Ambersley (Lords of London) (9 page)

“
And how do you propose we return to the inn? Ride double?” He’d all but forgotten the boy before him.

“
I’m sure once we explain who you are, we’ll be able to find another horse. It’s a ducal estate,
milord
—you can’t convince me there are no horses here.”

Derek bit back the sharp set down he would have liked to give his younger cousin, deeming it inappropriate before the boy. He turned to interrogate the youngster, but Harry was quicker.

“
What’s your name, lad?” he asked affably.

The boy studied Harry. “I’m Johnny. I’m apprenticed to Tom, the gardener.”

“
Ah, a gardener’s lad, not a stable boy at all. I’ll wager you were mulching this morning.”

The boy nodded at this clever deduction as Harry tossed a look at Derek.

With a sigh, he redirected the conversation to important matters. “We believe some relatives may be staying here, a woman and her two children. Do you know them?”

“
You mean the duke’s family? Oh yes, they live in the Dower House.”

“
And where is that?” Derek asked.

Johnny pointed. “It’s that way, about a ten minute walk. I could show you the way if you like.”

“
Thank you, but no.” Derek raised a brow at his cousin. “Are you coming?”

“
You’ll want your privacy for such a reunion.”

Derek acknowledged the sense of this, though he doubted there would be any overflow of emotion at his return. With a curt nod, he marched off in the direction the boy had pointed, the horse following docilely in his wake.

Johnny watched him go, her own curiosity growing.
Was it possible?
“Is he the new duke, then?” she asked the blonde man.

With a startled laugh, the man replied, “He’s Baron Vaughan for the moment. Beyond that, we’ll see what the duke’s solicitor has to say.”

“
Mr. Minton, you mean?”

“
Yes, do you know him?”

“
Aye, sir. Mr. Minton is in charge of Ambersley while the duke is away. He should be at the Dower House today. He comes every month for a few days.”

“
Good to know.” The gentleman fished in his pocket until he withdrew two coins and held them out.

She’d never had money of her own, and she watched enthralled while he laid the pieces of silver in her palm.

“
Here’s for your trouble, lad. Now, would you like to earn a bit more?”

Johnny nodded.

“
While my cousin speaks with his family, I plan to catch that horse we lost. If you’ll lend me a hand, there’s another crown in it for you.”

Johnny grinned, and led the gentleman toward the east meadow.

~

Derek stared at the Dower House. Stone and trellised, the quaint cottage rose a mere three stories and could be considered small only by the very rich. While the burnt shell of the Hall had caused him grave doubts, the Dower House held much promise. The estate could be refurbished as a fitting home for the Vaughan children.

He climbed the wide stone steps and rapped on the varnished oak. In moments, the door opened on soundless hinges, and Derek found himself being perused by the hawk-like eyes—and nose to match—of an older stiff-backed gentleman.

“
Mr. Minton?” Derek faltered when he noticed the other man wore gloves.

“
No, sir. I would be Paget.” Derek detected a note of disdain in the response. And then Paget clarified. “The butler.”

“
Ah.” Derek cleared his throat. “Would you tell her ladyship that Derek Vaughan has returned from India?”

With an almost imperceptible twitch of his brows, Paget bowed. “Welcome home, Your Grace. Please, follow me.”

Removing his hat, Derek allowed the butler’s deference to sink in. Despite the dignified reception, the butler had appraised Derek with caution. No doubt the butler knew of his murky parentage and feared the peerage’s reputation would suffer.

The butler led the way to a drawing room decorated in pale gold and cream. “I’ll inform Lady Vaughan of Your Grace’s arrival.” Paget bowed and quit the room.

Left alone, Derek scanned his surroundings with the care he’d give a battlefield. He presumed the two men depicted in portraits on the north wall were scions of the Vaughan ancestry. Judging by their clothes, they represented vastly different generations. Other paintings featured landscapes and a still life of a fruit bowl. The divan was upholstered in cream brocade, the floors looked recently waxed, and the Aubusson carpet was an extravagance to walk upon. Despite a limited knowledge of furniture, Derek recognized the spindle and finish work on the secretary in the corner as the hallmark of a master.

The room bespoke an elegance entirely casual with the wealth that made it possible. But a closer inspection revealed water stains on the east wall and a threadbare section of carpet artfully concealed by a small table. Turning to the fireplace, he leaned on the mantle to study the detailed mahogany carvings surrounding it. A rustling at the door made him lift his head.

Paget stopped at the open doorway to announce grandly, “Lady Vaughan, Your Grace.”

Rosalie swept into the room, still reeling from the news of Derek’s arrival. Seeing him posed by the fireplace, a hand on the mantle and one shiny Hessian resting on the fender as if he owned the place, made her nerves coil with frustration. He stood taller, stronger, fully a man now, and one about to gain untold power over her, unless she could prevent it.

Knowing Paget watched closely, she continued forward and embraced her stepson, pressing her cheek to his chest. “Oh, Derek, thank heavens you’ve returned safe. We were so worried.”

With a sidelong glance, she watched the butler back from the room. The moment the door clicked, she pushed away from Derek’s embrace. “I wondered if you would ever dare show.”

Derek spread his hands. “Ah, so the reunion was for the butler’s sake. I doubted my return would endear me to you.” He no longer sounded like the youth who’d retreated from her candor like a beaten cur. No, here stood a nobleman, set to embark on a new life with property, position and wealth on his side.

His return spelled ruin for her and for
her
son. But for Curtis’s sake—and Olivia’s—she would play the distasteful role of dowager. The situation demanded finesse, but she was accustomed to such difficulties.

“
I am surprised to see you is all. We had no notion of what had become of you, whether you were even alive.”

“
Harry traveled to India to bring me word.” A glimmer of the unsure boy quivered in his voice.

So, he still had an Achilles heel if she could expose it. “I’m glad you’ve come.”

He gave a sardonic laugh. “You surprise me. I thought you would be pleased to see me out on my ear. I didn’t exactly fit your notion of the ideal family.”

Rosalie sank into her favorite chair, a Queen Anne style fitted in gold damask. “Derek, I know you were hurt by what happened, but I was equally wounded by it. I braved your mother’s scandal when I married Reggie, but to learn that she’d foisted you upon him when you were no more than a…a—”

“
A bastard?”

“
I would never say such a thing, but you are the son of a murderess.” She drew a handkerchief from her cuff and pressed it to her lips while she measured his reaction.

Frowning, Derek perched on the back of the divan and folded his arms.

Reggie never told him the whole truth.
Triumph surged through her veins, though she kept her voice low. “Reggie was too generous to ever disown you. I understood that. But he deserved a new start, a new family.”

“
I would never have driven a wedge between Father and Curtis.”

Guilt tinged his words, and she pounced on it. “Remember, you were the one who determined to leave. No one asked you to go.”

“
And none asked me to stay.”

“
My son is Reggie’s true heir. Do you blame me for wishing you elsewhere?”
How often, in truth, had she wished him to perdition?

Derek shook his head slowly. “No, I grant him happy to have a mother’s love.”

“
And what of a brother’s love, Derek? Will you now deny Curtis his due?”

“
That’s not my intent.” He stood and adjusted his coat of superfine as if he found it uncomfortable. “Reginald Vaughan was always good to me. The least I can do is see that his debts are paid and his children’s futures secured.”

She rose and shook out her skirts. “Curtis and Olivia will secure only condemnation and notoriety if you return to Society and remind everyone of a scandal better forgotten.”

“
I’m well aware what my return will mean. But until I’m certain they are provided for, here’s where I shall remain. I must talk to this Mr. Minton and discover how matters stand.”

Tamping down her agitation, she tried once more to reason with him. “Derek, you cannot mean to sully a peerage in this way. If anyone proves you’re not Reggie’s son—”

“
That’s not likely, is it?” He turned on her, bitterness darkening his eyes. “After all, you’ve no proof. If you did, the butler would have shown me the door, and Curtis would have been proclaimed the new duke by now.” The rigid line of his jaw relaxed some. “Depend on me to do what is best for everyone’s interests.”

“
Depend
on you?” Despite her good intentions, her patience snapped. “You disrupt our lives with your sudden return, you threaten our family’s good name, yet I’m to trust you will provide for us?”

Derek frowned at her heated argument. This was the Rosalie he remembered from his youth. Her mercurial moods had frightened him then, but now he withstood her outburst with no outward sign of emotion. He knew not how long he’d need to remain here, but he’d be damned if he’d do so at a disadvantage. “If you like not the terms, I suggest you return to Vaughan House.”

Her lips clamped shut, and he saw the effort it cost her to calm herself. One elegant hand smoothed her dark locks as she released a shallow breath. “Forgive me, Your Grace. Your sudden return has surprised and unnerved me.” She dipped him a small curtsey.

He nodded. “It’s understandable, but bear in mind, I mean no one harm.”

“
Of course not. The children are my chief concern. Olivia knows nothing about your regrettable parentage, and I’d prefer she not learn of it until she’s much older.”

“
Agreed.”

“
Then let us set aside our differences and cry truce.”

“
Truce,” he conceded. “Lady Vaughan.”

A feline smile dusted her lips. “For the children’s sake, I think you should call me Mother.”

Mother?
Derek hoped he wouldn’t choke on the word.

He was spared answering by voices in the hall. The drawing room door opened as if on its own, until Derek’s gaze lowered to find Johnny peering around its edge. Spying him, the boy pushed the door open further.

“
Well!” Rosalie wheeled with a swish of skirts as if a grubby lad in her drawing room were the worst sin.

“
They’re in here!” Johnny called over his shoulder, oblivious to her judgment. He turned back to give Derek a cheeky grin. “Mr. Harry said I might have another coin if I ran you to ground, sir.”

“
Mr—oh, lud,” Rosalie sighed as Harry and a spare man, small and wiry with spectacles perched high on his nose, entered.

“
Here they are, Mr. Minton,” Harry all but crowed. “Told you the boy could find them.” He added with uncharacteristic decorum, “Nigel Minton, my cousin, Derek Vaughan. I believe you’ve been searching for him.”

“
Indeed, I have.” Minton swept a graceful bow. “’Tis an honor to meet you at last, Your Grace.”

“
The honor is mine, Mr. Minton.” Uncomfortable with courtly gestures, Derek offered his hand to the solicitor and did his best to ignore the older man’s scrutiny as he turned back to Rosalie. “You remember my cousin Harry?”

“
How could I forget?” She inclined her head in brief acknowledgment. “You and Derek were forever getting into scrapes together. I wasn’t sure you’d ever grow up.”