lady Westerbrook first. She’d like that and she can help me make a list of who to inform. Now you run along next door. I can’t have them spreading this news before we are ready. We must do a little celebration tonight. Some amount is necessary, appropriate even.” She stopped and shook her head as she looked at the hem of Marlena’s dress. “And then up to your room and change. I see a smudge of dirt on your skirt. No doubt from the garden. I can tell by the color in your cheeks.”
There hadn’t been a ray of sunshine all day. It wasn’t the sun that had put flush to Marlena’s complexion. It was the duke.
Though Marlena knew she spent too much time outside, she tried to always wear a wide-brimmed hat even when there was no sparkling sunshine but … she often looked up at the sky, even if only to watch the dark gray thunder clouds to determine how long she could stay out before the raindrops started falling.
“I hope the duke didn’t see the soil on the hem of your dress,” Justine continued. “And I do hope that you will stay out of the garden now that it appears you have such an esteemed benefactor. I’m going to tell Mrs. Doddle we’ll need a special dinner tonight. We’re going to dine and celebrate as we did when I was younger.” She stopped and smiled pleasantly as her bare shoulders lifted and her chest stuck proudly out once more. “You are under the protection of a duke. Which means I am, too, because I am the family member in charge of you. A duke! How good can one’s life get? Tell me I am not dreaming. No, don’t tell me.” She turned to walk out.
“But wait,” Marlena called to her. “Justine, doesn’t it trouble you at all that such a man, a rake, a scoundrel, a rogue, and a libertine, will have control over my life?”
Justine blinked, clearly not expecting such a reaction from Marlena. “Not in the least. I’m sure he’s all that you say he is and more. Thunderbolts and lightning, dear girl, what’s the problem? He’s going to be your guardian, not your husband.”
“And I thank the angels who watch over me for that,” Marlena murmured under her breath.
“So what are you worried about?” Justine’s brows went up again and she seemed to be studying over something while she fingered the topaz again. “Though I can’t say it would be horrible if he has designs on me. And I think he might. I mean he wants to see me. And I have been married and know how to please a man.”
Marlena gasped.
Justine cupped her hands under her breasts and lifted them up and then touched her hair. “Well, I won’t say more on that subject. Such talk is not for your tender ears. Now please go next door before Veronica and Eugenia start gossiping and then do change into a gown. We are dining tonight as the elite of Society do. We have returned to it, my dear, and high time. We shall enjoy every moment of it while His Grace makes his intentions known to me and finds you a suitable husband. He probably already has someone in mind for you. Having the Duke of Rathburne as your guardian just made you the diamond of the Season as I was a few years ago—not too many years ago, mind you. We must rejoice!”
Justine laughed heartily as she floated out of the room. Marlena grimaced and folded her arms across her chest. The words her cousin spoke seeped into her soul.
A husband.
What would she do with a husband?
And what would she do with Miss Honora Truth’s Weekly Scandal Sheet?