Page 61 of A Lady's Dangerous Secret
“Your Grace, please continue,” Arthur said.
The Duke proceeded in a tortured voice, “I returned to Westcliffe to learn my dear brother had died in a carriage accident and that I was the heir to the Dukedom. I loved him and was crushed by the news, but was relieved to tell my father I already had a wife who could be pregnant with the Westcliffe heir.” Pain flashed across his face. “I never saw my father so angry. My brother had been betrothed already, and he expected me to marry my brother’s intended, Miss Antoinette Waycott. Her father was a wealthy baron who neighbored our estate and had married a Frenchémigré. I refused and told him how much I loved Rose. My father accepted my decision, which should have made me suspicious, but I was grieving and not thinking properly. I sent a letter to your mother explaining everything and that I would return as soon as possible.”
“She never received a letter,” James said.
The Duke shook his head. “My father forced me to stay in Westcliffe to learn about my future responsibilities. I begged him to return to Birmingham. He said I could go back in six weeks and that Nott would check on Rose in the meantime. I had no choice but to acquiesce. Before the time was up, Nott returned and gave me the devasting news that Rose had died.”
James was out of his chair again. “My mother was alive. Aunt Julia was the one who died. She supposedly drowned before I was born, but my mother didn’t believe it. She was convinced someone murdered her.”
The Duke put his face in his hands. “I was young and naïve. I believed Nott when he said your mother was gone.”
“You were wrong, and she suffered for years!”
The Duke lifted his head and looked absolutely defeated. “Knowing what I do now, he must have murdered the wrong sister.”
James stood. “Your family killed my aunt!”
Arthur sprang from his chair, and despite his slender frame, he demonstrated surprising strength. He grabbed James’s coat and dragged him back before he could reach His Grace.
“James, I mean Captain Hughes, I’m so sorry. I had nothing to do with this horror. I was too trusting. I’m only to blame in that I believed Nott and my father. In truth, he was a monster. He tried to force me to marry Miss Waycott immediately upon learning of Rose’s death. I refused because I was heartbroken. The most I could do was push it out six months, and then she became my wife.” The Duke ran his hand through his hair the same way James did.
“You never came back,” James choked out, with tears welling in his eyes. He never thought he would see the day he would feel this magnitude of pent-up emotion.
The Duke leaned forward with a pleading look in his eyes. “James, if I had any idea, I would have come back. This was myfather’s doing, and I was duped. He was an evil man. I know you’ll never forgive me, but please, at least know that I would never do anything to intentionally hurt you. I loved your mother, and I would have loved you, too, had I known you existed.”
James jerked himself out of Arthur’s grasp. He slumped into his chair and buried his face in his hands while tears streaked down his face. He swallowed a sob and rose from the chair.
He had to leave.
James rushed out of the room in search of a place for solitude. He could not stomach seeing anyone at the moment, especially not a herd of bloodthirsty nobs with a tear-streaked face.The guests were surely reveling in being present at what would be the most scandalous ball of the Season. The gossip in drawing rooms and gentlemen’s clubs tomorrow would be unrivaled.
The animals.
James hurried farther into the Rowley’s private quarters. He jiggled a few door handles, only to find the rooms locked. His face felt cool from the dampness of his tears. If he did not find a room where he could be alone soon, he would knock down one of these locked doors.
Frustration building, he continued on his until finally a door eased open. He poked his head inside the room, a library, and let out a sigh of relief as he noted a single candelabrum on a table, providing a soft glow to a room of books. He closed the door behind him and flopped onto the library’s chesterfield sofa. He lay back and covered his eyes with his arm. The momentous information he had just learned from the Duke, no—his father—sank in.
James had no idea who he was.
CHAPTER TWENTY
James did not know how long he remained motionless in the library, but he finally dragged himself up from the sofa. He did not feel any closer to reconciling his feelings toward his absentee father, but at least he had taken time to be alone with his thoughts. He spied a decanter near the lit fireplace and walked over, his shoulders slumped. He poured himself a brandy and drank it in one gulp. He needed fortification for what lay ahead.
James was an officer. He never backed down from a challenge, including one involving his long-lost father. He took a deep breath and squared his shoulders before he left the library and went back to the room where Lottie recovered and where he met his father, the man who deserted them. As James approached, the voices drifting from the ballroom sounded softer. They must have headed into supper.
The Duke and Arthur were bent deep in discussion, heads bent, with Arthur gesticulating. James approached the two men and cleared his throat.
Arthur looked up. “I’m sorry about your aunt. We were trying to understand the meaning of the receipt for the paintings by the mysterious artist. We think Roberts and perhaps Westcliffe’sfather may have been hiding something else, though we can’t determine what that may be.” James did not have the patience to hypothesize at the moment. He had just learned so much emotionally-laden information, so he just nodded with his customary stern look.
“Right.” Arthur clasped his hands together. “We were waiting for you to return to address the more important task at hand. Who is after my sister?”
James walled off his emotions as best as he could to focus on Lottie. “It must be related to Roberts, Nott, whatever you want to call the bastard. And maybe it’s related to the Duchy of Westcliffe.”
“I know of no present connection with Roberts and the duchy, so the Runners you hired need to keep searching for an answer,” the Duke responded.
“They will,” James said.
The Duke looked intently at him. “I must see your mother. I never stopped loving her, and she is still my wife.”
