Читать книгу Something Scandalous - Christie Kelley - Страница 7

Will finally broke away from the footmen’s tight hold. “Thank you…”

The woman’s face flushed pink. “Elizabeth, Your Grace. I am the former duke’s daughter,” she replied in a halting voice.

“I see. A cousin of mine, then.”

“Very distant, but yes.”

“Wonderful.” The last thing he needed was one more mouth to feed. The past two years had been a struggle as he attempted to keep his family from falling apart during his father’s long illness.

“Those children,” she started, glanced up the stairs, and then paused.

Watching her freckled face cringe, he almost laughed. “Yes? The children?”

“They can’t all be…”

“Mine?”

“Well, yes. I had heard you were eight when you left for America, and that was only twenty years ago…”

He walked toward a large room as she attempted to determine the source of all the children. Glancing around the room, his gaze focused on the gilt furnishings. He remembered very little of his life in England, and this was one part he must have forgotten. The opulence of the room astounded him. Red silk wallpaper lined the walls of the room, vast gilt frames with oil paintings and portraits hung from the walls. He had only heard of such wealth. Not even Abigail’s family had this much.

God, he missed her already. He had to get this nasty business completed as quickly as possible.

“Your Grace?”

“Oh, yes, the children. Perhaps I had an early start,” he said with a smile. His innocent cousin’s eyes widened.

Slowly, her lips tilted upward. “That must have been an extremely early start.”

“Considering Ellie’s nearly twenty, I do believe eight is just a bit young.”

“Your siblings, then?”

“All seven of them, plus Alicia, who stayed behind with her new husband.” Will walked farther into the room and ran his hand over the soft velvet of a wingback chair.

“Nine children? And they all survived infancy.”

He only nodded at the sound of amazement in her voice. He chuckled softly. “They include four stepbrothers from my father’s second wife.”

“Would you like something to eat, Your Grace?”

He turned back toward her and frowned. “Why do you keep calling me that?”

“Your Grace?”

“Yes.”

“Because you are the duke. If you were an earl, I would have addressed you as ‘my lord’.”

He shook his head. “Well, stop. I will never understand this country and its odd penchant for titles.”

She stood upright and quickly brushed a red lock back from her forehead. “It is not an odd system of titles. How long did you live in Virginia before moving to Canada?”

“Ten years. Then my father was reassigned to another diplomatic position in York near Lake Ontario, just before the war broke out.”

“I think you must have forgotten how English Society works. After all, you lived in that heathen country where no man needs a title.”

“Perhaps. But at least there, every man has the chance to better himself without needing a title to get ahead,” he said before sitting in the wingback chair.

“Your Gr—” She halted abruptly when he glared at her. Throwing up her hands in the air, she said, “Then what do I call you?”

“William, or better yet, Will.”

“Very well, William. Would you like me to awaken the cook for a quick meal?”

“I wouldn’t wish to disturb the servants.”

“The servants are here for your every convenience. Besides, I must wake the maids to make up the bedrooms. Mine is the only one ready.”

“Then yes, I would love a little something to eat. The food on the ship was not the best.”

She smiled and two small dimples creased her freckled cheeks. The woman was quite pretty with her red curls and green eyes, but when she smiled, she became absolutely radiant.

“I will return in a moment,” she said.

As she left, her slim hips swayed under the muslin of her amber gown. Listening to her give orders to the footmen, he smiled. She was obviously used to assigning tasks for the servants.

God, he hated the idea of being back in this country. If he had only surrendered his citizenship and moved to America before his father’s death. Then he would not be here. He wouldn’t be eligible for the title. Instead, he would be in Virginia with Abigail, enjoying the warmth of a late May evening.

Being an American, his stepmother had ingrained in him the ideals of freedom from tyrannical forces. How no man had the right to call himself king. The people had the right to choose their leaders, and titles should mean nothing.

While she preached to him about the importance of freedom, his father continued to speak of the duchy and their responsibility to it. Or more importantly, the opportunity it would give them financially. Once the title fell to either of them, they could give their family wealth and respect. In order for that to happen, Will had to keep his British citizenship. He’d only done it to make his father happy. What Will wanted remained in Virginia.

For the past five years, he and Abigail had faithfully written to each other monthly. Every six months, he would propose to her again, telling her that he would give up everything for her. Each time, she had another reason he shouldn’t give up his citizenship for her. During the war, their correspondence had been sporadic, but she had told him of her love for him. When the war ended, Will had begged her to come to Canada, but she told him she could not disregard her father’s feelings. After losing his only son in the war with the British, he could not lose his only daughter to an Englishman.

Not that any of that mattered. Now that he was the duke, he could do what he wanted. He was here for only one thing. Once finished, he and his siblings would be on the first ship out of England forever.

After telling the footman to awaken the servants, Elizabeth quickly walked up the stairs to organize the children. In the first room, she found the two oldest women, and a young girl who couldn’t have been more than five. The little girl gave her a shy smile.

“Good evening, ladies.”

The two older women folded their arms over their chests in unison. “Good evening,” the woman with blond hair said.

“I am your cousin, Elizabeth.”

“I’m Sarah,” the littlest girl said excitedly.

Elizabeth walked over to the girl on the bed and said, “It is a pleasure to meet you, Lady Sarah.”

Sarah giggled. “I’m not a lady yet.”

“Oh, but you are, at least I think you are. Will is your half brother, right?”

Sarah shrugged, but the other two nodded.

“Well, since your brother is now the duke, that makes you a lady,” Elizabeth replied with a smile.

The little girl giggled again and looked over at her sister. “See, Lucy. I am a lady.”

“You won’t be a lady for a very long time, Sarah,” Lucy retorted.

Elizabeth turned toward the young woman named Lucy. “And it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Lady Lucy.”

“Thank you, Elizabeth.”

“I think she must also be a lady, Lucy,” the woman with blond hair stated.

“Are you Ellie?” Elizabeth asked.

“Yes, Lady Elizabeth.”

“Well, it is a pleasure to meet you all. I have to admit, I’m a little confused about who is related to whom.”

Ellie smiled. “It is a little difficult. Will, Alicia, Lucy, and I are from the same parents. James, Michael, Ethan, and Robert are my stepbrothers. Sarah is the youngest, and she is my half sister.”

“That clears it up a little. The servants are on their way to make up the beds for you. Tomorrow we shall see about setting up a nursery for the younger children, which will free this room for you both to share.”

“You mean we don’t have to make up the beds?” Lucy whispered.

Elizabeth smiled at the sound of awe in her voice. “No, Lucy. We have servants here to attend to our needs.”

All three girls gave each other amazed looks.

“We don’t have to help cook?” Ellie asked.

“We don’t have to wash the clothes?” Lucy said at the same time.

“No. We have several servants to do all those chores.” It finally dawned on Elizabeth that they were used to doing these chores themselves. She had assumed her cousin Edward must have had money, but perhaps he hadn’t.

“Good night, ladies. I shall see you tomorrow morning.” Elizabeth walked slowly toward the door.

“What time is breakfast?” Ellie asked.

“Whenever you want it,” Elizabeth replied. “Just let the maid know if you will eat in the breakfast room, or if you want a tray in your room.”

“We can eat in our bedroom?” Sarah exclaimed.

“Yes, I do most mornings,” Elizabeth commented.

“Good night, Lady Elizabeth,” Lucy said.

Elizabeth walked out of the girls’ room and toward another room. Hearing loud voices, she knew before she opened the door that the boys were inside. She walked into the bedroom and found two of the younger boys investigating a bug in the corner of the room. They both turned as she entered the room.

“What are you two about at this hour?” she asked.

“There’s a spider,” the younger of the two answered. His hair was sandy brown and he had large blue eyes.

“And you are?”

“Robert, ma’am.”

Glancing toward the older boy with blond hair, she asked, “And you?”

“Ethan, ma’am.”

“I see. Have you two decided which bed will be yours tonight?” She walked over to where they still stood in the corner. Spying the spider, she lifted her skirts and stomped on it.

“I can’t believe you did that!” Ethan said. “It was a poor little spider. He wasn’t going to hurt anyone!”

Elizabeth inhaled deeply. She had no idea how to deal with children, especially boys. “That spider might have bitten you. And that is no way to speak to an elder.”

“Yes, ma’am,” they muttered together.

“Now, tomorrow we shall settle everyone into their permanent rooms, but for tonight, you will have to make do with the beds that are in here.”

“It doesn’t matter about the beds,” a sullen voice from the doorway said.

Elizabeth turned and looked at the older boy. “Why is that? And who are you?”

“I’m Michael. And it doesn’t matter about the spider or you or the beds or anything else.” Michael moved toward one of the beds and flopped on it, facedown.

Elizabeth stood there, unsure of what to do. Should she call for William? She had never been around young boys before now.

“Michael, we’re not going anywhere,” said an older adolescent from the corner.

Had he been in the room the entire time? She was in completely over her head. “What do you mean, Michael?”

He turned his head slightly from the pillow. “As soon as Will sells off everything, we’re moving back to America.”

“What did you say?” The boy had to be wrong. William could not sell off everything and then leave. The estates were entailed and he had responsibilities to attend to here. If he left, who would care for the tenants? Who would care for the lands?

Michael rolled onto his side and stared at her. “We’re going back. Will is going to sell off everything.”

“Oh, no, he is not,” Elizabeth said, striding toward the door. “The servants will be up in a moment with bedding. Good night.”

She slammed the door on the way out. Picking up her skirts, she raced down the marble stairs. Did the man know nothing? He couldn’t sell off the estates and return to America.

She strode into the parlor to find the duke with his feet on the mahogany table and his head tilted into the corner of the wingback chair, with his dark brown eyes shuttered and his breathing even. Her anger should have dissipated at the sight of his obvious exhaustion, but it did not.

“Get your filthy feet off my table!”

One dark brown eye stared at her. Slowly, the other eye opened and one brow arched. “Your table?”

She swatted at his feet. “Yes, my table.”

He placed his booted feet on the floor and sat up straight. After folding his arms over his chest, he continued to stare at her.

“Last I checked, I was the duke,” he said in a low tone. “I believe that means this house and everything in it belongs to me.”

“Hah! You are incorrect on that matter. Some of the things belong to the title, not to you.”

“It’s all the same to me,” he said with a dispassionate shrug.

“Well, you would be wrong.”

“Perhaps I am. I may have been born in this country, but it isn’t my home and never will be. For all I care, some other cousin can inherit this damned title.”

She glared at him as her anger rose higher. “But they cannot.”

“Oh?” He arched one eyebrow slightly.

“As long as you are alive, you are the duke. Whether you like the idea or not,” she retorted.

How dare this man think he could dismiss centuries of family history? Did he have no idea of what his relatives did to gain that title? The battles fought over land, the marriages brokered over money and land. All done to increase the family’s position and fortune. All done to give them the wonderful and secure life they had now.

Meeting him almost made her wish Richard had inherited the duchy. At least he would have respect for the title and the history that went along with it. Although, he would gamble away the money. The situation was bewildering. She had one cousin who would gamble the estates to ruin, and another who would sell off everything. Well, she wasn’t about to allow either of those things to happen.

“But again, I am the duke,” the arrogant, uncivilized man stated. “Therefore, I can do as I wish with the assets.”

“You might be the duke,” she replied, balling her hands into tight fists. “But you cannot sell off this family’s properties and belongings.”

He leaned his head back into the corner of the chair and smiled. “I don’t believe you have a say in the matter.”

She smiled sternly at him. “Perhaps not. But I do know you cannot sell off any entailed property.”

Watching his eyes widen and his mouth drop slightly, she knew she had caught him off guard. He knew nothing about the laws of inheritance in England. She could use his ignorance about the subject to her advantage.

“What can’t I sell?”

Ignoring his demanding question, she walked toward the door. “Good night, Your Grace. Pleasant dreams.”