Tempting Her Reluctant Viscount (22 page)

Putting her arm around her stepdaughter’s shoulders, Abigail continued, “Lord Lichfield has an impeccable reputation, despite his penchant for getting his hands dirty. He is a respected war hero and a gentleman of the highest honor. If he chooses to marry you, it is more likely to repair your reputation than drag down his.”

Hope hadn’t really thought about it like that before. She supposed it did make some sense, but did she really want to take the risk?

Sensing her stepdaughter’s continued reluctance, Abigail said, “I regret that we have not been close. There is much I would have told you by now, if we had been.”

“Like what?”

Smiling gently, Abigail tilted her head to one side. “I would have told you about my childhood, my hopes and dreams, and very probably about the one true love of my life.”

“I’m guessing it wasn’t my father,” Hope commented dryly.

Chuckling, Abigail said, “Oh no…most definitely
not
your father.”

It was in that moment that Hope realized just what she had missed out on with Abigail. She suddenly wished she had not pushed the woman away when they were first introduced.
All these years, I could have had a mother
, Hope thought wistfully.

“I’m sorry I pushed you away all those years ago, Abigail.”

“It’s all right, sweetheart… I didn’t go far.”

And with that, the two women hugged tightly and cried together; Hope feeling as though she had found a long lost friend again.

But the time for sentiment was short-lived, and soon they were talking about what to do next.

“Obviously, we need to get you out of here,” Abigail said with a clap of her hands. “You will go back to Lady Lancaster’s. Mr. Stuckeley will never go there after you. Lady Lancaster frightens him.”

Hope smiled briefly. Lady Lancaster had that effect on most people.

“But what about you?” Hope replied thoughtfully. “Father will certainly know that it was you that helped me escape. And his erratic behavior lately scares me. No…you must come as well. You and the children. Lady Lancaster won’t mind.”

Nodding, Abigail said, “Yes, you are correct. Get your things together, and I will get the children. Let’s meet in the kitchens in…will twenty minutes be enough time?”

“The kitchens?”

“Of course. If you father should come home before we have departed, that is the last place he will venture. It may buy us a few extra moments, should we need them.”

“Brilliant, Abigail. Simply brilliant! But twenty minutes isn’t enough time to get all the children, and yourself, together. I don’t have anything to pack. I left everything at Lady Lancaster’s. Let me help you and the little ones.”

“Fine, then let’s go. We must be quick.”

And quick they were. In just under the allotted twenty minutes, Hope, her stepmother, and all four children were grouped in the center of the large kitchen. With a quick good-bye to the servants and sincere promises to provide for them however possible in the future, the group departed. Sticking to the back streets and alleys, they made their way quickly to the home of the dowager Duchess of Lancaster.

In less than a second, the refugees were invited into the grand house; in less than a minute, the group had been made to feel welcome and at home; in less than an hour, the entire household was under the thumb of four precocious children; and for the first time in three days, Hope finally felt as if everything may turn out all right after all.

Chapter Twenty-two

Knowledge of what is possible is often the beginning of happiness.

~The Duke of Lancaster

“Now then girls,” Lady Lancaster said. “I imagine you would like to know the outcome of the trial yesterday?”

Hope looked up from where she had been sitting quietly with her tea. It was the weekly Garden Society meeting, and Hope had been getting caught up on all the excitement that had occurred in the other ladies’ lives. She was somewhat rueful that her own troubles had kept her from realizing her friends had exciting things going on in their worlds, as well.

Case in point was the trial of Caleb Collicott, Lord Shrewsbury. Hope had been there when he had been caught at the ball a few nights prior, but after that she had no idea what had happened with the mission. Now she knew that he had presented his case to a judge and jury, Rose and her fiancé, Simon, had testified, and now the duchess was about to tell them the outcome.

It was exciting to think that justice may well have been done, but Hope could not help but think about the upcoming trials in her future. Those against the men who perpetrated the Stock Exchange crime. It was especially disconcerting to think that one trial would be for Lord Cochrane, a man she firmly believed to be innocent. And then, of course, there was her father…

For the next few moments, Hope became lost in her own thoughts about her own intrigue, the men involved, and most disturbingly, her father. What would happen on his day in court? Would he expect her to be there to support him, for Abigail to be there? Hope didn’t think she could stomach sitting in a room full of strangers (the people truly enjoyed the spectacle of a gentleman on trial), peers, and officials all looking at her as the daughter of such a traitorous criminal. She supposed she would like to be there in support of Lord Cochrane, but what did it say about her that she didn’t want to provide the same support for her father, the man that had raised her?

Sighing, Hope tuned back into the conversation around her just in time to hear Lady Lancaster’s explanation of how Rose’s betrothed was going to become the next Earl of Shrewsbury someday.

“Rose,” Hope cried, beyond excited for her friend, “you are going to be a countess. The Countess of Shrewsbury… It has a nice ring to it.”

Rose laughed. “It is an amazing thing, to be certain, but I would be just as happy as Mrs. Simon Trumbull.”

“So, you think a wedding is eminent?” Emily asked.

Rose then whipped her hand out with a flourish, and there, on her ring finger, was the most beautiful diamond engagement ring.

“Rose,” Hope cried, in complete unison with her other friends, before they all began shooting question after question at her.

Rose answered all the queries with joyful aplomb, and Hope could tell her friend was as happy as she had ever seen her.

True love wins again
, Hope thought wistfully. If only it could happen for her, too. She thought about what her stepmother had told her. That perhaps marrying Michael was the solution, not the horror Hope had made it out to be.

And she knew that if she voiced her concerns for his reputation to him, he would laugh and tell her he didn’t care a whit what the
ton
thought of him. So why should she care? Aside from the fact she would never want to hurt him…if he didn’t perceive the hurt…then did it even matter?

Hope was so confused. She didn’t know what to do, how to act. She needed to talk to someone. Someone who knew Michael as well, if not better, than she did. She looked at Lady Lancaster thoughtfully. Perhaps the time had come to finally tell the duchess everything that she was feeling, everything she was worried about. If anyone could help, it would be Lady Lancaster.

Feeling better for having come to at least one real decision, Hope returned her attention to the conversation at hand. Lady Lancaster was talking about the next mission. Hope’s mission…

“…with Rose’s mission to capture the odious Caleb Collicott coming to an end, which was even more successful than even I had hoped, we now need to discuss the next mystery presented to us.”

The ladies all looked at one another with anticipation.

The Duchess continued, “You all may have heard about the rumor that Napoleon was killed. It was circling around almost two weeks ago now. I regret to say the rumor was just that…malicious gossip intended to stir society.”

“That’s horrible!” Rose exclaimed. “Who would do such a thing?”

“That is exactly the question, Rose, and Hope has already begun to look into the hoax. She has, in fact, made some great inroads as to who the perpetrators are, but I am reluctant to speak more about it until some other facts have been corroborated. Rest assured, however, that the problem is well in hand.”

Hope looked at Lady Lancaster in misery. Only she knew why Lady Lancaster was disinclined to go into more detail. Although her friends knew that Mr. Stuckeley was a suspect, they did not know that his involvement was confirmed, nor were they aware that Hope and her entire family were staying with the duchess.

Unfortunately, the afternoon did not come to an end as early as Hope would have liked. With Hannah’s wedding the next day, all the ladies were giddy with excitement and they had to discuss every expected nuance of the day. Hope tried to join in, but already her mind was on the conversation she wanted to have with Lady Lancaster; therefore, she was more than relieved when the meeting broke up and her friends departed.

After hugging the last of the girls goodbye, Hope turned to the duchess before the lady had a chance to leave the room and said, “Lady Lancaster, do you have a moment? I wish to talk to you about something.”

…

The duchess immediately sat back down. She had been waiting patiently for Hope to come to her. She had had a small chat with Mrs. Stuckeley when she and the children had first come to stay with her, and she knew that Hope was hurting. Lady Lancaster also knew that the girl would come to her when she was ready, and until then, it would do no good to seek her out.

“Of course, dear. What is on your mind?”

“I wanted to talk to you about…ah…Lord Lichfield.”

“Michael, yes,” Lady Lancaster said nonchalantly. Inside, though, she was jumping for joy. Just the topic she was hoping for.

For three days in a row, she had had forlorn visits from Michael. He thought Hope would not see him, and he was distraught by the whole affair. And she had been loath to presume what was going on with the girl. Hope had not been by to see her, either, over those same three days, and the duchess was beginning to think less of her Hope-girl, she was ashamed to say.

Of course, now that she knew that Hope had been, in fact,
unable
to see him—or her, for that matter—Elizabeth was feeling more than a little guilty for her disloyal thoughts. A feeling she found she did
not
like at all. Hopefully, this talk would allow her the opportunity to help this couple, a couple for which she had such regard.

“What about him, dear?”

Hope looked down at her hands and whispered. “He asked me to marry him.”

Lady Lancaster didn’t say anything. She already knew what had happened in the park a few days prior. When Michael had returned to the house looking for Hope, all he found was Lady Lancaster and Olive, the maid.

His plan had been to go straight over to the Stuckeley house and demand an explanation from Hope, but Lady Lancaster stopped him. She made him tell her what had happened, and even she had to admit, she had not seen the refusal coming. She had been quite convinced that Hope wanted to marry Michael as much as Michael wanted to marry Hope. Hope loved him, of that the duchess was certain, so clearly the refusal stemmed from something else.

She gave Michael the advice of letting Hope calm down, to give her the night to get her thoughts in order. Surely by morning, she will have changed her mind, the duchess told him. But that had not been the case, for now obvious reasons. But even after being rescued by Abigail, Hope had not asked for Michael to be summoned. She had not acted like a young woman engaged—or nearly so—even when the ladies had been talking about Hannah’s upcoming wedding earlier in the afternoon. No, she seemed more unhappy and distressed than ever.

Hope looked up with anguish in her eyes. “Please tell me. Is he all right? Was he greatly upset? I never wished to hurt him…”

For an instant, Lady Lancaster had the urge to tell Hope exactly how hurt Michael was. ‘
Upset
’ did not even come close to covering it. But the look in Hope’s eyes was enough to quell her anger. The miserable look on Hope’s face was a mirror to the one Michael had been wearing since that day in the park. Whatever pain Hope’s answer had inflicted upon Michael, it was equally shared by Hope, herself.

“Why don’t you just tell me what you were thinking,” the duchess urged gently.

“Oh, Lady Lancaster…” Hope cried. “I don’t know what I was thinking. I had just found out my father was guilty—guilty of so much more than just making a profit on an illegal deal. And then Michael, dear sweet Michael, asked me to marry him. Asked to protect me, my family, to shelter us from the scandal brought on by my frightened and foolish father. And I just couldn’t…”

Hope broke down into painful, body-wracking sobs, and although talking was nigh on impossible, she fought to get it out. “I-I-I couldn’t…couldn’t bring that o-o-o-n Michael. O-O-O-ur ruin…would be h-h-h-is, too. There…there…will be cir-cir-circles that won’t wel-wel-welcome him any long-long-longer…won’t do-do-do business…”

Unable to listen to any more, Lady Lancaster reached out and pulled Hope onto the floor in front of her and into her arms. “Hush now, Hope. Hush now… It’s all right. You are going to make yourself sick, child.”

Hope kept crying and all the duchess could do was whisper comforting words and hold her tight.

All the while, Lady Lancaster was berating herself for not seeing this coming. Hope had always been a proper little thing. She was well versed in the expectations of society and she lived up to all that they expected of her as a young debutante.

Granted, in the last few months she had shown a remarkable growth in strength and character. She was finding her own self-worth, discovering her own opinions, and standing up for her beliefs. But a few months versus a lifetime of doing the “right” thing, behaving just as she “ought”, and always living in fear of “dishonor”…it was too much to expect her to think beyond that of what others would think so soon into her period of blossoming; especially in the face of such turmoil.

However, true to her big heart, Hope was not worried for herself, but for Michael, the man she loved more than she loved herself. She gave no thought to her own disgrace—no doubt she already had a plan in place to find a means of income for herself and her family after they were so ruthlessly flung from the bosom of society—she only thought of Michael’s reputation.