Page 10 of She Tempts the Duke
“Yes, I do feel for her,” Mary said. “How horrible it must be to discover the man you married is not the man you thought he was.”
“And in his disgrace, he has disgraced her. Not certain I would forgive him for that,” her aunt continued.
“He shouldn’t be forgiven at all by anyone,” Mary assured her.
Her aunt gasped. “I’ve never known you to be so unkind.”
“He sought to have them killed.”
“Truly?” Lady Alicia said with unwarranted excitement in her voice, as though she had simply arrived at an unexpected twist in a novel.
“How would you know that?” Fitzwilliam asked.
“I overheard him give the order.”
“To whom did he give it?”
“I didn’t see. I was passing the room and overheard the words. I was all of twelve and frightened out of my wits. I dared not tarry. I immediately went in search of Sebastian.”
“Oh my word!” Alicia cried. “You never told me about that. I can’t believe you’d withhold such a delicious secret from me.”
“I promised Sebastian I wouldn’t tell anyone.” She’d broken the promise once. It had cost her dearly.
“You were a child,” Fitzwilliam said. “You must have misunderstood.”
“No, I’m certain, I didn’t.”
“Mary, darling, it’s preposterous to think that Lord David would resort to murder in order to claim a title. He would have to kill three lads.”
Mary tried not to be hurt by his words. He was the man she was going to marry. Surely he of all people should believe her. “Richard III killed two.”
“No one has proof of that. Besides that was four centuries ago. I’d like to think we’re a bit more civilized. And he wanted a kingdom not a dukedom.”
“It is one of the most powerful dukedoms in Great Britain.”
“It was. But since the seventh duke passed away, it’s lost a good deal of its influence. It can only be as powerful as the man at the helm, and there’s been no one there.”
“That will change now. With Sebastian back.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure. He seemed rather barbaric to me.”
She couldn’t deny the words, so she simply gazed out the window. All grew unbearably quiet as though everyone needed to absorb the events of the evening.
She welcomed the silence in order to embrace the joy that spiraled through her. They were back. At long last.
Sitting in the library, Mary watched as her father stared into the fire, an empty glass in his hand. He’d downed the whiskey in one long gulp after she’d told him what had transpired at the ball. He’d always been a bit of a hermit, preferring the company of his liquor to that of people. He didn’t attend the social events. Sometimes he went to his clubs. He’d only come to London to keep a close watch over her. He finally looked at her. “You are not to interfere in their business. You are betrothed to a respectable lord, whose family lineage is impeccable. You leave these Pembrook lords and their uncle to sort out their own squabbles now. I want you nowhere near them.”
“But they are our neighbors.”
“Not here in London, they’re not. And not in Cornwall, they won’t be.”
“But if I told the other lords what I heard—”
“You have no proof Lord David would have killed them. Perhaps they’d misbehaved and a few hours in the tower was to be their punishment.”
“As the nunnery was punishment for me?”
He paled, licked his lips, took another swallow of his liquor. “You must do nothing to endanger your betrothal to Fitzwilliam. You have no brother to look after you when I am gone. I cannot rely on my nephew who is to inherit to be generous with you. He will have five sisters to marry off.”
