His Michaelmas Mistress (10 page)

“No. Quite the contrary. And you are mistaken. I have done ill by you. I let my father rule over me with an iron fist, and I let him bellow and berate my wife until she felt as if she had to run from me, and she took you. I never should have allowed any of it. I shouldn’t have stood for it.”

“You never should have married beneath your touch that is what you shouldn’t have done. You would have saved us all a world of grief, mate.”

Julia gasped. She started to cough. “Is that what you think, Freddie?” she asked, her face now lacked all colour. “I want to leave this carriage, now. I want to be away from the lot of you. The air in here is quite stifling.”

Freddie did as she bid, and opened the carriage door. She somehow pushed past him, and staggered down the steps.

The Lovett children had by now surrounded the carriages and the curricle.

“Julia,” Hyacinth exclaimed. “You look quite out of sorts! What has happened?”

Freddie stumbled after Julia, and tried to draw her close to him. She shook him off.

“I don’t want to look at you now, Freddie. Much less, let you touch me,” she said angrily.

“I merely meant that the Duke, being the son of a duke, never should have fiddled with a maid.”

“Some would have said you were beneath my touch, Freddie. You can be crass and even lewd, and everyone knows you can be blunt, and your manners sometimes need improving! Even though you had been ennobled, they would have said that I was marrying beneath my class, and you openly admitted back there that that is something that shouldn’t be done!”

“I only meant that they shouldn’t have done it. I wasn’t speaking about us, Julia.”

“For always calling those from my rank, toffs and lady toffs, you overlook one thing, Freddie.”

“And what is that?” he asked softly.

“You, sir, are a snob.”

Without a further word, she turned on her heel, and marched into Lark Hall. He made to follow her when the Duke spoke, “I think the lass has something there.”

“Shut your bone box,” Freddie muttered, leaving the Duke standing alone while he raced after Julia.

Julia raced to the Lavender Saloon and heard Freddie pounding after her. The servants scurried out of the way, and as she rushed into the Lavender Saloon, she was relieved to see that her aunt had moved into the house.

Grandpapa Somersby was nowhere in sight.

Thank God.

“Gracious, Julia. Sit down, you look quite peaky. Would you like me to fetch Lewis?”

“I don’t need a doctor, Aunt Alice, I only need sanctuary.”

“Sanctuary from whom?” Alice asked, quickly setting aside her needlework.

“Me,” Freddie said.

“Ah, I see. So the two of you are still at odds? I had hoped you had made up, and had decided to marry. I am sorry to see that is not the case.”

“We are never going to be married, Aunt Alice,” Julia lamented, sighing heavily.

“Because of Lord Charles?” Alice asked.

“No…I have decided he is not the man for me. I wanted Freddie up until he showed me what a bloody snob he was.”

Alice chuckled. “Lord Axbridge, are you a snob?” she asked, attempting to maintain a straight face.

“According to Lady Julia, I am,” he admitted ruefully.

“Julia, dear, I think you have the wrong definition of snob. Lord Axbridge isn’t a snob.”

“Oh, but he is Aunt Alice. He said that those from our class, shouldn’t marry beneath their touch. He quite cut up my peace.”

“Oh, my,” Alice said softly.

“Where is the Duke?” Julia asked, confronting Freddie.

“The Duke? Is Tobias here?” Alice asked, in her serene way.

“No, Aunt. I speak of Freddie’s father.”

“Freddie’s father?” Now her aunt looked befogged. “And…is this a clever little nickname…or…”

“Oh, no, Aunt Alice. It is a title. He is the Duke of Bowdon and Lydney. Freddie is a true blue nobleman. His mother was married to the Duke, and took him away from that life when he was a wee babe. The Duke has the necessary documents to prove their relation, and one can simply tell by looking at them that they share a blood bond.”

“I…and you left the poor man where?” Alice asked. She could see that her aunt was struggling to maintain her composure, as panic welled in her eyes.

“In the drive,” Freddie said calmly.

“Oh, no. My father could come across him. Oh, whatever will he say? I must reach the Duke first.” Alice stood up, smoothed the wrinkles out of her dress, and went flying from the room.

Julia chuckled. “You shouldn’t have done that, Freddie. It was too cruel.”

“I didn’t mean to scare your aunt so.”

“I’m not talking about my aunt. I’m talking about your father. You left him in the lurch.”

“Trust me. He will live,” Freddie said, settling himself on the cushion next to her.

“Did I give you leave to sit beside me?” she asked.

“No…you didn’t. But when has that ever stopped me?”

“Freddie, you shall be the death of me.”

His eyes sobered. “Don’t jest about such things, Julia. I don’t want to ever think about that. I don’t want to ever lose you.”

“You already have,” she said softly. 

“No…you will come round. You can’t resist me. I’m simply irresistible.”

“You should go out there and help Aunt Alice. It isn’t right that she has to introduce herself to your father,” Julia said sighing.

“Well, that explains things,” Grandpapa Somersby’s voice boomed throughout the Lavender Saloon. “I almost died when I saw you, Your Grace. I couldn’t believe there was someone else that looked so much like Mouse.”

“Mouse?” she heard the Duke say.

“Oh, aye, that’s his nickname. He earned it while in the Wars,” Grandpapa Somersby said proudly.

“I…uh…I understand,” the Duke said.

Julia winced. What had Thomas Somersby said or done to Freddie’s father?

“I do apologize, Your Grace. They never should have left you out there,” Alice said breathlessly.

“It’s quite all right, Mrs. Lovett. I…I am a bit parched from traveling though. If…”

“Say no more, Your Grace.” She turned to a footman, and told him to tell the butler to bring some refreshments.

“Now, I recall you, sir,” Grandpapa Somersby said. “Your family was in the papers quite a few years back. They called your brothers those Hamilton Harlequins. Didn’t your youngest brother die climbing out of his mistresses window and the other one…your middle brother...didn’t he fall overboard and drown on his way back to England?”

“That is the manner of the deaths, aye. Save for one small difference, you have them reversed. It was my youngest brother who drowned, and my middle brother who fell to his death, and aye, they were both bloody fools. My youngest was a greedy drunk, and my middle brother was full of sin. He didn’t want to marry, but he was more than happy to fool around with other men’s wives.”

“And so…that makes you another Hamilton, Lord Axbridge. What a startling turn of events,” Grandpapa Somersby said.

“And that makes me a fool, isn’t that right, Mr. Somersby?” Freddie asked.

“If you were a fool, son, you never would have survived this far. No, I rather think you broke that streak. You are certainly no fool. You are a fine man, but I do pity you.”

“And why is that, sir?” Freddie asked.

“You are going to be a duke someday,” Thomas shuddered. “I can’t wait to see the faces of your mates when they find out. They will never believe that their once Sergeant Major, their beloved Mouse, is the heir to a dukedom. Tiny will have a bird. So…is there a courtesy title you could take on, something that would promote you from a baron to say a viscount?”

“Papa,” Alice chastised.

“Why you needn’t look at me so reprovingly, Alice. I haven’t said anything wrong. I am merely making civil whiskers, Daughter.”

“No…Mrs. Lovett, he hasn’t said anything offensive,” the Duke said. “And aye, there is a courtesy title set aside for the heir. You shall now be known as the Marquess of Knightwick, Son. When you were born, you became the Earl of Kilmun, and upon my father’s death, you became the Marquess of Knightwick, as I became the Duke.”

“The hell I am. I’ll stick with being a baron, thanks, mate.”

“You shall never want for a thing, from now on, Frederick,” the Duke’s voice became soft.

“I don’t want for a thing now. I do not need anything from you. I am a rich man, Your Grace.”

“I would have you call me, Father, or if you’d prefer, Papa.”

Freddie snorted. “Not bloody likely.”

The butler brought in the drink, and Alice started to pour. “Have a brandy, dear,” she said to Julia. “You look frightful. I think someone should take you back up to Castleton Court.”

“You have a lovely home, Mrs. Lovett,” the Duke said, choosing to sit in her Uncle’s chair. “I would like to see more of it. And from what I could see before coming in here, you have a lovely family. I always wanted a large family. Alas, fate didn’t have that in store for me. Shall we be graced with your husband’s company?”

“My husband is out fishing. He should return shortly, Your Grace.” 

“Your husband, I gather was a younger son of the last Earl of Tisbury?”

“Aye,” Alice said.

“I see. And he lives here on the current earl’s charity?”

“You’re like a bloody cannonball, you know that, mate? I suppose I came by my blunt ways naturally. No one can blame me for it,” Freddie angrily surmised. “No, Mr. Lovett isn’t living here on charity…he is a wealthier man probably then you. He is the gentleman that is known throughout some Beau Monde circles as King Midas.”

“Is he really?” the Duke asked, completely astonished.

Julia eyed him warily. The Duke was going to take Freddie away from her. He would take him away from England…and she couldn’t leave Wiltshire…not for long anyway. This county was in her blood—and her family—how could she leave her family?

The sound of Artemis and Athena barking, and her uncle speaking in a low tone to servants, met Julia’s ear, as the doors to the Lavender Saloon had been left open.

He entered the room a few minutes later, wearing his banyan and his cap.

All eyes settled on her uncle, while Alice jumped up.

“Edward, my dear, this is The Duke of Bowdon and Lydney. It would seem that he is Lord Axbridge’s natural father. ”

“Your Grace,” Edward said, bowing. He didn’t look a bit nonplussed. She had to hand it to her uncle, he was always grace under fire.

“I thought I was the only man who still wore banyans,” the Duke said. “I have felt awfully stifled these last few days, as I have had to dress like this while traveling,” he gestured dramatically to the breeches, shirt, cravat and tailcoat he wore.

“I have a wardrobe full of them,” Edward confessed, taking a chair close to the sofa.

“Do you, indeed? As do I,” the Duke grinned, and the heavy feeling in the air started to dissipate.

“So you don’t walk around in a kilt all day?” Freddie asked.

“Oh, no. Kilts are only for formal occasions…for me anyway. Hamish, well, he’d wear one all the time. I find it a bit nippy with my legs hanging out.”

“I would feel a chill too, if I had my wobbly bits hanging free…what with the weather you Scots get,” Grandpapa Somersby said.

“Papa. Pray hold your tongue!” Alice chastised.

“Isn’t that the case with kilts? You don’t wear drawers, do you?” Grandpapa Somersby asked.

The Duke looked as if he wanted to answer his question, and stopped when Alice intervened. “Papa, you must behave! People do not discuss their wobbly bits in polite company!”

“Well, to be fair, they don’t always wobble, do they? Sometimes they stand to attention,” Thomas said.

“Papa!” Alice said, completely mortified.

Thomas Somersby chuckled. “Yes, Daughter. I shall hold my tongue now. You are awfully cute when you are riled so. You look as you did when you were a little child.” He gave her a playful wink, and Alice sighed.

Somehow this madness had to end. Lark Hall was usually a sanctuary, but that wasn’t the case today.

“I…I should away. I am quite certain Mama will wonder why I am still not home,” Julia said, still quite bewildered by everything that had conspired that day.

“I will go with you. I don’t want you driving home in that curricle of yours. Not in your state,” Freddie said. 

“I shall have the groom drive me. You needn’t worry.” She stood up and walked stiltedly to the doors. In a daze, she left Lark Hall.

She would need a miracle to find her way out of this mess.

Freddie wasn’t Freddie anymore. She was losing the man she loved. And it scared her half to death!

“Julia, don’t leave. Not like this.” Freddie had followed her.

They stood outside of Lark Hall.

The day was waning. So much had happened in the space of a few hours. She couldn’t believe it—she didn’t want to believe it. Why couldn’t their romance be charmed? Why did they keep running into so many obstacles? Mayhap, they weren’t meant for each other after all.

“I think…I should walk away from you, Freddie. You have a lot to sort out. You have a lot to come to terms with, and you don’t need me in the way, muddling things.”

She moved toward her curricle and was about to climb up, when he reached for her and drew her against his solid chest.

“I was a fool. And now…now that I’ve met that man sitting with your aunt and uncle, mayhap I am not at all to blame for my lack of wits. It seems to run in my family. Fortunately, I haven’t managed to kill myself—yet. But I still have lots of time,” he grinned widely. 

She laughed despite herself. She felt miserable, and yet, he could still bring some light into her life. God, how she adored him. Despite her feelings for him, she wondered if she would do him a service by leaving him.

“This can’t end well, Freddie.”

“I take back everything I said earlier. I know we are meant for each other, and my own stubborn pride got in the way. It hindered us. I never should have left you in the church. I should have married you and told that Lord Charles bugger to go straight to hell.”

“Yes, you should have,” she smiled softly. “Where do we go from here?”

“I go about courting you again. We do have fun together, don’t we? You like the games we play.”

“I do,” she admitted.

“And will you have a duke’s son?” he asked softly.

“I would have had you if you had no title, Freddie. I love you. I don’t love your riches, or your titles, or anything like that. I love only you. Seeing Charles again shocked me…but I had put our love to rest. I had moved on, and I had moved onto you. There can never be any other man for me. You own my heart, Freddie.”

“Then, I think we should marry as soon as possible,” he said huskily.

“No,” she said shakily. She rebelled against what she was going to say next, but there was no other way. She had to ensure that Freddie forged a relationship with his father, or he would one day regret not doing so. “You must sort things out with your father first. You have to embrace your new destiny, and once you do that, we shall marry.”

“I suppose you’ll have to take on the name of Hamilton now.”

“Merriweather, Hamilton…it is only a name, Freddie.”

“You wouldn’t say that about the Lovett name.”

“Well, maybe I could become Julia Lovett-Hamilton.”

He laughed. “Perhaps. You lot like to hyphenate your surnames.”

“My lot? My love, my lot, is now your lot, so the joke seems to be on you. I should go home,” she said, after he held her for a few minutes. Her reputation would be in tatters come the morning. They were standing out in waning daylight with everyone around them as an audience, and she didn’t give a tinker’s damn. She didn’t seem to care about anything else when she was in Freddie’s arms.

“Why don’t you come home with me? I did intend to kidnap you today, and ravish you tonight, and my intentions haven’t changed.”

She sighed. “And what would you do with the Duke?”

“Devil take the Duke,” he said fiercely. “He can go and stay somewhere else. I could always fob him off on Lewis or Micah.”

“He is your father. No matter how much you try to make light of it…no matter how much you attempt putting off facing it, Freddie, it won’t go away. He won’t go away,” she said, sighing. “You cannot simply make him disappear. He has been separated from you for years, and while he might not show his emotions…most of us keep our emotions closely guarded, I can see that he is deeply affected. Being reunited with you has brought him intense joy.”

“He might be my father, Julia, but I don’t have to like it, and I don’t have to accept it, and I bloody well don’t have to take anything he wants to give me. I don’t have to take his ruddy title.”

“Well, actually you do, Freddie. Since you are his legitimate child…you have no choice. You can’t shirk your duty. You will be his heir whether you like it or not. Is he truly that bad? He doesn’t seem like a bad sort to me…though, I must confess, I do rather dislike the fact that he will take you away from me.”

“He will never separate us,” he growled. He scooped her up into his arms, and she laughed, and then sighed.

“But he will. You will have to go back to Scotland. Your life—your duties, shall take you away from England, and the thing is, I don’t think I can leave England. I am not sure I have the constitution or the spirit to live in the Scottish Highlands.”

“You needn’t worry. I won’t go anywhere. My life is here with you.”

“And yet…you will have things to learn. You have a new life ahead of you. You will have responsibilities. Responsibilities that cannot be shirked. No matter how much you might want to.”

“I have never been to Scotland, and I don’t ever intend to go,” he said fervently. She sighed, as she saw the doubt flickering in his eyes. “And how the hell could I go anyway? I couldn’t even understand a thing that Hamish bloke said. It sounded as if he was talking another tongue.”

“Oh, Freddie,” she laughed.

He didn’t even know what he wanted, she could see that. It was written as plain as day on his face. One half of him wanted to get to know his father, and the other half of him wanted to wish him to Jericho.

“Put me down, Freddie,” she sighed.

He looked as if he was going to kidnap her, and take her back to Wilton Park, and she almost got her hopes up, but fate once again threw a rub in the way. She groaned at the sight of two carriages coming up the drive. One belonged to Lewis and Iris, and the other one belonged to Micah and Rose. Everyone seemed to be gathering at Lark Hall.

“I should fetch us a special license. That way…that way we could get married whenever the hell we wanted. Who needs a church wedding?”

Hope stirred within her. “I…I had my heart set on being married in St. Michaels, but if it doesn’t come to pass, if I have to take you by marrying you at Wilton Park or Lark Hall, or Castleton Court, then, I shall. I only want you, and I pray you shan’t regret marrying me.”

“How could I possibly regret marrying you?”

Once the carriages had drawn up near them, the footmen opened the carriage doors, and Lewis and Micah alighted first to help Iris and Rose down.

“Julia,” Rose and Iris said almost in unison. They were dressed for the evening. Julia supposed that they’d been invited for dinner. “Oh, it is good to see you away from Castleton Court.” Rose came over to her and embraced her quickly.

“Were you invited for dinner as well?” Iris asked.

“I am hardly dressed for it,” Julia said ruefully. She closed her eyes, and groaned. “I…oh, dash it all. Mama did say that we had been invited, and that she expected me home in time to dress for the evening. I…I…it completely escaped me. In all of the hullabaloo, I forgot. Mama will have my head…she’s probably going to arrive any minute, and I shan’t be ready.”

“Oh, well, that can be solved easily enough. You could borrow a gown from Mama. Aunt Beatrice only wants you to be dressed for dinner. She won’t care if you get ready here or at Castleton Court,” Rose said.

Julia smiled. “You are quite right. I could borrow one from Aunt Alice, or I could simply wear one of the ones that I gave to the Miss Prices.”

What was she doing? She wanted to escape, didn’t she? Why then, was she diving headfirst back into trouble?

Freddie released her, and moved away from them, so he could converse with Lewis and Micah. After a few minutes, Lewis said loudly, “You are pulling my leg, Mouse, and it’s not at all funny.”

“I wish I was, Doc. I really wish I was.”

“What is Freddie talking about?” Iris asked. “I thought I heard him say he was the son of a duke…but that can’t be right, can it?”

“Long lost son, actually. It seems that Freddie is the legitimate son of the Duke of Bowdon and Lydney, and the only surviving heir. He is the last of his line,” Julia explained.

“No, he isn’t,” Iris laughed.

“Yes, he is.”

Iris sobered. “You are not in jest, are you?” she asked weakly.

“No,” Julia shook her head. “I am quite serious. Our Freddie is a nobleman.”

Iris and Rose now looked rather faint looking. “Freddie’s going to be a duke?” Rose asked.

“Someday. His father looks quite healthy, so I wager it will be a little while before he has to wear that coronet. And prepare yourself, because the Duke and Freddie are each other’s mirror images. It is most unnerving.”

“I…I don’t know what to say,” Iris said.

“I know how you feel,” Julia admitted.

“And where is His Grace now?” Rose asked.

“His carriages and the horses that his retinue rode must have been taken to the carriage house and stables, because he is here,” Julia said.

“Here? As in Lark Hall, here?” Rose asked.

“Aye,” Julia said.

“And Papa is wearing his banyan, isn’t he?” Iris asked with a grimace.

“Of course,” Julia laughed.

“Mama must be mortified,” Rose exclaimed.

“No, she wasn’t mortified because of what Uncle Edward was wearing. She was mortified by her father talking about the wobbly bits under one’s kilt.”

“Oh, he didn’t,” Rose breathed, her face mottling.

“He did. The Duke seemed to have a good sense of humour. Indeed, he seems to be a lot like Freddie, aside from the obvious differences.”

“Aye. He has a polished accent,” Freddie said, coming back to stand over with them. “And he acts like he’s been born to a life of privilege, although he has the same forthright attitude. He’s like a bloody cannonball with how he drives to the heart of the matter.”

“How…how…why weren’t you raised by him?” Rose asked breathlessly.

“My mother ran off with me because his father threatened her. I think the daft old bugger thought she’d leave me behind. If he hadn’t threatened her…my hard life would have been a charmed one, and yet, I don’t know, if I could go back and do it again, if I would do anything differently. I made good friends on the path I walked, and my life experience put me where I am today.”

“So you are Scottish. That sheds a little light onto your size…mayhap, you do have Viking blood in you after all,” Rose said. “And Lord Cary, one day you shall have to call Freddie, Your Grace.”

Iris laughed. “Oh, he is going to love that.”

“What is your birth name, Mouse?” Micah asked.

“According to the Duke, I was christened, Frederick Michael Andrew Guy Hamilton.”

“You are a Hamilton?” Lewis asked incredulously.

“That’s what the Duke said,” Freddie said, nodding his head.

“Damnation,” Lewis muttered. “And what title do you hold now?”

“He is the Marquess of Knightwick,” Julia said.

“No, I am not.”

“Yes, you are,” Julia insisted.

“This is going to shake the ton. The gossipmongers won’t stop talking about this for years!” Lewis said.

“Thanks, Doc,” Freddie grumbled.

“You are quite welcome, mate,” Lewis said, chuckling.

“Where are Tiny and Lucky?” Micah asked.

“They are escorting the man I thought was my father, to New Bridewell.”

“New Bridewell?” Lewis asked. “What the bloody hell have I missed?”

“The man I thought was my father was poaching off my lands. When I confronted him about it, he informed me that I owed him a living. I…I was sorely tempted to have a little accident, and do away with the old bastard, and Tiny and Lucky intervened, and offered to haul his sorry arse off to New Bridewell. They took his bitch of a wife as well.”

“Why didn’t anyone else know that you weren’t his son? Your mother must have told someone else that you were the son of the Duke of Bowdon and Lydney.” 

“If she did, I wouldn’t put it past the bastard to keep it from me so I would have to live a life of hell.”

Julia groaned. “Well, I had better make haste, and dash inside to dress for dinner. Mama is on her way.” She pointed to where the carriage rolled toward them in the distance.

“Why don’t we runaway together? We can elope. We can leave all of this behind us.”

Freddie’s proposal tempted her, oh, did it ever.

“Take my carriage,” Lewis suggested.

“We can’t. It isn’t proper. We have to do our duty,” Julia said.

“Mayhap, that is our problem. We are always doing our duty. You do your duty for your family, and I have always done my duty in the past as well. I say to hell with it all…I want to stop chasing our happiness. I want to have it.”

“So do I. But it’s not the right time to leave, Freddie. You have to face the Duke. You have to give him the opportunity to become your father. If I could somehow have my father back again…even for just one day, I wouldn’t throw it away. I love you too much to rob you of that gift. So, we shall do our duty tonight. We shall dress for dinner. I am quite certain the Duke has something that will fit you in the trunks he brought, and then, tomorrow is a new day, and we can plan our future together.”