Never Turn Away (Kellington Book Six) (13 page)

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

They arrived in London late that afternoon, just as
the sun was setting.  It had been a frustrating journey for Joseph, being that
close to Evelyn after their night of passion, but being unable to really speak
to her – or do anything else – due to the presence of her maid.  But he had
made progress on one front.  He’d convinced her she could not stay at her
cousin’s.

“But I always stay at the earl’s house,” she’d
said.  “I have no place of my own in town.”

“Is that one of the reasons you come to London so
infrequently?”

“I suppose it is, though I am so busy on the estate
that I can rarely get away for any amount of time.”

“I believe you should stay at Lynwood’s home.  He
and the duchess are on their wedding trip, but his brothers and their wives are
in residence.  I know they would be pleased to serve as your hosts.”

“But it has been such a long time since I have seen
them.  I would not feel right imposing on the Kellingtons’ kindness.”

“Yet I assure you they will be more than happy to
have you as their guest.  It is preferable to staying at the earl’s.  If he has
voided your father’s original will, he is not an honorable man.  I cannot
entrust your safety to him.”

“Even if he hasn’t done anything to the will, he is
not an honorable man.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Nothing of import.  He has simply made improper
suggestions in the past.” 

“All the more reason to have you at Lynwood’s.  I
know you will be safe with the Kellingtons.”

“I could go to a hotel.”

“Perhaps, but have a care for my peace of mind.  I
know you will be safe with the Kellingtons and can only hope you are so at a
hotel.”  What he wanted to add was there was another alternative.  She would be
perfectly safe in his home.  Well, perhaps not entirely safe.  Certainly not
safe from seduction.  He wasn’t sure he could keep his hands off her.  He
wasn’t sure he’d even try.

Finally, after Joseph pressed the point for most of
the journey, Evelyn had agreed to stay at Lynwood’s house.  It was a relief to
Joseph, who had serious misgivings about her scoundrel of a cousin.

The carriage drew to a halt in front of the Duke of
Lynwood’s town house.  They had no sooner stepped out of the carriage than the underbutler,
Rak, opened the door and ushered them in.  “Welcome to Lynwood House,
Inspector.  With Heskiss gone to the country with the Duke and Duchess, I will assist
you and your friend in any way possible.”

“Thank you, Rak.  This is Lady Evelyn Williams, a
neighbor of his grace’s in Oxfordshire.”

“Welcome, my lady,” said Rak, bowing before he began
taking their things.  They were interrupted by a sprite running across the
floor, evidently on an important mission to the library.  But she stopped when
she saw them and her face lit up.

“Mr. Joseph!” she said.  “I didn’t know you would be
here.”  Young Violet Kellington was almost seven years old and the daughter of
Edward and Jane.  Her parents had met some seven years earlier at the Battle of
Waterloo.  She was the delightful result.

“Lady Evelyn,” said Joseph.  “May I present a dear
friend of mine, Miss Violet Kellington?”

Violet did a creditable curtsy, but then turned to
Joseph and whispered none too quietly.  “Is she a nice lady?  She’s very
pretty.”

“She is a very nice lady and very pretty,” said
Joseph, also in a whisper.  “I think you two will be fine friends.”

That seemed to be good enough for Vi.  “I am hiding
from Papa, but not because I have done anything wrong.”  The child’s innate
sense of honor made her add, “Well, I haven’t done anything wrong that he knows
about and it was only having another biscuit that Cook said I could have,
though she said not to mention it to anyone.  I’m hiding because Papa is to
find me.  Papa thinks he thought of playing the game to let Mama rest.  But it
was really Mama because she wanted to give Papa something to do instead of
worrying all the time.  Mama is going to have a baby!”

She announced that last portion to Lady Evelyn.

“How splendid!” said Evelyn.  “I do believe you will
be an excellent big sister.”

“So do I!” said Vi. 

“Vi truly will be an excellent big sister,” said her
proud papa, as he walked down the stairs, prompting his daughter to let out a
squeak and run into the library.  “Lady Evelyn, how good to see you again.  And
welcome back to town, Joseph.”

“Your daughter is lovely,” said Evelyn.

“She is at that.  But I must confess that I only
suggested a game of hide and seek so that she might give her mama a rest.  She
is tiring as her confinement nears its conclusion.  I prefer staying by her
side in case she needs me.”

“Perhaps what she needs the most is time away from you,”
said another Kellington as he also came down the stairs.  This time it was
Arthur, the family’s middle sibling.  “And do not worry, Ned.  Both Vanessa and
Mel are looking in on Jane to ensure she wants for nothing.”

“But I should still be there,” said Ned, as he began
to retreat toward the stairs.

“Good God, man,” said their youngest brother, Hal, as
he descended the stairs with a swagger imitated but never equaled by young
bucks in the
ton
.  “Give your wife a blessed break.”

Ned stiffened.  “Jane wants me by her side.”

“Yes,” said Hal.  “Though why she does shall forever
remain a mystery.  But mayhap you can spend even a quarter of an hour out of
her presence, sparing her from your constant pacing.  After all, there are
still weeks until the blessed events.”

“Events?” asked Arthur.  “I know of only one.”

Hal enumerated them for his audience. “The birth of
the child and Ned’s return to Marston Vale, though I will miss his family.”

“I’m hiding!” called a voice from the library.

“We’ll be there soon!” replied Ned.

Then Arthur and Hal remembered their manners and
welcomed Lady Evelyn to their home. 

“Perhaps tea would be in order?” suggested Arthur.

“You sound like a female,” said Hal.

“Yet I’m still strong enough to lay you out flat.”

“May I have tea?” called the voice from the library.

“We shall all have tea,” said Arthur.  Then before
his brother could insult him again, he quickly added, “Stubble it, Hal.”

A quarter of an hour later, they were all –
including Violet – settled into the sitting room off Ned and Jane’s bedchamber
as Vanessa poured tea.  It would have been Jane’s honor to do so, but her
husband had almost suffered apoplexy at the thought of his wife engaging in
such an activity so soon after getting up from her nap.  But Jane, Vanessa and
Melanie had all wanted to meet Evelyn and once she told her story, they were
all curious as to what would happen next.

“It is most unfair!” said Jane.  “Forcing you to
marry earlier than you expected or you’ll lose your land and fortune.”

“My love, pray do not upset yourself,” said Ned, as
he brought his wife’s hand to his lips.  “Though I agree that it is an outrage
for Evelyn’s cousin to treat her this way.  For I have no doubt it is he who
has orchestrated it.  From what I recall of the old earl, he never would have
made such a capricious change to the will, especially without telling her.”

“Thank you Ned,” said Evelyn.  “It is good to know Papa
is remembered as the fair man he was.”

Vanessa put down her teacup.  “Evelyn, can you think
of anyone else who would have reason to make you marry early?  You have
expressed your opposition to the mining company taking possession of your
land.  But what of your neighbors?”

“Since your family and mine are the primary
landholders, the others in the county would have little sway with the company
if we do not sell.  And I cannot imagine his grace would sell Jasmine Manor.”

Arthur snorted.  “He would sooner sell all his other
holdings and become a privateer than abandon Jasmine Manor.  It simply meant
too much to our parents.”

“I think I would like to see Liam as a privateer,”
said Jane laughing.

“Do not overset yourself, dearling,” said Ned.

“Ned!  Your wife isn’t a piece of fine china,” said
Hal.  “She’s a strong healthy female who is more used to riding from farm to farm
tending to the ill than being cosseted in her confinement.  What’s more, she
has done this before.  And if Vi is any indication of the type of children she
turns out, we shall all be blessed with another wonderful niece or a
rapscallion of a nephew.  That is, if Jane – or one of us – doesn’t kill you
first.”

“Well, at least I’m not making an utter fool of
myself like our brother-in-law Marcus,” retorted Ned.  “Lizzie cannot even walk
from one floor to another without Marcus insisting on carrying her up the
steps.  He is a man besotted with his wife and unborn child.  Arthur, will you
please not set your teacup down so loudly?  It might hurt the babe’s ears.”

Arthur turned his crooked smile on his brother. 
“Yes, Marcus is the Bedlamite.”

Mel put her cup down extremely quietly.  “Well, I do
believe Lizzie has something to do with Marcus’s behavior.  Once he carried her
the first time, she liked the feeling of being in his arms so much that she
didn’t have the heart to tell him she runs up and down the stairs whenever he isn’t
home.”

“You would never trick me like that would you,
love?” asked Hal, as he stole a kiss from his wife.

“Of course not,” she said, smiling.  “Though I think
the question is whether you’d find me out.  And you wouldn’t.”

Joseph studied the couples around him.  All were in
love.  All defied the customary expectations for a
ton
marriage.  These
were not passionless business arrangements.  None of them would ever stray. 
And while Liam had married a viscount’s daughter and Hal had wed the American
niece of an earl, the other two unions were most unusual.  Ned’s wife was the
granddaughter of an earl, but considering she bore Violet out of wedlock
because she and Ned had lost touch after Waterloo, it had been somewhat of a
scandal.  Vanessa was illegitimate born and had been working as a spy in the
Home Office.  To make matters even more unusual, she and Arthur still worked
there.

But it was one thing for a man in society to elevate
a woman socially; it would not happen the other way around.  If by some miracle
Evelyn agreed to marry him, she would be cut by just about everyone in the
ton
,
save the people in this room.  She would have to turn her back on her rightful
place in society.  It would be incredibly selfish of him to expect her to do that.

“You will not be staying with your cousin while in
town,” Jane asked Evelyn, though it was much more of a statement than a
question.

“No, I would like to stay at a hotel.”

“And I will not allow it,” said Joseph, also as if
stating a fact.  “It is not safe.”

“I am sure I will be fine.”

“No,” he said slowly.  “I cannot take that risk.  I
will keep you safe.”

Then he was aware of silence in the room.  No
teacups placed on tables.  No reaching for biscuits.  Complete silence, accompanied
by inquisitive, yet knowing looks.

Then a sweet voice said, “Lady Evelyn can stay with
us.”  Violet leaned forward to add, “I know where the extra biscuits are kept. 
And you haven’t even met Titania, yet.  Do you like cats?  Because she’s an
especially good one.”

Evelyn, well aware of the attention of those around
her, smiled and squeezed the girl’s hand.  “Miss Violet that is a kind offer,
indeed, but I must decline.”

“You don’t like cats?” Vi was extremely disappointed
to discover this flaw in her new good friend.

“I love cats.  I have several on my estate in Oxfordshire
and I would very much like to introduce you to them the next time you and your
papa and mama and baby brother or sister visit Jasmine Manor.  But I cannot
impose, especially at such a delicate time.”

“But it would be no imposition at all,” said Jane. 
“I am only disappointed I did not think of the invitation sooner.  I do believe
the babe is fogging up my thoughts at times.  We have plenty of room and I
shall be grateful for the company.”

“Because you’re tired of Ned’s?” asked Hal.

“No, Hal, I shall never tire of my husband’s
company.”

“Not even a little?”

Jane hesitated just a moment too long before
answering.

“I knew it!” said Hal.

“Hal, stop torturing Ned,” said Mel.

“But it’s so much fun.”

“Pray excuse my sapskull brother, Evelyn,” said
Ned.  “And do be so good as to accept my wife’s invitation.  I would take it as
a personal favor since her happiness is my greatest priority.”

“It is,” said Violet solemnly.