The Reluctant Duchess (9 page)

“Did he… succeed?”

That flash of fire returned to her eyes and she glared at him.

“What d
oes it matter to you? Would you lose interest if I am damaged goods?”

“No
, but if he hurt you like that, I will thrash him to within an inch of his life before the night is over.”

Calming somewhat, s
he squeezed his hands, appreciating the gesture.

“He didn’t.
My blow dazed him and the commotion brought a few servants who were brave enough. They dragged him off me and secured him until we had packed and were ready to leave. They had to leave too obviously, Frederick would let them go without  reference, or worse, claim that they had stolen from him and have them arrested. They make up all but one of my employees and servants now, only Minnie didn’t leave with us that night. She had been unfairly fired by my father and ended up in the workhouse, so I had to find her and take her in too. As long as they all remain in my employ, Frederick can’t hurt them, because I know the truth and I
will
tell it if they are threatened.”

“It’s very good of you to take them in,” Richard noted.

“They were good to me and didn’t deserve to be punished.”

“I’m so sorry, my dear, that must have been very difficult.”
Lavinia sympathised.

“Actually, no. The hard part was finding a source of income that could support not only me and mother, but the servants who had left with us. That kept me from dwelling on any unpleasant memories and each
night I was too tired to have nightmares.”

“I’ll see to it that he leaves,” Richard said, getting to his feet but Annabelle reached out and grasped his hand.

“Please don’t.”

“Anna, you can’t expect me to allow that man to remain in my home!”

“But I do expect it, because he will think that I asked for him to leave and I will pay the price, not you.”

Alt
hough all his instincts were telling him to get rid of Frederick, he reined them in because he could see how worried Annabelle was. “What kind of price?” he asked, trying his best not to sound gruff.

“I can’t say with any certainty. He’s had people arrested on false charges before, he has sued poorer men into bankruptcy,
and he has stolen the wives of rivals. I’m sure he has many other tactics of which I am not aware.”

“How do you know all this?” Lavinia asked.

“Some I read in newspapers, some my father spoke about in my presence, some he told me himself to try and intimidate me.”

“So what do you expect me to do?” Richard asked.

Annabelle held his hand against her cheek and leaned into it. “Nothing.” She said softly. “I have been lucky so far. He used to visit the coffee house in the early days and make threats, that's why although he is trained as a groom and could be better employed, Frank works the coffee counter, because I wanted a visible male presence. My reduction in circumstances seemed to appease him for a time and when he realised that things weren’t about to change any time soon, he stopped coming but now…” She sighed. “Coming here was a bad idea; I should never have agreed to attend the party. I suppose time had dulled my memory and…” And she had wanted to attend for Richard, she had wanted him to see her as she used to be, as a Lady but she couldn’t tell him that. “Now he believes that I have more powerful connections than he does, and that will incense him.”

Richard
knew that it was his fault that she had agreed to come, she had tried to say no but he had pressured her. He knelt down beside her chair again and cupped the side of her face with the hand she still held there.

“Come back down
stairs.” He began. “It is my fault you agreed to attend today-“

“Our fault,” Lavinia interrupted.

“And we invited Frederick here, so it’s our fault if his ire is raised. We will protect you from him, Anna, I swear.”

The gesture touched her and she smiled sadly at him.

“But I’m not your responsibility, either of you.” She looked over to Lavinia.

“Piffle,”
Lavinia said, getting to her feet. She began pacing the room. “It sounds to me as if he picks on those he deems weaker than he is, either physically, financially or in stature. Richard and I have both money and stature, and Richard is certainly far more robust than your brother. It is our duty to stand up to men like him and stop him.”

“But you cannot watch me every second of every day.
He is a petty man and whilst I am actually no threat to him, my perceived slight of him today will eat at him until he is compelled to act. I will not risk people that I care about in such a way. He’s my brother and this is my problem.”

“Oh for God’s sake, Anna
belle, can you not just accept help this one time!” He got to his feet and dashed a hand through his hair in frustration. “I know that you have been responsible for many lives since you were 16, and you have done a damn good job of it, but you don’t have to do everything alone! Please let us help, if not for yourself, for the sake of those in your employ.”

He saw the pained look that crossed her face and regretted the harshness of his words,
although not the sentiment behind them. He knelt back down and grasped her hands in both of his.

“Please, Anna, let us help you,” he implored.

Annabelle looked into his eyes. She could see his desire for her still, but she could also see that he was genuine in his desire to help. He had also reminded her of her responsibilities.

Sal was a pretty girl and
although Ethel might not be very bright, she too had her charms. She was certain that Frederick wouldn’t be above attacking them. If he tried to sue her for some frivolous matter, the legal fees alone would bankrupt her, putting them all on the streets. What would become of her mother then? Without the doctor’s help, she would become unmanageable and surely be locked up, either in prison, the workhouse or most likely, an asylum.

No matter what price Richard extracted from her for this, she couldn’t refuse his help for their sakes.

She swallowed her pride and nodded.

“Thank you.”

“Does that mean you accept?”

“Yes.”

Richard’s answering smile was so wide that despite her apprehension at what he might ask of her in return, she couldn’t regret her choice right now.

“Good.” Lavi
nia said. “Richard, you will need to return to London tomorrow so that you are on hand if anything should happen, so make whatever plans you need to. Now, Annabelle, you will need a very special gown for this evening, so I shall see what can find for you.”

“Oh, I think I’ve done enough damage, I should stay up here.”

“Nonsense. We cannot wait around for ever for Frederick to make his move so we must incite him, just a little. Besides, don’t you want to stand up to him? To look him in the eye and let him know that he hasn’t bested you, and he certainly hasn’t beaten you?”

Annabelle wavered once again. Yes, she wanted that but it
was dangerous and she had already allowed herself to be talked into one dangerous thing, did she really want to make things worse?

“You have nothing to fear,” Richard assured her. “I swear that I will keep you, your mother and your staff safe. You have every right to be here and to enjoy yourself. Claim that
right; enjoy the rest of the evening.”

Annabelle sighed. “Alright, you win.”

“I very much hope that it is ‘we’ who will win. But if you really don’t want to do this, I won’t force you.”

“No, I’ll do it, and
I promise I’ll do my best to have fun as well.”

The evening gown that Lavinia had found for Annabelle was made of gold satin. The corset pinched her figure into a perfect hourglass, accenting her assets. The bodice was covered with intricate beadwork, though it was concentrated at the top, which further emphasised her full bosom and the full skirt was one of the largest she had ever worn, with so many petticoats that she felt she would have difficulty going through most doorways. Perhaps she was exaggerating a little but not much. This gown was fit for the royal court (Lavinia was the King’s sister, after all) and she would certainly turn a few heads, not to mention start a few tongues wagging.

The candlelight reflected off the beading and added a warmth to her complexion that she didn’t normally see. Carol had also furiously pinched her cheeks to
raise a blush and whilst it had hurt, Annabelle could appreciate the look now that the pain had passed.

Once Carol had finished fitting her into the gown, there came a knock at the door.

“Come in,” she called.

The door opened to reveal Richard standing there, looking quite
astonished as he took her figure in.

“You look like a princess,” he said, stepping towards her.

Annabelle thanked Carol then dismissed her. She didn’t answer him until Carol had left the room.

“Well, I did borrow it from a princess,” she teased.

“Indeed, and I have the finishing touch.” He brought out a velvet purse and emptied the contents onto her bed, arranging them so that she could see the beautiful sapphire and diamond necklace, matching earrings, bracelet and brooch.

Annabelle’s hand went to her neck and
she clasped her sapphire pendant.

“
They remind me of your eyes,” Richard said picking up the necklace.

“Are you s
ure you want me to wear them?”

“Of course. I wouldn’t have brought them if I didn’t.”

It had been years since Annabelle had taken her pendant off, and in fact she had bought a longer and more robust chain for it, so that she was less likely to break it and the stone would be hidden in her cleavage. It often wasn’t a very clever idea to advertise anything of value in a city like London, but it meant so much to her that she wanted to keep it close

Nevertheless, she wasn’t replacing the pendant, just swapping it for a night. She reached behind her neck and unclasped it but Richard grasped her hand before she could place it on her night table.

“May I?” he asked.

Annabelle nodded and opened her hand.

“I often wondered what lay at the end of this chain,” he said as he took the chain and held the sapphire up. “It’s beautiful.” He handed it back to her.

“It was a gift from my mother when I was 14,” she said blushing. She felt like a poor relation when he held a necklace
that was probably worth tens of thousands. Well, she thought with a wry smile, in truth she was the poor relation, she just wasn’t actually related to him.

She turned her back so that h
e could fasten the necklace and as he leaned in close, to better see what he was doing in the candle light, his warm breath on her neck sent shivers down her spine. His hands then rested on her shoulders and she closed her eyes as she felt his lips on her neck, giving her a gentle kiss.

“We should go down,” he said
softly, although he made no attempt to move.

“Yes,” she agreed, although she too seemed quite content to stay where she was.

Suddenly, from outside in the hallway, came a laugh and running feet, which finally shook them out of their stupor.

Richard spotted the
rest of the jewels on the bed and handed them to her.

“I’ll wait for you in the hall,” he sai
d, backing away from her so that he could watch her for as long as possible.

Annabelle fastened the
earrings, which were the heaviest that she could ever recall wearing; she fastened the brooch near the top of her bodice and placed the ring on the middle finger of her right hand. She took one final look in the mirror and then strode out into the hall before she could change her mind.

Richard offered her his elbow and she noticed that although he too had changed, he had again dressed in britches.

“What are you smiling at?” he asked as they descended the stairs.

“I was just thinking how much I like britches, wh
ich is odd because until today, they never held any particular fascination for me.”

Richard smiled as he realised that she
was flirting with him. “I would be very happy to further your education.”

Annabelle turned to him at
the bottom of the stairs, before they merged with the other guests and would be overheard.

“I’ll keep that in mind,” she assured him.

The evening format was quite informal, dinner was in the form of a buffet that people could help themselves to and the guests were spread out across many rooms, depending on which activities they wanted to engage in.

In
th
e
Long Gallery, the furniture had been pushed aside and couples were dancing, to the accompaniment of a young lady at the piano. The drawing room had become the card and gambling room, since it offered so many ornamental tables that people could use to play different games at. The rear parlour seemed to be reserved for gentlemen, although most preferred mixed company so the room was relatively empty. The dining room housed the buffet and seemed reserved for mixed conversation, whilst the game room housed a billiard table, a backgammon table and just through the French doors, while it was still light, there was a croquet court.