His Michaelmas Mistress (13 page)

“Shall you be my Michaelmas Mistress?” he asked impishly.

“I would, as long as we are husband and wife.”

He sobered. “It wouldn’t take us long to make the arrangements with the Vicar,” he said.

“I know…and yet…I don’t know. I don’t know. Maybe we should choose a different location. Being married at St. Michaels didn’t work so well for us the first time around, and while I had my heart set on a church wedding, Iris and Lewis were married by special license, and their union is none the worse for wear.”

“It certainly isn’t,” he said.

“Then, you should go to London, straightaway,” she decided.

“And…and if I left you…”

“If you are worried about me falling back in love with Charles, that ship has sailed. I shan’t ever love him the way he deserves to be loved. I feel wretched for not being able to give him what he wants from me, but there is one thing that I can’t do—I can’t marry a man that my heart doesn’t belong to, and you, dear, Freddie, possess my heart.”

He grinned like a mad besotted fool at her. “I should away now. The hour is growing late, and the house shall awaken shortly, and I don’t think I care to be around when your brother comes out of his drunken stupor, and realizes what I talked him into giving me last night. He will obviously feel dreadful, since he’s a mate of Charles’s, and he gave me the intelligence I needed to spend the night with you.”

“You slept with me. That is all, Freddie. We have nothing at all to be ashamed of.”

“Oh, aye, I slept with you, and you slept with me. Had anyone found us lying as we were close together…they would have thought that I had had my wicked way with you,” he said, with a cheeky wink. Infuriated, she tossed one of her extra pillows at him. He chuckled, and slipped out of the room.

“Goodbye, Freddie.”

“Farewell, my love,” he said, closing the door softly behind him.

Julia laid down, and attempted to drift back off to sleep. The room felt empty without him, and she felt bereft. If only he could have stayed with her. They had to marry posthaste, because she couldn’t live much longer without becoming Freddie’s wife.

However had she gotten along without him in her life?

Julia had slipped back into dreamland, and was having the most wonderful dream about Freddie when the most God awful noise pulled her out of it. Grumbling, she awoke in time to see her mother striding into the room. And by the look on her face, she looked none too happy.

Her mother went over and rang for her maid. “Oh, you look a frightful mess, Julia,” Beatrice bemoaned. “You’ll have to be quick about it and ready for breakfast…thanks to your nincompoop of a brother, we have guests for our first meal of the day.”

“Guests?” she asked, her mouth dry.

Beatrice’s perceptive gaze went to the mussed up bed. “What…what have you been doing in your bed?”

“Sleeping, Mama.”

Beatrice’s eyes narrowed, and she sighed heavily, her eyes going to something on the floor. Bending, she picked it up, and as she studied it, Julia’s heart skipped a beat.

Freddie.

He had forgotten his watch.

Oh, bugger.

“What is this, Julia?” she asked. Flipping it open, her eyes read what was inscribed on the inside, and Beatrice’s mouth fell open. Freddie would have to get a new watch because that gold pocket watch had his old initials inscribed on it. “Have…were…you…and…what…”

“Whatever you are attempting to verbalize, Mama, no, I didn’t. Freddie wandered in here last night, as foxed as I have never seen him, but you may depend upon the fact that we did nothing we shouldn’t have.”

Beatrice looked a little faint. She walked over to a chair and sat down. “You will have to find a way to discreetly give this back to Freddie. I hope…I hope the servants didn’t see him, and I do hope that the two of you have plans to marry as soon as possible now. There can be no delay. Is that clear, Julia?”

“Yes, Mama. He has plans to ride to London for a special license.”

“Well, I daresay that is a relief,” she sighed. “I want you to wear something pretty and delicate today. I want you to look every part the English Rose. The Duke is still here. I suppose he couldn’t be moved earlier when Freddie made his escape from here.”

“Mama, nothing happened,” Julia insisted.

Beatrice still seemed unconvinced. “And, I shall take you at your word, dear. I suppose. I don’t have any other choice, do I?”

“You can blame Richard for this whole hobble. He was the one that invited them back here for whisky, and he must have suggested that the Duke and Freddie stay here because I take it that he placed him in the Gold Bedchamber.”

“I am not certain that all of the blame must rest on poor Richard’s shoulders. Your Freddie can be terribly cunning sometimes. He has a way of talking people into doing things. He has a roguishly charming manner, and I only hope he didn’t talk you into doing anything you shouldn’t, at least not until you are his wife.”

“I say again, Mama, he didn’t. Freddie isn’t that sort of man. He plays games, but not those kinds of games.”

“I hope he isn’t. Despite all of that, my dear, you will have to look your best, during breakfast with the Duke. Hopefully, you will be charming enough, and he will be hung over enough not to notice anything awry. I wouldn’t want him to get wind of Freddie staying here last night. What would he think? He might think that all English lassies have no willpower…he might think…”

“Mama…”

“All right, Julia. I shall drop the subject,” she sighed. “I want you to be nice to the Duke because Freddie isn’t treating him the way a son should treat a father. I know that Freddie resents him, and mayhap, he has reason to, but Julia, the Duke is going through enough hell at the moment. While those from our class might not always wear their heart on their sleeves, and I suspect that the Duke is much like me, he isn’t overtly affectionate with those he holds dear to him, but there is one thing I do know…he loves Freddie, and he is overjoyed to have him back in his life.”

“Of course he is. He needed an heir,” Julia scoffed.

“That isn’t the only reason he wanted to find Freddie. Think of the torment he has been through for over thirty years, not knowing if Freddie was dead or alive…and now, knowing what kind of a life he had, when he should have had a life of privilege, why I am quite certain it is weighing heavily on him. The poor man must be in such deep despair.”

“I think the Duke looks none the worse for wear, Mama.”

“How we look on the outside, and how we feel on the inside, are entirely two different things, Julia. I daresay, he wouldn’t allow his emotions to escape him for anything.” The maid appeared, and Beatrice sighed. “On second thought, I shall take care of everything, including this.” Her hand enclosed around the watch, so the maid wouldn’t see, and she left, or at least Julia thought she was gone. Her maid was about to shut the door when Beatrice reappeared. “I want you to wear that printed morning muslin frock of yours, with the blue forget-me-nots on it.”

“Yes, Mama,” she said.

“Good. That dress makes your eyes shine.”

“Aye, Mama.”

Beatrice nodded her head curtly, and departed.

“Well, Gertie, time for me ready myself for the world,” Julia sighed.

“Yes, my lady,” the maid said, scurrying to fetch the items she needed, to dress for the breakfast.

Julia would need all of her strength to survive this trying task.

*****

Freddie groaned, as Beatrice continued to go on and on about absolutely nothing. Julia’s mother was never at a loss for words, it seemed. He was grateful that he wouldn’t have to live with Beatrice, after he and Julia were married. If he had to, he would probably end up going mad!

Julia looked lovely in a muslin dress that had what seemed to be forget-me-nots on it, and the blue in the flower pattern made her blue eyes seem even brighter.

The Duke didn’t seem worn out at all, from the night of drinking they’d done, and he sat and ate his breakfast with gusto, and kept raving about the marmalade they had. He would have to tell Lewis that the man approved of the fruit preserve that gave Lewis so much pride.

He still didn’t know how he was going to deal with the Duke seemingly not wanting to return to Scotland. He couldn’t imagine having him stay at Wilton Park, even though he had allowed his carriages and his retinue to bed down there for the night. He couldn’t abide Hamish, and had wanted the man away from him.

Now that they were at Wilton Park, he had the challenge of finding a way to remove them from his estate without coming off as being a churl. No matter what happened, Freddie had to away to London to procure the special wedding license, so he didn’t want to leave the Duke behind in Wiltshire. And, he still didn’t know what the fate of Enoch Smith would be…he could hope the man would be hanged, but he didn’t think that Edward Lovett would hand out that kind of a grim sentence. The best he could hope for was an exiling.

“Castleton Court is a feast for the eyes, Lady Tisbury,” the Duke said approvingly.

“Thank you,” Beatrice said. “The Lovetts spared no expense on this palatial home. They wanted it to be one of the grandest in the County. Before this building stood, they had a Tudor Manor House, but it was destroyed in a fire, after being damaged during the Civil War.”

“This county was mainly Parliamentarian wasn’t it?” The Duke asked.

“Aye,” Beatrice said softly. “The Earl during that troubling period, favoured Cromwell, but his son and his heir sided with the Royalists. It made for a dramatic little part of Lovett family history. Have you thought of where you shall go now, Your Grace?” Beatrice asked, obviously seeking to shift the subject.

“I…well…” he said uneasily.

“His retinue and carriages are both at Wilton Park. I agreed to allow them to stay there last night, but I’m certain the Duke won’t want to stay here for long. His valet remained here with what he would need for today,” Freddie muttered.

“I do have an estate just over the border in Gloucestershire, but I did want to stay here a while longer, at least until you and Lady Julia are married, Son.”

Freddie grimaced. Every time the man called him Son, he wanted to retch. He didn’t like the sound of it, and he didn’t like the fact that he had to resign himself to be a Duke’s son, and as a consequence, a marquess by courtesy. He was still getting used to being a baron, and pretending he was something he wasn’t, and now…now he’d have to face one day being referred to as His Grace, and Your Grace. While he thought that it suited, Julia, he didn’t think it suited him.

Society would probably label him the Marquess of Mouse or something like that.

“I wish I had found you before you bought Wilton Park. There is an estate in Scotland, and one here in England that has been set aside for the firstborn son.”

“Wilton Park suits me fine,” he said, reaching for his coffee.

“And yet, it is your right to claim the other estates. Fortunately, our family is like the Lovetts, we do not want for money.”

“Splendid,” Beatrice said, sipping at her tea. “And where is the Estate that the Marquess of Knightwick can use?”

“It is in Gloucestershire. It is a lovely little estate.”

“I’m still fine with being the Baron of Axbridge,” Freddie said sullenly.

“My dear boy,” Beatrice started, “You are the Duke’s heir apparent. You can’t deny who you are. You now have a higher title to use. You can be styled the Marquess of Knightwick.”

“So there is no way I can refuse it?” he asked.

“No possible way,” the Duke said. “It is a cross you shall have to bear, Freddie.”

Freddie didn’t like the turn his life was taking one bit. Tiny and Lucky would have a hell of a good time teasing him when they returned. He couldn’t believe how many times he’d been treated like dirt beneath the feet of the very men who were born into the Peerage, and come to find out…he was one of those blasted bloody men!

It was a bitter pill for him to swallow.

Julia seemed to sense his unhappiness, because her eyes had been on him for the entire meal.

The Countess sighed. “Lord Knightwick, you must have dropped this last night,” she produced his gold pocket watch. He swallowed thickly. “You must take more care with your valuables, sir. Why, just imagine if you hadn’t been in a private residence. You would have lost this lovely piece.”

“I suppose it wouldn’t matter. I would have to buy another, and I certainly have the funds for it. It holds no sentimental value to me, Lady Tisbury, but thank you for recovering it, and bringing it back to me.”

Beatrice snorted, and handed him his watch, as she sat at one end of the table, while Richard sat at the other end. Richard had been conspicuously silent, telling Freddie that he must have been nursing one hell of headache!

“And you shall have to buy another pocket watch, Freddie, because that pocket watch has your old initials on it. You are Frederick Hamilton now,” Julia said.

“Indeed he is,” the Duke said. “We shall have to do something about that, Son.”

“You could always go and stay at your place in Gloucestershire. I don’t require your presence here any longer,” Freddie said glumly.

The Duke looked hurt, he looked as if Freddie had just drawn his cork, and Freddie probably should have felt a little bit guilty for hurting him, but he didn’t. He supposed it would take him a while longer to come to terms with everything, and to move past being raised by such a monster when he should have been raised as a Hamilton. He didn’t bemoan the riches he could have had, only the family love he had missed out on.

“Alas, I shan’t be able to leave the area until after Michaelmas, as Mr. and Mrs. Lovett invited me to their Michaelmas Ball. It would be rude of me not to attend after I accepted their invitation last night,” the Duke said.

“Of course it would,” Freddie sighed.

Julia smiled serenely at him, and her eyes filled with a mischievous glint. She was up to something, and he probably wouldn’t like whatever it was.

“Mayhap, you could go with Freddie to London, sir? He must travel there so he can procure a special license for us. You can make it quite clear to those in London that he is your son,” Julia proposed. “And you could ensure he received a new pocket watch while there. Something befitting his new position as your heir.”

The little chit! The next time they met, she was due for a good spanking. ‘Course he didn’t know if he could manage giving it to her without them being married, but he wasn’t going to forget what she had done to him.

Not on her life.

“I had hoped to rest for a few days from my travels. However, if we must away at once, I am sure I can find the energy. I’m getting on in years, but I’m not that stricken yet.”

Freddie narrowed his eyes at Julia. She looked as if she were valiantly attempting to hold back a giggle. The fact that she gleaned such amusement out of his discomfort almost made him smile.

She was his perfect match.

“I don’t even think I can travel today. We shall away tomorrow,” Freddie said, finishing off the last of his coffee. His head had a dull ache to it, and by the way that Richard sat drinking tea as if his life depended upon it, and gobbling up toast, he knew the man felt it, too.

“I think I shall retire back to my chambers, and take some laudanum. I have an awful headache,” Richard moaned. “Pray excuse me, Your Grace,” he said, standing up.