The Irish Duke (45 page)

The redheaded chorus girl looked her up and down. “Yes,” she replied.

As Louisa watched her disappear down the hallway, icy fingers closed about her heart. Only a short time ago, she was the happiest female in Ireland. Now she was heartbroken. She went into her boudoir and sank down on the bed.

Was it only this morning that I let him share my bath and make love to me?
Her eyes flooded with tears. Her thoughts were in disarray, her emotions were in turmoil, and her happiness lay in shards all about her.

As Louisa sat in utter defeat, her sorrow slowly transformed into anger. Then it progressed to red-hot anger! She saw Molly go past her door. “Molly, I need your help.”

The young maid came into the boudoir and kept her eyes lowered.

“Help me pack my things, Molly. I’ll just take the clothes in this wardrobe. I’ll send for my other things later.” Louisa summoned a footman. “Would you have them ready the carriage for me, and then come back for my luggage?”

Her hands went to her ears intending to remove the diamond and emerald earrings. Then she changed her mind.
You bastard! You bloody Irish bastard! You begetter of bastards! I’ve earned the jewels. I finally yielded and gave you everything, and Kitty Kelly is my sodding reward!

Louisa packed her brushes and combs, and put her powder and lip rouge into her reticule. All she had in the bottom of her purse was a couple of gold guineas.

 

When Louisa stepped from her carriage in Omagh, she was garbed in a fuchsia-colored traveling suit. Her matching hat was decorated with a cream ostrich feather and she wore cream kid gloves. “Wait for me,” she told her driver.

“Lady Abercorn, what a delightful surprise.” Rowan Maloney bowed to her.

“Surprise indeed, though not a delightful one, I warrant.”

The attorney showed her to a chair. “How may I help you, my lady?”

She ignored the chair. “By handing over my thousand pounds, Mr. Maloney.”

“Of course, my lady. Will a bank draft serve your needs?”

“No, it will not. I will take it in cash, please.”

Though his eyebrows twitched, he kept the look of alarm from his face. “If you will take a seat, I shall endeavor to accommodate you, Lady Abercorn.”

When he left the room, Louisa deigned to sit. In a few minutes she heard her husband’s voice.
Judas! I forgot he was coming here today.
Louisa jumped up from the chair and braced herself for the storm.

James came into the room smiling. “You came to meet me, Lady Lu.”

“Do not delude yourself. I came for my money. I’m going home to England.”

His smile turned into a frown. “What’s amiss? Have you received bad news?”

“As a matter of fact, I have.” Her green eyes glittered. “It was delivered by a red- headed chorus girl.”

His frown deepened. “Kitty?”

“How many red-headed mistresses do you have?”

“Lu, we are at cross purposes.”

“And always have been, I warrant!”

“What on earth are you talking about?”

Her eyes narrowed. “Why didn’t you tell me that Kitty Kelly was Kate Connelly’s daughter? Why didn’t you tell me that she spent Christmas with you at Barons Court?”

“I didn’t think it mattered.”

“Then once again you are deluding yourself. Kitty has arrived bearing the fruit of your scandalous liaison.”

“You are talking rubbish!”

“Not enough that you demanded a fortune from my father to marry me. Not enough that you desired the political connection more than you desired me. Well, let me disabuse you, Lord Bloody Abercorn. You cannot have your cake and eat it too!”

Rowan Maloney beckoned James from the room. “Shouldn’t I tell her that you put the money from her dowry in trust for her, my lord?”

“Absolutely not.”

“Here is the money she requested,” Maloney said uncertainly.

“I’ll take it.” James went back into the room, with Rowan on his heels.

“Do you have my thousand pounds, Mr. Maloney?” she demanded.

“I have it,” James declared.

She held out her hand imperiously. “You avaricious swine. Give it to me.”

“One more word, madam, and I shall give you a clout round your ear hole.”

“You wouldn’t dare!”

James took a swipe at her hat and sent it rolling across the floor. “Silence!”

Lu took a step back from him. He had never spoken to her in fury before. She summoned her courage. “I won’t put up with your bastards. I’m going home!”

“You are going home, all right. Home to Barons Court. You are demented. I shall take you into protective custody until you regain your senses.” He stepped toward her.

“Don’t you dare touch me!”

His dark eyes were stained black with fury. James swept her up and carried her outside to the carriage. He set her down on the seat and slammed the door. He jerked his thumb at the driver. “Home!”

Inside the coach, Louisa’s anger doubled. She put her hand on the door latch, intending to get out, but the driver was going so fast, the carriage was actually careening. Lu withdrew her hand and schooled herself to wait until it stopped. But inside, her fury bubbled like the brew in a witch’s cauldron.

Demented, indeed! He is the one who is demented if he thinks he can bully me and keep me from leaving. The swine thinks he can deny it, but let’s see him refute the accusation when he is confronted with the evidence of her swollen belly.
Lu’s hand went to her hair.
The uncivilized devil ruined my hat, to boot!

When they arrived at Barons Court and the driver stopped the carriage in the courtyard, Louisa flung open the door and jumped out in a flash. She was incensed that Abercorn had arrived before her and was standing, waiting for her. She lifted her skirts and began to run, but his quickness, determination, and strength easily thwarted her. With her wrist in a vise grip she struggled to free herself, flying at him with her free hand and trying to tear his dark face with her nails. She succeeded in neither. Thwarted, she balled up her fist and smote him in the chest. She refused to give him the satisfaction of showing that she hurt herself.

With long, determined strides he took her into the house. Since the indignity of being dragged was anathema to her, she had no option but to keep up with him. They climbed the stairs in silence. She wanted to scream abuse at him but instinctively knew such behavior would put her at a distinct disadvantage.

Abercorn took her into the master bedchamber, then through the adjoining door into her boudoir. He freed her wrist and looked her directly in the eyes. “Of what exactly am I accused?”

“Kitty Kelly is having your child!”

James stared at her for a full minute. “If that’s what you think—i f that’s what you truly think of me, we can never be husband and wife.” He paused and then continued, “You have a natural impulse to close yourself off as a defense against being hurt. I will give you some time to find the strength to rise from your defensive crouch and think about this accusation. Don’t concentrate on whether you can trust me, Louisa. Trusting yourself is the key to making the best decision for your marriage.”

He walked to the outer door, locked it, and put the key in his pocket. Then he entered the master bedchamber.

When he went into the other room, Lu immediately slammed the adjoining door. The minute she did it, she realized she had no clothes in her boudoir wardrobe. She had packed them all and they were in the carriage. Of course she had plenty of clothes in the master bedchamber.
I’ll go naked before I’ll enter that room again!

James went in search of Kate Connelly. He found her in her housekeeper’s quarters.

“Lord Abercorn, my daughter has brought shame upon Barons Court.”

“Kate, tell me what happened.”

“Kathleen . . . Kitty arrived in the middle of the morning, swollen with child. We had words, and unfortunately Lady Abercorn heard the altercation. Apparently your wife knew Kitty but didn’t realize she was my daughter until she found us together.”

“Where is Kitty?”

“Lady Abercorn asked Molly to plenish one of the guest suites for her. I’m so sorry, my lord.” Kate hesitated. “Kathleen said you had been paying her rent in London.”

“That’s perfectly true. Her original lodgings were in a rough area, entirely unsuitable for a young woman living alone. I found her a respectable house and paid the landlady to keep an eye on her. I saw no need to worry you about it.”

“That was very obliging of you, Lord Abercorn. She shouldn’t have come here, shaming us, causing trouble.”

“Of course she should have come. My grandfather admonished me to make sure Barons Court would be a haven for her.”

“She’s gone and got herself in the same trouble I did.” Mrs. Connelly wrung her hands. “When she went running off to London, it’s the one thing I feared.”

James put a comforting hand on her shoulder. “Yet I warrant it didn’t happen in London. Most likely it happened here at Christmas.”

“That it did!”

“Don’t fret your guts to fiddle strings, Mrs. Connelly. It isn’t the end of the world. I shall see what I can do to set things right.” He moved toward the door. “Make yourself a pot of tea and put your feet up, Kate.”

James went upstairs to the guest wing and knocked on the door to one of the suites. When Kitty opened it, he said, “May I come in?”

She nodded and tried to cling to her defiance, but it began to waver. She lowered her lashes. “I’m sorry, my lord.”

“Sorry for what, Kathleen?” he asked softly.

“You’re not angry with me?”

“You were in trouble. You had no one in London. You did the right thing to come home to Ireland.” He paused. “Now you have to decide about your future.”

“I know.” She sat down and rested her hands on her swollen belly.

“After the child is born, do you want to keep it, or do you intend to return to London and the stage?”

“I want to mother my baby. I don’t want to go back to London, but my decision depends on”—she hesitated—“certain circumstances.”

“I understand.” He nodded toward the bed. “Why don’t you get some rest? The journey must have been exhausting.”

James returned to the master bedchamber. He put his ear to the adjoining door, but all he heard was dead silence.
I thought that
a
t long last you loved me, Louisa. But love without trust is no love at all. Once I would have given you anything—forgiven you anything—but this time, Lady Lu, you won’t get your way!

L
ouisa removed her vivid fuchsia dress, since it was the only one she had, and hung it in the empty wardrobe. She was wearing ruffled bloomers beneath a lavender petticoat. Inside, she was seething. Now she was not just angry over Kitty Kelly.
How dare the Irish swine keep me captive? It’s just more proof that Abercorn isn’t civilized!

She paced about the small chamber working herself up into a fine froth of fury. She had known all along it was a mistake to give a man everything, and now she was kicking herself for allowing him to consummate their marriage. She caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror and spoke to it. “Giving your heart to a man is like giving a delphinium to a dog. He will simply piss on it!”

Finally she stopped pacing and looked through the window. The afternoon light had started to fade and she realized it had begun to rain. The room was cast in dark shadows, and to banish the gloom she lit her lamps. She was restless but surmised it would not be long before James opened the door. She would neither look at him nor speak to him. Her outraged silence would speak louder than any words.

Louisa jumped as she heard the door open. James came in carrying a dinner tray. She deliberately turned her back on him.

“It’s a damp night. If you feel the cold you may avail yourself of my turf fire.”

When she heard the door close quietly, she swung around. “I’ll freeze to death before I’ll avail myself of your bloody fire . . . or your food!” she said to thin air.

After a few minutes, the aroma from the food was very tempting. She summoned her resistance and it was more difficult than she had first anticipated. She also imagined she could feel the dampness but forbade herself to picture his fire. She glanced about hoping for something to fill the long hours of the evening, but there were no books in her room. The only reading materials were the letters from her mother and sister. She retrieved them from her writing desk and sat down in a comfy chair to read them.

Georgy’s first letter about Teddy Fox’s desertion only emphasized to Louisa how perfidious the male of the species could be. Georgy’s second letter, describing Charles Romilly as tall, broad, and extremely handsome, reminded her of her own husband and it rekindled her anger.
The handsomest men are always the most arrogant and selfish. I should have written and warned her about him!

Louisa reread her mother’s letters.
Enjoy your honeymoon to the full. Your summer in Ireland will be over before you know it.
“It cannot be over soon enough for me!” Then Lu read,
I’m looking forward to seeing you and James. I shall be there in less than a month.
She put the letters back in the drawer. “There is no need for them to come—I won’t be here!”

She removed her ruffled drawers and kept on her petticoat as a nightgown, and then she climbed into bed. The prospect of returning to Woburn was distinctly unappealing.
I don’t fancy being involved in Georgy’s escapades. I was so happy here. Why did Abercorn have to go and ruin everything?

Louisa lay for hours feeling sorry for herself. Suddenly she didn’t like sleeping alone. The bed was cold, but mostly it was lonely. She had become accustomed to lying in the glow of her husband’s adoration and now that he had withdrawn it, she felt like a snowdrop craving the warmth of the sun. She remembered the first time she had shared his bed. She’d had her recurring nightmare and her cries of distress had brought him immediately. He had carried her to his bed to dispel her fear. Then he had rubbed her back to make her feel safe and secure.