Silence of Scandal (21 page)

Grady gave a short bow as he edged backwards from the room and Alexander ignored his enthusiastic wink, the twinkle in his aging eye indicating exactly what his young master should be doing with the beautiful young woman sitting with him.

Alexander rolled his eyes and waved the man out of his room but Elizabeth had caught the exchange. She dipped her head as a delicate flush rose to her cheeks. Alexander reached out and brushed her cheek with the back of his fingers. She lifted her chin and stared up at him with wide eyes and trembling lips. He fisted his other hand as he resisted the temptation to pull her towards him. If everything she had told him was true then she had been forced into the marriage. She was vulnerable, an innocent and with the change of her name, their marriage was possibly not even valid.

Tears were gathering in her eyes again. He fought the urge to brush them away. There was no way he could touch her even though it took all he had to leave her sitting there.

His cleared his throat and stood up quickly before he changed his mind.

“You had best leave, Elizabeth. I won’t be answerable to my actions if you stay. We’ll meet later to discuss this further. Perhaps Giles and Geoffrey can help us muddle through and understand this mess before I decide what needs to be done.” His voice whispered across her skin and she blinked in shock as she saw intense feelings cloud his beautiful blue eyes.

It was worse than she had first thought. He had become stiff and distant.
He hated her for the deception played by her father!
Tears gathered in her eyes as she stood up. She gazed up into his sapphire blue eyes, trying to read the emotions that clearly boiled inside him but he was already tuning away from her.

He walked to his bedroom door and opened it before he stood back and faced her, his meaning quite clear. A muscle twitched in his clenched jaw and she could see and angry pulse beating at his temple. He hated being tricked into marriage to a commoner, couldn’t bear the sight of her. He didn’t want her anywhere near him.

She picked up her skirts and ran from the room. 

Chapter Twelve

Treasure Hunting

The bathwater had turned cold before Alexander rose from its depths. He quickly dried on a sheet then shoved his still damp arms into his robe. He carefully shaved the stubble from his jaw before taking fresh clothes from the wardrobe.

His mind wandered again as he revisited his feelings when he thought that Elizabeth had deserted him. Something clenched hard in his chest and wrung his heart. The thought of her leaving him was inconceivable. He gave a grim smile. Deep in his heart he had known that she spoke the truth when she had first told him who she was. The memory of her dark hair and eyes, her horrible tuneless singing even as a child, had come flooding back to him. Her lack of hearing had not altered it one wit.

He was glad that she was alive, more than glad. The guilt he had felt on hearing of her death had been terrible. Phillip’s own feelings as the inventor of the steam carriage that had apparently killed a young child could only be imagined at. Alexander’s blood boiled at the thought of what Smith had put Phillip and himself through. Even his parents had suffered from the loss.

He wondered when Smith had decided to change his name and blackmail his father. It must have been shortly after the accident, possibly only hours. Realizing that the Duke had willingly given Smith money to help his situation with his daughter, probably to keep the man quiet about Phillip’s stupid experiment and the reasons for Lily’s injuries, must have given him the idea to ask for more. Alexander’s father probably would have given it anyway. Nothing would ever replace Smith’s precious daughter, the only thing he had left of his wife, but the Duke would have tried to help in any way he could. If that had meant giving the man money regularly to ease the child’s disability, he would have done it without question but Smith had outright lied about her death.

Alexander shook his head as pulled his shirt over his shoulders. It explained some of the tragedy but not how Phillip had come to be blackmailed. It didn’t make any sense unless Smith had discovered his brother’s preference for his tutor but how had that been possible? It wasn’t as though they mixed in the same circles. Phillip had left school and been in the relationship with Lovell long before the blackmail had begun and Alexander could see no connection between him and Lily’s father. There must have been one and it was his mission to find it and the missing Ormond family jewels.

Alexander’s heart swelled at the thought of his Lily wearing them. Her dark hair and eyes would be perfect for the ruby collection. His mind wandered back to his brother’s wife. Phillip had given Anne the emerald choker and Alexander could clearly recall matching ear bobs and a bracelet. If he found them she would have those too. It was the very least he could do given the sacrifice she had made for his brother.

He pulled on his breeches before he moved to his dresser to comb and tie his hair. He then lifted a cravat from his drawer and tied it in a simple style. He squeezed into his jacket and huffed in discomfort as it pulled across his shoulders. He had still to order broader clothes from his tailor. He tugged at his cuffs and then shoved his feet into his shoes before leaving his room. He almost bumped into Grady who was about to knock and enter.

The older man bowed.

“I was about to come and dress you, Your Grace.”

Alexander turned Grady with a friendly hand on his shoulder.

“No need, my friend. Soldiering soon teaches a gentleman how to dress himself.” He looked along the empty, silent corridor. “Are my wife and Denvers already downstairs?”

Grady gave a frown.

“Mr. Denvers awaits you and your wife in the blue salon. I am not sure about her Grace’s where-a-bouts but her maid is with her so I can only assume that they are in her room at present.” He paused and looked up at Alexander.

Alexander stopped at his wife’s door and rapped smartly. There was no sound from beyond but if Lily was alone than she wouldn’t hear his knock. He opened the door and peered in. The clothes she had worn to the beach were in a pile on the floor and her beautiful scent assaulted him but the room was empty. He stepped back into the corridor and frowned at Grady.

“She must have gone down already.” He turned walked briskly towards the stairs.

His shoes echoed on the stone steps as he hurried into the salon. Giles stood by the window staring out over the grounds. He turned as he heard Alexander come into the room. A deep frown covered his forehead.

“So what did you do to your wife now? Did you threaten to clap her in irons and take her to the dungeons if she didn’t tell you the truth?”

Alexander laughed as he walked to the brandy decanter. He was about to pour himself a generous measure but stopped as he thought about his friend’s words.

“What do you mean? I had thought to find her in here with you but she must be delayed with her maid.”

Giles’s demeanour became even more serious.

“I just saw her leaving with her maid. Jennings was driving them in the carriage but I saw their faces through the window. Your wife looked back at Ormond just as they went across the bridge. You can still see the carriage.” He pointed out of the window towards the long drive.

Alexander took one glance then turned swiftly and strode out of the door. He ran to the front door and down the steps bellowing for Geoffrey to bring his horse. Giles followed him as Geoffrey appeared without the horses.

“Neither of your horses are in any shape to go out again, Alex. They’ve been ridden almost non-stop for two days and you’ve barely been home an hour to rest them. I’ll have them saddled if you want but you’ll be risking serious injury.”

Alexander grit his teeth.

“God’s bones! Why on earth is she leaving now?” He stared down the long driveway after the disappearing carriage. He whirled back to Geoffrey. “If she’s taken the carriage I can only assume that you have some idea of where she’s going.”

Geoffrey nodded quickly.

“She asked to be taken to Oakley. She can’t be shopping at this time of night so she can only be visiting someone there. Jennings said he would only be about an hour so they cannot have gone any further. I can get the cart out if you would like but it seems pointless when they’ll come back with him.”

Alexander thought for a few seconds. Perhaps he was over reacting. He couldn’t imagine who she was visiting but there was no other reason for her departure.

He turned to Giles.

“Come, we’ll eat. Geoffrey, as soon as you finish here come and join us. I have much to tell you too and you may be able to shed light on what Elizabeth revealed to me this afternoon. I don’t know why she has left now but some of the things she revealed clearly upset her. She has been lied to much of her life. I had hoped to clear everything up over dinner but it appears that she has more important things to do. There is nothing for it but to wait until Lily returns.” He pinched his nose and screwed up his eyes in concentration.

Giles looked askance at his friend.

“Lily? Is this some new pet name for your wife?”

Alexander shook his head and stared down the driveway. The dust had already begun to settle again and his coach was no longer in sight.

He trudged back into the castle with Giles at his side.

“Not a pet name but the name we called her until we thought she had died.” He led a curious Giles into the dining room and waited until Geoffrey joined them before he began to explain exactly who Lily was.

Geoffrey was as shocked as Alexander had been when he heard the tale only half an hour later. He leapt from his chair.

“Our Lily? Lily Smith the farmer’s daughter? Can this be true? I never recognized her for a second, didn’t even cross my mind. We all thought that she had died when you and Phillip blew up that cart and all the fireworks years ago.”

Alexander shook his head as he remembered the feeling of desolation at being told of her death and Phillip’s subsequent punishment. He hadn’t seen his brother for months afterwards and the difference was clear when he came home for his first holiday. The guilt had eaten at Phillip and changed him irrevocably. It had been nearly as bad for Alexander but at least he had the knowledge that he hadn’t invented the steam machine.

“I remember crying for days about it even though she had not been my favourite person when I was twelve years old. Phillip was just as devastated but he was packed off to school because of the scandal. A future Duke killing a child? It wasn’t to be borne! Father told me that Phillip was old enough to take responsibility for his actions, though he wouldn’t allow his son to go to prison or maybe even worse. Phillip was nearly fifteen. He could have been hanged.” He looked thoughtful for a moment. “Smith lied. He told my father that he was taking his daughter’s body to be buried with her mother so I doubt anyone would make the connection between Lily and Elizabeth now. I confess that for a few minutes I didn’t believe a word of her story but she gave me some irrefutable facts, things that she could have only known by being in the barn that day.” He leaned back in his chair and sighed deeply.

Giles gave a small cough.

“I hate to give you any doubts about her but from what you are telling me if she had the run of this place as a child while playing with you and Phillip, she will know plenty of secret hiding places in this castle. Are you sure that she hasn’t already absconded with the family jewels and is on her way to realizing a fortune.”

Alexander looked up sharply and thought about her sudden departure.

“I hope to God that she hasn’t but I am giving her the benefit of the doubt. She’s had plenty of opportunity to find them and make her escape while I’ve not been here. If she was intent on theft then why leave absconding with the loot until after I had returned? She could have taken it and run anytime in the last few days. Her father told her that both Phillip and I had been killed in the same accident. She only married me because she thought that she had no choice. He convinced her that no man would willingly marry a deaf woman. Her father threatened her with destitution and the streets if she didn’t wed me. She only realized who I was when she arrived at Ormond. You remember how she was when we arrived here at the door. She almost fainted and I don’t think she was acting a part. She hadn’t heard the minister or me recite my name at the wedding ceremony because she was too frightened to look up at my face to read our lips.”

Geoffrey shook his head and let out a sigh.

“I remember her hesitation in the church. For a moment I thought she was going to back out of the marriage but then she gave her vow...So her father set her up to discover the missing jewels after he found that he could no longer live off the proceeds of blackmail because Phillip had died, but to do that would not only ruin you but his daughter’s future security too. It doesn’t make sense. Does he hate her that much?”

Alexander tapped his fingernails on the table as he realized how clever Smith had been.

“But don’t you see? In law she is not married to me. Her name is really Lily Smith. She married me as Elizabeth Carlton Hardacre. As it stands I doubt that the marriage is even legal. She could take the jewels, then disappear with her father and marry whoever she wants under her real name. No one would be the wiser if she chose not to tell.” His bitter tone revealed more than he cared to admit.

It was Giles’s turn to look puzzled.

“So Smith or the man now calling himself Hardacre must have guessed that your father hid the jewels somewhere at Ormond. The Duke clearly hadn’t sold them for that kind of information is soon about, especially with the importance of the jewels we are talking about. He couldn’t risk being hired on as staff because Grady, Geoffrey and the others who remained in your employ would recognize him immediately so he sent his supposedly dead daughter into the house to discover them and then make her getaway...but she’s done nothing in all the days that you haven’t been here to find them. Would she have more idea than her father as to their where-a-bouts?”

Alexander pursed his lips and raised his eyebrows as he thought back to his youth.

“She had the run of the place when she was small. Complete pain in the backside as I recall. Turning up and wanting us to play with her at the least convenient moment. She always managed to fill those big, brown eyes of hers with tears if we made her walk the plank or asked her to die on the battlefield. Made me feel awful so I always gave into her.” He snorted with suppressed laughter. “I ended up having to marry her way back then too, just to stop the waterworks. Phillip thought it was hilarious but I thought it most unreasonable of her seeing as we let her join in, and don’t even get me started on her terrible singing that she insisted on inflicting upon the household. That’s one thing that hasn’t changed a bit. Sounds like a Banshee and always has done. Can you imagine that noise echoing about this place all the time? I swear Phillip shoved cotton wads in his ears most days.” He sighed and gave a small smile before he sucked in a breath and continued. “She was like our shadow, followed Phillip and I everywhere. If I know where there’s a hiding place in this castle then she probably does too.” He tapped the side of his glass with his fingertip.

Geoffrey gave a laugh at Alexander’s recollection of Lily spoiling their games.

“I remember the time you had to marry her. I was forced to be a flower girl! Ghastly experience! She made me wrap a sheet around myself like it was a dress. Never felt more embarrassed in my life what with Phillip standing there laughing fit to burst his coat seams. Scarred me for life. You’re right about the hiding places though. Even I know a good few of them, but I don’t think she’s been searching recently. Grady, Sarah or Beth would have noticed. I know that Grady’s an old man now but he knows what’s going on in the place. He would have said something to me if anyone had noticed Lily nosing about suspiciously while you were away.”