The Duke's Heart Read online

  “He is not going to attack me at Vauxhall. I will be perfectly safe in the crowd there. If it makes you happy, I will go in disguise. I promised Lady Gladstone I would be there, and you know how I loathe disappointing her.”

  “Yes, your grace,” Teddy muttered, conceding with obvious reluctance.

  Sinclair turned. Lord Wade was studying Teddy very carefully, and Teddy backed away a few steps. Although one brow had risen high, Wade finally shrugged and turned his attention back toward Sinclair. “Why have you not had this fellow arrested?”

  Sinclair shook his head. “One does not arrest an old friend, no matter how shoddily he behaves.”

  Lord Wade chuckled softly. “May I ask, what did you do to him to warrant something like that?”

  “No you may not.” Sinclair could not answer that question. He didn’t know what he’d done besides being too busy with the business of being a duke to keep in touch with his childhood friend, who wasn’t supposed to even be in London.

  He stepped aside as servants swarmed into the room to begin cleaning up. It was done in short order, the windows boarded up and candles lit, even though it was only midday.

  He sat behind the desk finally and sighed. “Teddy, please show the viscount to his carriage.”

  “Yes, your grace.”

  “Oh, and Teddy. When you have Mr. Hunter’s address in hand, you will tell me before you make any move against him. I prefer to deal with him myself.”

  His heir made a grumbling sound of dissent but nodded his agreement. Lord Wade departed, clearly reluctant, leaving Sinclair alone to ponder his old friend’s recent behavior.

  What had he done to incite such attacks? Nothing. Nothing to account for the recent spate of animosity and damage to his home. Hunter had been taunting him on and off for months now, but hurling eggs at his house was a most recent and unpleasant course of action. Hunter was going to force his hand soon to either have him arrested or committed to Bedlam.

  Sinclair would prefer to do neither.

  But before he took action toward either outcome, Sinclair would have to pay a visit to Percy Hunter wherever he might be. His childhood friend had to stop this foolishness before someone—hopefully not his only heir—was hurt, or even killed.

  Chapter 2

  Lady Catherine Forbes swept out of the Long’s Hotel and Coffee House on New Bond Street to meet her rented carriage, which she’d ordered to be there at this hour. Kitty had been in the city barely half a day, but she had no time to catch her breath. There was too much to be done if she was to save the family from scandal.

  The coachman bowed when he saw her approach with the hotel’s proprietor at her elbow. “Where to, my lady?”

  She wet her lips and reminded herself to sound like an Englishwoman before she spoke. She had discovered in her recent travels that her accent, acquired during her marriage, caused too many people to deliberately misunderstand her, even asked her to repeat her words, for the sake of their own amusement. “Lady Wilhelmina Darrow’s home. You will wait at Upper Brook Street for a response, and then follow this list and present my card to each home.”

  The sun was setting on the day, but it was essential to inform Lady Darrow, Willa, of Kitty’s arrival in Town before she ventured out into society that night. Kitty would hate Willa to learn the news from someone else. Willa was a woman she trusted, someone she might apply to for help or at least support as Kitty had committed her brother Percy to Bedlam.

  Percy Hunter had become reckless, and like most men who went mad, thought nothing of his responsibilities to his only child. Kitty wanted to help young Felicity, his daughter, through the troubled days ahead.

  The trip from the hotel to Lady Darrow’s home was a short one, and the hotel groom presented her card to Lady Darrow’s butler promptly and hovered at the blue-painted door to await an answer.

  A few minutes passed, and Kitty tapped her foot nervously. She was not looking forward to the next few days trying to resettle her brother far away from prying eyes and tattling tongues. She glanced at the house again, concluding her friend was either out or had no wish to see her.

  She sighed and then removed the damming letter she carried in her reticule. She knew the contents by heart, although she hardly dared believe her brother had committed such lies to paper. She would not blame anyone for turning their back on her or her brother now after what had been said here.

  Her brother had somehow lost all reason in the last year.

  When the groom finally turned from the blue door, Kitty sighed and settled her hands in her lap. She had many calls still to make, and then tomorrow she’d venture to see the family banker to determine what funds she could access immediately. She must also find a physician who might confirm the diagnosis of insanity, and then discuss with the family solicitor how to begin proceedings to make her niece her sole responsibility. If that could not be done, she would have to negotiate with whomever Percy had named as Felicity’s guardian.

  She hoped it would not come to that and that they could be reasoned with.

  Her carriage door was suddenly wrenched open.

  Lady Darrow, cap askew, hair bursting from it at all angles, climbed into the carriage and threw her arms about Kitty. “You finally came!” she cried.

  “Willa, you are hurting me,” she complained, even while holding the other woman just as tight. “It is so good to see you. I was not sure you would see me.”

  Willa drew back. She seemed about to cry. Did Willa know already about her brother’s dreadful accusations? Despite the threat of tears, Willa was smiling, too. “I cannot believe it’s really you, here at last.”

  “Yes, I am finally in London,” she agreed and looked at her friend critically. “Are you ill? You appear to have tumbled directly out of bed.”

  “I’m not ill at all,” Willa promised, and then caught Kitty’s hand. “Oh, do come inside with me now.”

  Kitty nodded—anything to get Willa back inside and before a mirror before her neighbors started to whisper.

  “Quickly,” Willa urged with a huge grin, gathering up her gown on both sides for the dash back to the privacy of the indoors.

  Kitty winced at how much leg she revealed. “Off you go first.”

  Willa darted out of the carriage and up the stairs—hair and robe flapping behind her. It would have been quite comical if it was not bound to end in gossip of the disapproving sort. They were much too old to behave like silly girls, but then again, they’d been friends a long time. And it had been a very long time since they’d both been in the same city.

  Willa lingered just behind the door, peeking out until Kitty joined her at a more dignified pace. Once in the hall, Willa hugged her fiercely again. “I cannot believe you have come.”

  Kitty heard a noise above their heads and looked at Willa sharply. Willa had no family to be making noise, and her clothes had been in disarray so… “Are you alone?”

  Willa waggled her eyebrows. “I am sure you can guess the answer to that.”

  She likely was not. Willa had kept the same long-term lover and protector for twenty years. Her beau practically lived in Willa’s tiny townhouse, even if he was a duke, married and with a great fortune to his name. Kitty knew all about Lord Baxter, and Willa’s situation as the other woman. Willa could never be with her duke until his current duchess died. However, the Duchess of Baxter was said to be in excellent health.

  “I can come back later.”

  “Nonsense,” she protested. Willa apparently did not stand on ceremony in her own house these days, and they swept upstairs and into the boudoir. As Kitty entered, a door across the room was slowly falling closed behind a gentleman, one not fully dressed, either. He shut the door with a snap and they were alone. Willa pulled her across the room and into a chair. “How long are you staying?”

  “As long as needed. I came to see Percy.”

  “Oh, that man. What has he done now?” Willa demanded.

  Kitty glanced toward the recently closed door. �
�Perhaps I should not say.”

  “Percy Hunter absolutely should not be the reason that you have finally returned to this decadent city.” Willa stood and crossed the room. She slipped into the adjoining chamber, following her lover, and after a few rushed words, she returned smiling. “He will go, but he wanted to say he’d like to meet you another time.”

  “I would like to meet him, too,” Kitty promised. But no doubt after she’d dealt with her brother, the Duke of Baxter would change his mind very smartly and, like everyone else should, deny knowing her at all. Willa might, too, even if she needed her friend’s guidance and support quite desperately now.

  A series of doors closed loudly through the house, and then silence fell. “There, he is gone. Now what has happened?”

  “I have become very worried about him,” she said, and then explained in a whisper what Percy had put in his most recent letter. Willa was her best friend. She knew everything about her life, what she’d done, and with whom…and what Kitty had done to protect the family’s reputation years ago.

  Percy was throwing her sacrifice away without even knowing it.

  Willa spluttered. “Well, of course, Exeter could not have done harm to his own sister! It would have been like cutting off his right hand. We all knew how close that pair were.” Willa’s smile grew devious. “Have you seen him yet? Exeter?”

  “No, of course not.”

  “Why ever not? You should. You are a widow, and he hasn’t married.”

  Kitty hardened her heart to show disinterest in her former lover. “There are lots of good reasons not to see him. It would be best the Duke of Exeter never learns why I have come back. I can only hope he knows nothing of Percy’s accusations.”

  Willa shook her head. “You were meant to be together.”

  “We were not,” Kitty assured her, dismissing the topic.

  Willa’s eyebrow arched. “Come now. He has never married. Never looked at anyone the way he did you.”

  Kitty shivered. “I was fine as a secret mistress, but anything more was always out of the question. I could never belong in his world. Susanna taught me that painful lesson.”

  “As I have said many times, you should have demanded he marry you after the first year. You let Susanna’s prejudices put doubts in your head about him and yourself.”

  “Willa, please,” Kitty begged. The day Susanna, the Duke of Exeter’s twin, had discovered Kitty’s secret affair with Sinclair was one of the most painful of her life. The affair had been over thirty years ago now and was best forgotten. Willa could not seem to. “Do not spoil my visit by bringing up a past that cannot be changed.”

  “It was a cruel thing that Susanna did to make you feel unworthy of him. She made everyone feel unworthy of winning her brother’s affections, too, one way or another.” Willa smiled suddenly. “Where are you staying? I hope not with Percy.”

  “Long’s Hotel on New Bond Street.”

  “But that is not acceptable,” Willa declared, looking horrified. “You will stay here with me, and we will properly catch up.”

  Kitty glanced toward the door behind them. The one Willa’s lover had disappeared through. “What about your friend? Won’t he want to come back?”

  “Oh, he’ll understand. I have told him all about my wild friend from the north.”

  “Not so wild these days,” Kitty protested. Marriage into a well-respected family had driven what remained of her adventurous streak into submission. “I would love to stay with you, though. You could help me feel better about what I must do regarding Percy.”

  “Do?”

  Kitty nodded and explained her decision and the likely course of action she must take. Willa’s eyes were wide with shock when she finished.

  “Surely it is not so bad that you must take such drastic action and have him committed,” Willa whispered in horror.

  “If I do nothing, and he harms Exeter, it could be worse for him and Felicity too. He could hang.”

  Willa gulped. “I will help in any way I can. What do you need from me?”

  “Just this,” Kitty promised as her eyes stung with the threat of tears.

  They embraced, and it was lovely, just what she needed. Kitty had not liked to presume upon her friend, but welcomed the opportunity to spend precious time with Willa. A letter had never been enough, and she now knew how dangerous it could be to commit any suspicion to paper.

  Every day of her journey from her distant home, she’d fretted she’d arrive too late to avert the scandal. If Willa had heard nothing yet, there was a good chance she’d arrived in time to prevent any confrontation between her brother and the duke. She dabbed at her eyes quickly when Willa drew back.

  “Make yourself at home.” Willa rang the bell and sent her servants off with instructions to fetch Kitty’s possessions and servants from Long’s Hotel.

  Kitty sighed and kicked her slippers off her feet. She tucked her feet under her as Willa returned and took on the same pose. “I take it nothing has changed for you here since your last letter?”

  “Nothing. I still wait for the day my Lionel and I can be together.”

  “That was him I chased from your boudoir, was not it?”

  Willa nodded. “The duchess is hosting a party today, and he was leaving early anyway to talk to his son. Apparently, she is anxious for the boy to be there for a change.”

  Kitty sighed. “The boy, as you call him, is a man now.”

  “And does he not strut about like one,” Willa complained. “I find myself on the unexpected side of the duchess for a change. He is bound for ruin the way he carries on in society. Lionel feels otherwise.”

  “A complicated situation for everyone,” Kitty murmured.

  Willa called for her maid. “I was just about to get ready for a night out with friends. Lady Gladstone has asked for everyone to meet one last time tonight at Vauxhall Gardens. I think you should join me.”

  “I appreciate the thought, but I am not up to facing anyone who might recognize me tonight.”

  “It is a masked affair, and I have just the thing for you to wear. No one will recognize you if you do not want them to.”

  Kitty nodded slowly. A masked affair was the only sort of amusement she could contemplate attending on this visit. Perhaps there, she might hear any whispers about the Duke of Exeter, too.

  “Exeter could be there,” Willa announced. “He has an acquaintance with Lady Gladstone. I am sure he would attend her party.”

  Kitty tried not to show how the news affected her. “At least I could discover for myself if he is all right without him knowing about it.”

  Willa winked. “I think you might be surprised at how happy he’d be if he knew you were back.”

  “I am not back. Only visiting.”

  “Can you not have even a little fun before you have Percy committed? If the situation is as grievous as you fear, tonight might be your last chance.”

  “True.” The yearning to find out discreetly if the duke was unharmed prodded her to accept. “I suppose there can be no harm if he doesn’t see me.”

  “Exactly. If you stop pretending to be an Englishwoman, and speak with your own voice tonight, you could even talk to him yourself. He might never know.” Willa waggled her eyebrows. “Now come and take a bath to wash away the dust of your journey.”

  A bath would not wash away the fear though, but she would give it a try and hope some good might still come of this trip.

  Chapter 3

  Sinclair settled his mask in place and surveyed the lamp-lit entrance to Vauxhall Garden. He was not really sure why he had come out tonight to Lady Gladstone’s gathering, but he could not convince himself to turn around and go home. In disguise, no one would recognize him, really. He could say he’d come and not been noticed. However, Lady Gladstone was a friend and would expect him to speak to her. If he did not make himself known at least to her, he’d risk giving offense.

  Teddy looked around, his expression sour, still pretending that he was only a s
ervant of Sinclair’s and not a member of the family. They had traveled in silence from Mayfair because they had argued about coming. Teddy did not want to be here any more than Sinclair did, but for very different reasons. Sinclair had begun to hate watching friends pair off at the end of these sorts of evenings, slipping away to kiss and more, while he went home alone afterward.

  Sinclair looked around again. Like many gentlemen of means here, he’d brought his own flask to drink from. Sinclair brought it to his lips now and surveyed the entrance to the pleasure gardens. “Shall we?”

  “If we must,” Teddy grumbled. “I do not like this.”

  “Then go home without me,” he suggested.

  Teddy stayed.

  They set off to enjoy the sights and sounds of the great city at play, pausing to speak with Lady Gladstone before leaving the party behind. The grounds were quite extensive, and they entered another world one quite different from Sinclair’s usual existence.

  Fine ladies and poor urchins mingled carelessly together. They soon became swept along by the press of bodies, but he was not concerned for his safety. Teddy would be always around if there were any trouble. Besides, Sinclair had nothing worth stealing in his pockets—the little money he carried was inside his glove or tied about his waist under his shirt. He knew this place well enough to be wary of casual collisions between revelers, too. His pockets had probably already been searched by a light-fingered urchin.

  Sinclair was not interested in urchins. He found himself looking at every woman he passed and realized he wanted the pleasure of company tonight. Someone adventurous but forgettable would do. There seemed plenty to choose from. Young, and not so young, fluttered fans and lashes when he met their gazes. It was easy to tell at a glance who might be here for the chore of earning a coin from a wealthy patron tonight from those only out for the spectacle, like him. When he recognized anyone from the ton, he changed course to avoid them.