One Rogue Too Many (16 page)

Lizzie and Katie wouldn’t make the same mistake she had, of course.

“It’s a little tiring this go around,” she admitted, “but you both will have a marvelous time. The gentlemen will line up to sign your dance cards and you’ll have suitors galore.”

Katie frowned. “I wouldn’t think I would care for many suitors. One is all I require.”

“Not me,” Lizzie said. “I want my choice of handsome men like Gabby has.”

Katie glanced at Gabby. “Wouldn’t it be easier if you had but one gentleman, and it was the one you desired?”

“That it would,” she answered with a chuckle.

Lizzie flashed her dimples. “I will take Lord Thorne if you plan to toss him aside.”

Gabby playfully wrinkled her nose. “How thoughtful, my dear.”

She relayed some of the sights she had seen at balls this Season, and answered Lizzie’s unending questions about the rumors she had read in the gossip rags. Not that she was supposed to have access to such things, but Mama didn’t know and their oldest brother, Luke, often looked the other way if he didn’t see the harm.

As they neared Anthony’s town house, she slowed her pace, dragging on Lizzie’s arm.

“Why are you slowing?”

“I have a pebble in my shoe,” she lied and pretended to limp. “I should sit and remove it.”

She hobbled over to Anthony’s front stoop and sat. It was a bold move, but she couldn’t have her sisters rushing her if she hoped to spy a bit. She took her time shaking out the imaginary pebble and listened for sounds from within the house.

The footman who had been sent to escort them leaned against a lamppost with a frown, seemingly disgruntled with his duties that morning.

After a while, Lizzie cocked a hip and sighed. “Will you please hurry? There’s nothing interesting here, and you promised Katie a trip to the lending library after the park.”

Katie’s all-knowing gaze lingered on the house a moment before meeting Gabby’s. “I don’t mind waiting.”

Lizzie didn’t miss the silent exchange. Her eyebrows lifted. “Is there something interesting about this town house? Who lives here?”

Gabby felt the blood rushing to her cheeks. Blast her sisters for being too smart for their own good. She shoved on her boot and hopped up from the stoop. “How should I know?”

“Is it one of her suitors?” Lizzie whispered to her twin.

“Likely Lord Ellis.”

Gabby tossed up her hands. “Oh, for heaven’s sake! Does nothing escape your notice, Katherine?”

The girls giggled.

“Someone’s in love,” Lizzie said in a singsong voice, setting off another round of giggles.

Gabby tried to appear stern, but she had a hard time maintaining a frown. Even John the footman was smiling now. She linked arms with both sisters. “You two are naughty for teasing me. Let’s go.”

They had only reached the next stoop when a door slammed behind them. Gabby stopped to look over her shoulder.

A little girl with red curls was hopping down the steps one at a time.

“Annabelle, what did I say about leaving the house alone?” A harried woman with matching copper hair bustled down the stairs in the little girl’s wake. “Your papa would be very displeased.”

From the set to Annabelle’s jaw, it didn’t appear she cared what her papa thought. “I want to go to the park.”

“I told you to give me a moment.” The woman put on her bonnet and tied the strings to secure it. She hadn’t noticed Gabby and her sisters had turned to gawk, so Gabby had a moment to take in the woman’s appearance.

Her dress was of a good quality, although not as expensive as what Gabby and her sisters wore. Still, the woman’s attire was finer than one would expect of a servant. Her physical appearance alone marked her as Annabelle’s relation. Perhaps the late Lady Ellis’s sister?

Gabby searched her memory for a vision of Lady Ellis dressed in her wedding gown. That had been the only time she had seen Anthony’s wife, and that was through watery eyes. She had tried to pass her tears off as ones of happiness, but her heart had been breaking that day.

She had thought Lady Ellis resembled her in many ways, her hair just as dark and their heights similar. Gabby had wondered again why Anthony hadn’t thought
her
good enough to marry instead of her look-alike. When she had learned Anthony was seeking a wife on the marriage mart, she had shored up her courage and written to him. She beseeched him to consider her since they had known each other most of their lives, got on well, and she had developed an affection for him. She realized she was perhaps a little too young to become a wife yet, but surely he would be willing to wait a year or two.

He’d sent back a nice letter to her brother with a message for her.
Please
give
my
regards
to
Lady
Bug
and
tell
her
to
stay
out
of
mischief.

His dismissal had been humiliating. And weeks later, when he had become betrothed to Miss Camilla Roth, all of Gabby’s dreams were crushed.

Even now, the telltale itch of coming tears tickled her nose.

“We should go,” she murmured as the woman looked up with a start.

“Oh! Pardon me,” the woman said. “Are we barring the walkway?”

Her accent sounded Welsh. The little girl took her hand and peered back at Gabby and her sisters. “We’re going to the park,” she announced with a big smile.

When she spotted the footman, however, her smile faded and she inched closer to the woman. “I want to go, Mama.”

Mama?
The word struck Gabby with the force of lightning. She was stunned. Is that what Lord Thorne had meant? Had Anthony had a child with this woman and driven his wife to flee?

The woman patted Annabelle’s head. “Now, now. There is no cause to be frightened, little one.” She smiled apologetically at Gabby. “Pardon her, milady. She’s a bit skittish around men.”

Gabby’s mouth was too dry to speak. She sensed her sisters moving closer to her as if to hold her up. It only reinforced her sense of despair. They knew it, too. She hadn’t heard the girl wrong. This woman was her mother.

“No need to apologize,” Katie said. “We were just on our way to the lending library, so if we could pass…”

“Of course.” The woman scrambled out of the way, dragging Annabelle with her.

Gabby’s sisters urged her forward. She was walking through a heavy fog, the ground sucking at her feet so she could barely move.

No one spoke for a long time as they wandered the streets. She hadn’t realized where they were going until Talliah House loomed at the end of the block.

“The library—”

“Shh.” Lizzie tightened her grip on her arm.

“I promised.”

“Another day, princess,” Katie said.

She almost laughed at the absurdity of her younger sister using the nickname Drew had given to her. And yet the tenderness in Katie’s voice made her want to cry.

They made it into the house and outside her chamber door when a sob burst from her. She dashed into her room and collapsed on the bed. If Anthony had a child by that woman, what did it mean? Did he love her? Why would she be living under his roof?

Her sisters joined her on the bed, each stroking her head and murmuring kind words.

“What exactly has happened?” she heard Lizzie ask.

“I’m uncertain.”

Gabby knew. At least she thought she did. Anthony had sired a child with that woman, and he had laid claim to the girl. What if he had forced his wife into hiding so he could say Lady Ellis had been the one to give birth? Perhaps he had expected her to raise his lover’s child just as he expected it from Gabby.

“No.”

Her stomach pitched. Scrambling from the bed, she landed on her knees and groped for the chamber pot.

Her sisters sat helplessly on the edge of her bed as she tossed up her accounts.

“Oh, Gabby.” Katie went to retrieve a dampened handkerchief, then held it against her forehead.

She closed her eyes, savoring the coolness on her feverish skin. “I’m wrong,” she mumbled. “I must be.”

She had known Anthony her entire life. He wasn’t a calculating or cruel man.

Katie helped her to her feet. “Whatever you might think, you must talk to Lord Ellis. There must be a simple explanation.”

“His mistress is living in his town house,” Lizzie declared. “Any explanation would be a lie.”

Katie scowled. “You don’t know that, Elizabeth. Do not put such notions in her mind.”

“Gabby isn’t dense. She already had that idea or she wouldn’t be distraught.”

She pressed her fingers against her temples where a dull ache had begun. “Please, I need to lie down. I need quiet.”

Breaking from her sister’s hold, she tugged on the bellpull to summon her maid.

Liz and Katie hesitated, but when she moved to her dressing table without looking at them, they silently left her chambers.

When Magda arrived, Gabby requested her assistance undressing before climbing into bed and falling into a troubled sleep. It was late afternoon when she woke. At first, she felt the same happiness she had been experiencing for the last several days. But then she remembered Annabelle and the woman, and her breath rushed from her as if someone kicked her in the stomach. She curled into a ball and closed her eyes.

Magda checked on her several times throughout the day, but Gabby sent her away each time. It was getting dark when her mother swept into the room with Gabby’s maid.

“Good heavens, Gabrielle. Why didn’t you send Magda to retrieve me earlier? Are you ill, my darling?”

Magda ducked her head when Gabby looked her way, and went about lighting candles to chase the darkness from the room. It did nothing to dispel the darkness in Gabby’s heart.

“I’m unwell, Mama. I don’t think I should attend the Bexley Ball tonight. Will you offer regrets for me?”

“Of course you shouldn’t attend, dear girl.” Her mother perched on the side of the bed and smoothed her hand over Gabby’s hair. Worry lines crisscrossed her brow. “I will send both of our regrets.”

“I simply need to rest, Mama. You should go. You have been looking forward to Lady Bexley’s ball all week.”

“You are more important than Lady Bexley.”

She captured her mother’s hand and smiled weakly. “Please, Mama. I only want to sleep. I promise to send word if I feel too poorly.”

Her mother’s teeth worked her bottom lip. “Are you certain you don’t need me?”

“I’ll be fine.” It was a lie, but Mama could do nothing to help her anyway.

When her mother reluctantly left her alone, Gabby curled onto her side and tried to fall asleep again to shut off her thoughts and the ache inside.

Seventeen

“Her Grace the Dowager Duchess of Foxhaven.” The footman’s voice rang out above the crowd’s garbled conversations, catching Anthony’s attention. He couldn’t see Gabby or her mother, but his pulse raced with the knowledge she had arrived at last. He circled the outside of the ballroom floor to intercept her.

His duties at the House of Lords had kept him occupied much later than he’d hoped, so he had been unable to call on Gabby earlier. Eagerly, he weaved through the crowd, intent upon signing her dance card and perhaps stealing a moment alone with her on the terrace.

He located Gabby’s mother as he made progress through the maze of bodies, but he still didn’t see Gabby. The duchess’s smile appeared strained as he approached.

“Lord Ellis, it’s always a pleasure to see you.” Her greeting lacked its usual liveliness.

“Likewise, Your Grace. Did Lady Gabrielle arrive with you?”

Sebastian Thorne elbowed his way out of the throng just in time to eavesdrop. Anthony shot him an icy look before ignoring him.

The duchess fiddled with her fan and sighed softly. “I’m afraid she won’t be attending this evening, my lord. She’s under the weather. I hope I didn’t make a mistake in coming tonight, but she insisted I proceed without her.”

Thorne stepped forward. “I’m certain Lady Gabrielle wouldn’t have you go along without her if she is seriously ill. Your daughter is a sensible young lady.”

Gabby’s mother turned a hopeful gaze on the baron, then frowned when she noticed his swollen lip. “Are you all right, Lord Thorne?”

He absently touched his mouth. “This? It’s nothing,” he said, then added under his breath, “I’ve known misses to hit harder.”

Anthony bit back a retort. He didn’t want to air their grievance in the duchess’s presence, especially when she seemed so troubled about Gabby.

“I do hope you’re right about Gabrielle, my lord.”

Thorne offered his arm. “I know so. And Lady Gabrielle would want you to enjoy yourself. May I offer my escort, Your Grace?”

Her smile brightened and she linked her arm with his. He tossed a smug grin in Anthony’s direction as he led the duchess away.

What did it matter if Gabby’s mother liked Thorne? The duchess liked everyone. Besides, she cared for Anthony like a son and had told him on more than one occasion that he held a special place in her heart. Let Thorne spend his time trying to win over Gabby’s mother. Anthony was going to see Gabby.

He wouldn’t put it past her to minimize her symptoms for her mother’s sake. She carried too much guilt for events that were beyond her control, and she would do anything to save her family from further distress, even if it meant her suffering instead.

He ordered his coach and, while he waited, contemplated how he could see her. Calling at this late hour was not exactly proper. When he arrived at Talliah House half an hour later, he had a plan in mind, shaky as it might be.

The butler answered on Anthony’s third knock. “Lord Ellis?”

“No need to be alarmed,” he said. “I’m here to retrieve a book His Grace said I could borrow.”

“The duke is not in, my lord, and I’m uncertain I would be able to assist you.”

Anthony released the breath he’d been holding. It had been risky to use this excuse, but he had counted on Luke being out with his wife this evening. “I know where it’s shelved in the library. The duke said I could help myself to any books that interest me.”