Dukes and Indiscretions Read online

  There was no point in trying to persuade her otherwise. She was too intelligent to tolerate being patronised. ‘I have reached the same conclusion,’ he conceded with a heavy sigh. He returned her look, feeling as he always did when in her company, a little overwhelmed by her calm reasoning, sound common sense and unorthodox character. Imogen was exquisitely pretty, but Ellery had always preferred Georgia’s unique style. A waterfall of dark strawberry curls that never seemed to conform to the current fashion. Eyes that were sometimes hazel, often silver, reflecting intelligence and a tendency to laugh at life’s absurdities. But there was nothing remotely amusing about Gerald’s disappearance, as her sombre expression attested. Besides, she was his cousin’s widow and it seemed almost incestuous to dwell upon her many attributes.

  ‘What possible reason could anyone have to abduct my sister’s future husband?’ Georgia asked, lacing her fingers nervously in her lap.

  ‘He is my cousin and about to marry your sister.’

  ‘Ah, I see.’ Georgia nodded, setting those same wayward curls that had just occupied his thoughts dancing around her face. ‘We are both extremely wealthy families. In which case we can expect a demand for a ransom. But will it come before eleven o’clock tomorrow morning, when over a hundred guests will be gathered at St. George’s Chapel?’ Her eyes widened. ‘If it does not, we will have to cancel the wedding, or at least postpone it. How do we alert the guests, and more to the point what the devil am I supposed to say to Imogen?’

  Ellery reached across the space that separated them and briefly covered her hand with his. She pulled hers away as though she’d been scalded, reinforcing Ellery’s opinion that she had still not forgiven him. Why would she, when he was responsible for her husband’s death? He felt disgusted with himself every time he relived that battle in his mind, which was frequently. Recollections disturbed his slumbers and saw him pacing his rooms for night after endless night, wishing it had been him that the damned French bayonet had sliced almost in two. It should have been. Ellery didn’t much care if he lived or died. David, on the other hand, had had everything to live for.

  ‘Gerald didn’t reach the capital; I am satisfied on that score at least,’ Ellery said, more curtly than had been his intention. ‘Even if he and some of his friends over-imbibed, they wouldn’t have dared to misinform me once I began to look for him.’

  Georgia nodded. ‘Very likely not.’

  ‘We shall have to call off the wedding. The last thing we want is for Imogen to arrive at the chapel and be humiliated in front of society’s elite when Gerald doesn’t arrive.’

  ‘Yes, I suppose we can at least spare her that torture.’

  ‘I have a list of the guests. I will send people round at first light, saying that Gerald has been taken unexpectedly ill.’

  Georgia sent him a wry look. ‘And will they believe it?’

  ‘Probably not. There’s little we can do to prevent gossip and speculation, I’m afraid.’

  ‘I’m more concerned about Imogen’s reaction. She isn’t strong, and she is deliriously in love with Gerald. This will destroy her.’

  ‘I promise that we will find him, Georgia,’ Ellery said with conviction. ‘If he has been abducted then word will reach me soon enough.’

  ‘It would be a brave or desperate man to go to such lengths for the sake of money,’ she said in a considering tone. ‘Has either of us offended anyone badly enough for them to want revenge?’

  He allowed himself the ghost of a smile. ‘I am perfectly sure that you have not.’

  ‘I wouldn’t be so confident about that. I am far too outspoken and opinionated for a woman. If I weren’t for the fact that I am too wealthy for society to risk offending me, I doubt whether I would be invited anywhere.’

  ‘Criminal behaviour indeed!’

  ‘It is, at least in the eyes of those too stupid or thick-skinned to accept rejection,’ she replied bitterly.

  ‘Ah, I see. But as you yourself just pointed out, you are a wealthy and attractive widow. You must expect to receive your share of unwanted attention.’

  ‘I didn’t say anything about being attractive.’ She shrugged a little too casually. ‘Not that it would matter if I resembled the rear end of a horse, given the money I have.’

  She sounded bitter. Ellery wondered if she had plans to remarry but was unable to decide which of her suitors liked her for herself alone. ‘I dare say the vultures started gathering before you’d even shed your widow’s weeds.’

  ‘There’s no need to sound so surprised.’ He tone was sharp. ‘Not everyone looks upon me as the annoyingly sensible older sister.’

  Ellery certainly didn’t but he wasn’t about to tell her so. There was too much history between them for him to be able to turn the clock back. ‘Our childhood is a long way behind us,’ he remarked.

  Ellery’s ducal seat in Rochester was a short distance from Georgia’s family estate in Kent. Ellery had known Georgia since she had been a babe in arms. She had insisted upon joining in the boys’ games and thought nothing of riding ponies bareback, racing the boys at ridiculous speeds. Falling out of trees didn’t worry her and she was an expert at fording streams and fighting battles with mock swords, with no concession asked for or made in respect of her supposedly weaker status.

  She had inherited the house they now sat in as well as the one in Rochester. Imogen had been left a substantial dowry. Even when she married David, the properties and her incumbent wealth remained hers in an unusual arrangement made by her father prior to his death. It ensured that anyone wishing to marry her didn’t get control of her fortune. David, wealthy in his own right, hadn’t needed it.

  ‘My original point is a valid one, Ellery,’ she said, a worried frown creasing her brow. ‘I think it far more likely that Gerald has been taken at this pivotal moment in order to gain revenge on one of us, or to cause maximum embarrassment.’ It was her turn to summon up a half-hearted smile. ‘Whose daughters have you offended with your neglect?’

  Ellery shook his head. He had no intention of discussing his amatory adventures with his cousin’s wife. ‘To practical matters,’ he said crisply. ‘I will ensure that the guests are informed of the postponement. I will also send someone to the chapel to intercept those who don’t receive word in time. If I can depend upon you to break the news to Imogen,’ he added, wincing, ‘and cancel the plans for the wedding breakfast, I will set out at first light, with dogs, to personally check every inch of the road between here and Rochester for clues. If he was taken, he would not have gone quietly, so hopefully there will be something to point us in the right direction.’

  ‘Do you get the impression that our two families were never destined to inter-marry?’ she asked, sighing.

  He stood when she did and gently touched her shoulder. ‘I’m sorry, Georgia, truly I am. I know how deeply Imogen and Gerald love one another and would not have had this happen for the world. I blame myself. I should have stayed with him, or insisted he come with me and had someone else collect Imogen’s jewellery.’

  ‘You are not your cousin’s keeper. This is no one’s fault. Although,’ she added thoughtfully, ‘if he didn’t have an accident and was snatched then it must have been opportunistic. Ordinarily he would not travel alone, and he changed his plans at the last minute. Perhaps someone with a grudge came across him on the one occasion he happened to do so and took advantage.’

  Ellery nodded. ‘They wouldn’t have had somewhere to hold him already picked out. Unless they are local people.’

  ‘This is all speculation,’ she replied impatiently. ‘My more immediate concern is Imogen. Should I wake her and tell her now, or let her go through the night in ignorance?’ She dashed impatiently at an errant tear with the back of her hand. ‘If I choose the latter path, she will wake up thinking it’s her wedding day only to discover that it is not.’

  Ellery took a moment to consider. ‘I think she needs to know now. It will give her time to get accustomed to what I hope will be a temporary delay.’

  ‘You’re right.’ Georgia’s breasts pushed against her bodice as she inhaled deeply and let that breath out again in a heartfelt sigh. He tried to avert his gaze but his eyes seemed reluctant to obey the command. ‘I’m being cowardly. I of all people should know better than to believe in miracles,’ she said softly, looking so distracted that it took all of Ellery’s self-restraint not to pull her into his arms and comfort her. ‘Will you send word the moment you find anything out?’

  ‘Of course.’

  He resisted the urge to touch her again, aware that she wouldn’t welcome any comforting gestures from him, and quietly left the room.

  Chapter Two

  ‘I need to speak to you about a disturbing development, Calder,’ Georgia said to her butler after he had seen Ellery off the premises.

  ‘A most lamentable situation, ma’am,’ Calder responded gravely once Georgia had explained the circumstances of Gerald’s disappearance. ‘How can I be of assistance?’

  ‘By cancelling the wedding breakfast. I know a lot of baking has been done. The kitchens have been in uproar all week, but there’s no help for it. Save what we can consume ourselves. The rest should be discreetly given to the poor and needy.’

  ‘I will oversee the matter personally, ma’am.’

  ‘I don’t want anyone else in the house to know the truth, Calder. Speculation will be rife, but that’s all it will be unless a servant gets wind of the truth and talks out of turn. Captain Bentham has a contagious disease and will remain in Kent until his doctors are satisfied that he is over the worst. That is the story we are sticking to.’

  Calder inclined his head. ‘I understand completely. That is what I shall tell everyone.’

  ‘Thank you. I know I can depend upon you.’
She breathed deeply. ‘And now I must break the news to Miss Langdon.’

  ‘If you require anything from the stillroom—a tincture for her nerves or something to help the young lady sleep—I can have Mrs Adams make one up immediately.’

  ‘I hope that won’t be necessary, but thank you for the thought.’

  Georgia took another deep breath and then slowly climbed the stairs, deeply distressed by the nature of the duty she must discharge. Wishing she knew why Gerald had been taken in such a brazen manner, if that was what had actually occurred. Was it inappropriate to hope that he’d met with an accident? Gerald was the most even tempered of men and got along well with everyone he met. Ellery, she suspected, was the real target. Impossible to get close to and a dangerous man to attack, his detractors had seized the opportunity to strike at his weak link in the form of his only living relation.

  Shaking her head to dispel that very real possibility, Georgia considered waking their aunt so that they could break the news to Imogen together, but quickly dismissed the idea of reinforcements. Aunt Esther was a sensible woman, but she would not absorb the news as calmly as Georgia had. For her it had been a matter of pride not to show emotion in front of Ellery. Imogen, on the other hand, would be utterly distraught, and Georgia could only deal with one hysterical relative at a time.

  She paused on the landing, wishing for the thousandth time that her parents could still have been alive to take responsibility for their younger child. For both of their daughters. Perhaps things might have turned out very differently for Georgia if that had been the case. But they were not here, and Georgia was no coward. She would perform the hardest task that had ever fallen to her lot with gentle compassion.

  Georgia went first to the master bedchamber which she herself occupied, where her maid awaited her. Bessie, usually full of gossip from the servants’ hall, appeared to pick up on Georgia’s preoccupation and said nothing as she performed her duties. As soon as Georgia had washed and changed into her night attire, a robe tightly belted at her waist and her hair brushed out and plaited, she dismissed Bessie.

  ‘Good night, ma’am.’ Bessie paused in the doorway. ‘Are you sure there’s nothing else I can do for you?’

  ‘Quite sure, Bessie, thank you.’

  ‘I expect you will be wanting to get to sleep, what with it being such an important day tomorrow.’ Bessie knew something was seriously wrong and was fishing for gossip to spread in the servants’ hall. ‘We are all that excited below stairs.’

  ‘Get some sleep yourself, Bessie. I shall need you early tomorrow.’

  ‘I’ll be ready, ma’am. Never you fear.’

  Georgia waited for a full minute after Bessie had left her, mentally composing herself for the ordeal ahead. As ready as she would ever be, she sighed deeply, picked up a candle and made her way to Imogen’s room further down the passageway.

  ‘What…’ Imogen, disturbed by the light spilling into her room from Georgia’s candle, blinked sleep from her eyes and half sat up in bed. ‘Georgie, what is it? Is it time to get up? It feels as though I have only just gone to sleep. Am I late? What am I to do?’

  ‘Hush, my love.’ Georgia put her candle down on the nightstand and perched on the edge of Imogen’s bed. She brushed the hair away from her sister’s brow and kissed her cheek. ‘It’s not tomorrow yet.’

  ‘Then why? I don’t understand.’

  ‘I’ve just had a visit from Ellery.’

  ‘The duke.’ Imogen frowned. ‘What did he want? Surely he should be looking after Gerald.’ She jerked upright. ‘Has something happened to Gerald? What’s so important that you felt the need to wake me? I can tell that you are anxious about something. I always know. You get a small crease between your eyebrows and try a little too hard to seem unconcerned.’

  ‘Something has happened, darling, and I need you to be very brave.’ Georgia grasped her sister’s hand and gently rubbed the back of it with the pad of her thumb.

  ‘Tell me.’

  Georgia did, as gently as she could. Imogen gasped as she absorbed the terrible news and her face turned deathly pale. Georgia could see that much, even in the dim light thrown out by a solitary candle. Her body went into a series of tremors as tears spilled down her cheeks.

  ‘He’s run away,’ she sobbed. ‘He must have decided that he doesn’t want to marry me after all.’

  ‘Nonsense! He loves you to distraction. Anyone with eyes in their head can see that. It’s possible, of course, that he’s taken a fall from his new horse. He always has enjoyed riding fast.’

  ‘And now he could be lying somewhere, unable to move and dying from the cold.’ The possibility did little to calm Imogen, even though Georgia knew it would most definitely be the lesser of two evils.

  ‘It’s possible he’s been injured,’ she admitted. ‘Ellery’s men are planning to start a more thorough search at first light. There are dozens of places where he could have left the road and cut across country. All such places will be searched. If he’s out there, we will find him. Ellery’s dogs will make sure of it. The weather isn’t that cold. He will survive,’ Georgia said with brisk assurance in her tone, even though she felt anything but assured of a happy outcome.

  ‘I can’t bear it!’ Imogen cried, sobbing on Georgia’s shoulder. ‘I have been so very happy these past weeks, but I kept feeling that I didn’t have any right to be. Now I know why.’

  ‘We will find him,’ Georgia assured her sister. ‘Did he talk of upsetting anyone recently?’ she asked as gently as she could. ‘Did anyone bear him a grudge?’

  Imogen’s eyes widened. ‘You think he has been kidnapped? Or set upon by ne’er-do-wells for his valuables? His horse has not been found and so…’

  ‘Think, Imogen. Did he talk about his fellow officers at all?’ Gerald had been a career soldier, but now that the country was now supposedly at peace he had resigned his commission in advance of his wedding day, ready to take responsibility for the estate that he had assumed he would be leasing from Ellery. ‘Did any of them bear him a grudge that you are aware of?’

  ‘No, I cannot recall any disputes. As you know, Gerald is very easy going and gets along with everyone.’

  Georgia did know it, but had still needed to ask the question. If he had been kidnapped then whoever had taken him most likely bore Ellery a grudge. She could easily imagine the duke collecting enemies in the same manner that ordinary men collected stamps. Given his stature and responsibilities and the unpopular decisions he was required to make on a daily basis, jealousies and resentments were bound to result.

  Ellery had hidden his own reaction to Gerald’s disappearance, appearing grimly determined to get to the bottom of matters while showing not an ounce of emotion. Even so, Georgia knew that he would take it as a personal slight. As a general rule he was inordinately protective of his younger cousin, perhaps because he had been unable to save David on the field of battle. She never thought the day would dawn when she would feel sympathy for Ellery. There was too much history between them. But at that moment she felt inordinately sorry for him. And sorrier still for the people who had Gerald, always supposing that was what had happened to him. When one of Ellery’s own was threatened, he was merciless in the pursuit of retribution.

  A powerful man whom it was definitely wiser not to cross.

  A niggling feeling worked its way into Georgia’s brain as she perched on the edge of her sister’s bed and did her best to comfort her. Perhaps the abductors didn’t hold a grudge against Ellery, but against Georgia herself. Dizziness assailed her as she contemplated that possibility, not wanting to confront it. Exacting revenge against Ellery by abducting his cousin would be effective. Abducting Georgia’s sister’s intended in order to get even with Georgia was a devastating possibility.

  Georgia pulled back the covers and crawled into bed with her sister and the two of them snuggled up together. Georgia, her mind too full of increasingly wild possibilities to allow for sleep, soothed Imogen with gentle sweeps of her hand across her back until exhaustion claimed her and she fell into a restless sleep, interspersed with wild little cries and increasingly ragged breathing.