Page 40 of A Scandalous Love for the Enticing Duke
“I was told you would make such claims. I too did not believe my eyes when I saw these. However, I cannot continue to doubt that which my eyes have seen. I had too much trust in you for you to have pulled this shameful deed. Our families have had a beneficial business agreement for decades. I enjoyed that with your father and after his demise I had hoped that I would continue to do the same with the boy we had both trained and watched grow into a man. I see that I was wrong. What need had you to do this wicked thing? Riches? Do you not have enough of that already?”
Alan’s head was spinning. None of this made any sense. He had thought he would come to meet Williams, angry about his affair with Agnes. This, was way off. Who had done this wicked thing to him? He looked at Victoria who stared at him, her gaze hard and unflinching. There was something else there, but now wasn’t the time to try to decipher it.
“You must believe me, Williams. This is the work of someone trying to sabotage our relationship and ruin my name. As you said, I have more than I could ever hope to spend if I lived for two hundred years more. Why would I do this thing?”
It was Victoria who answered. “Greed. Why else do people do these things? Men. Wealth is never enough, is it?” She rose and went to her husband’s side to take his hands in hers, offering comfort. “And oh … you have lost the right to address my husband by his name. You shall acknowledge his title and the fact that he is above you whenever you speak to him from now on.” She smiled so sweetly, and Alan saw why he never liked her, as much as he adored Williams and the girls. Still, he bowed his head.
“My apologies, My Lord and Lady. It is only that this is as much a shock to me as it is to you. Please, I pray thee. Tell me how you came about this so that I may carry out some investigations of my own and expose this fraud for what it is. I have to clear my name.” It was the very least he could do. He was agitated by the implication of this. The Duke would never trust him again, and if word got out about this, he would lose a lot of associates. Whoever had gone to this length could easily do the same with others.
“It was received from a trustworthy source. If you are indeed innocent, you may go on about clearing your name on your own. Until then, I choose to believe this is true. You might have had your guess already, but I will say this still, to avoid any confusion. Whatever relationship we had has been severed. Business-wise, and the likes. There shall be no more transactions between Birmingham and Sheldon and sons. You are not allowed to show up anywhere around my vicinity after you leave today. I do not even want to see you or have anything to do with you. You must also bear in mind that this is not about the money. It is about my trust which has been betrayed. I treated you like the son I never had, opened my doors and welcomed you into my home, and you choose to repay me in this manner …” Williams took a pause as he released a deep sigh.
“Leave, and never return.”
Alan willed the ground to open up and swallow him but knew he would have no such luck. The deed had been done, and there was nothing more to say. He looked at the parchment in his hands and considered dropping it but decided otherwise. He would clear his name, and he would be needing this to do so. Nothing he said here would be trusted. It was best he obeyed the Duke’s wishes.
Without a word, he turned and left the study. His head remained bowed in defeat as he walked. He had been right to have been afraid. This was so much worse than he had bargained for. He felt weakened, left with no strength to do anything. The look in Williams’s eyes would haunt him until he cleared his name, and he would.
He had already stepped out of the door when he heard the Duchess call out to him. Hers was a voice he could never mistake. What now? He turned to look at her, wondering if she was here to gloat. She had never failed to express what she thought of him. He knew she had barely been tolerating him. He could only imagine how glad she would be to finally be getting rid of him. At that thought, his eyes narrowed. The forgery had the perfect timing, and while he had not been able to think of anyone who had a score to settle with him, he wouldn’t put it past the woman in front of him.
“It was you.” It wasn’t a question; it was a statement.
His thoughts were confirmed when she gave into theatrical laughter. How did a man like Williams Birmingham end up with this woman?
“I see you have it figured. You are definitely an intelligent one. Let’s see what else you have figured out – my reason for doing this? I mean, what could I possibly have against you, uhm?” She narrowed her eyes as she searched and he kept his, akin to slits, his jaw set in a hard line.
“Hum …? Could it be the fact that I have a general dislike for people who refuse to know their place in the society? Or perhaps … the fact that you have been engaging in a secret affair with my daughter, behind my back?” Her smile was gone in a flash, and Alan’s eyes widened in surprise. So, this was it. She knew. He grappled for words to say but came up with nothing. What could he possibly say? She continued, anyway.
“Now, I know that you have plans to make your investigations and clear your name, but I would suggest that you do not. I make a formidable enemy, Alan, and I will crush you like the ant you are. You must remember this. There are more documents where that came from, each to expose your supposed fraudulent dealings with your other associates here in London. Your name will be ruined, and they will not be as kind as my husband. By the time they all collect the money you have swindled them of, you will be left with nothing but bankruptcy.”
Alan was speechless and was still trying to wrap his head around it all when she stepped closer and in a lower voice, she added her last note of warning.
“It would be in your best interest to leave London as soon as possible. The wedding is shy of two weeks away, and all must go according to plan. Next season, you may return. Agnes will be happily wedded and mayhap, even with child. If you refuse, I shall tell Williams of this, also. I shall tell him that you have been deceiving Agnes with lies to steal her virtue, and her fortune. I know how much you respect my husband. We can come to an agreement that his disappointment in you as of now, is sufficient, can we not?”
Alan was shocked to the bones. Beyond that, he was appalled. To think that he had fancied having this woman as a mother-in-law. Clearly, he had underestimated her. She was even more evil than he had reckoned. He swallowed hard, wetting his suddenly parched throat.
“What would Agnes have to say about that? Do you think she would keep quiet as you spread these lies about me and slander my name?”
He was startled as she busted into a gale of laughter. Now, what was this? he wondered. Patiently, he waited until she recovered from her fit. Her eyes still danced with her delight, though.
“How do you think I came to know about this in the first place? My sweet girl came to me with the truth.”
All he had felt that day could not be compared to what he felt at that moment. An arrow pierced through his heart and lodged itself there. Filling him with agony, every moment he dared to breathe.
“You tell lies, Victoria. I would consider that low, even for you?”
“Oh, poor boy. Denial, is that? Well, I’ll have you know that I have no need to feed you with lies to get rid of you. After all these years, why do you think my daughter has finally agreed to settle down? It is because she has fallen in love with the future Duke of Yorkshire. True love!” she chimed, ever her dramatic self.
“The scales have finally fallen off her eyes, and she now sees why it is best for her to marry a man deserving of her. Someone of equal social standing. I am afraid, but you will never be that man. Caught in a web of confusion, she came to her mother, because mother knows best! You can imagine my initial shock and disappointment, but they soon vanished to be replaced by pride. As I stroked her hair in comfort, I told her not to worry, that Mother will handle it. Now you see? It matters less if you believe or not. Just keep in mind that I do not make empty threats. Goodbye Alan. The next time I will be running into you in London, it had better be next season.” With that, she pivoted and floated back into her house, her skirts bouncing behind her.
Broken, devastated, Alan knew it was time to go. He could not believe Agnes would betray him so, but his mind and head were too muddled up to think clearly. Isabelle had said Agnes was miserable; he could remember how she had responded to his touch over a week ago. How could it be true?
Slowly, he turned, and through blurred eyesight he managed to find his way to his carriage. As he climbed on, he called out to his rider.
“Home.”
A whip crack sounded, horses neighed, hoofs pounded against the tarred ground, and his wheels began to roll, carrying him to his place of solace. As they rode, he managed to bring his emotions into check and sort through his feelings. By the time his carriage came to a halt in front of Peak Hall, he had processed his way through the stages of grief, to the point of acceptance.
As he entered his home, head still bowed in defeat, a woman’s voice called out to him.
